search

 
 
Japan Times
Features
Jun 12, 2005

Shop till you drop on the longest arcade of all

"We get a lot of oddballs here," says Yuji Nomura. "Artistic types, computer nerds, bookworms, the homeless, and those who, for whatever reason, don't feel comfortable in the crowds among the big shops in Umeda."
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2005

War-dead families ask Koizumi to consider Asia

An association of families of the war dead on Saturday asked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to show more consideration for Japan's Asian neighbors over his contentious visits to Yasukuni Shrine.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jun 12, 2005

A stage-dive back into the mayhem

Illnesses. Broken bones. Arrests. Bereavements. Just a few reasons why Fuzzy Logic has been on a six-month sabbatical. You don't need to know the details. So here's a rather straightforward comeback column in which I round up a few things and then, in future columns, I'll get back to introducing you...
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2005

Japan to provide mine detectors, SUVs for southern Sudan

Japan will provide mine detectors, four-wheel-drive vehicles, tents and other items worth 200 million yen to support a U.N. peacekeeping mission planned for southern Sudan, a government source said Saturday.
Japan Times
Features
Jun 12, 2005

Feast your eyes and more

When it comes to food in the Kansai region, Kyoto is not the first place that springs to mind. Kyoto folk, the saying goes, spend their money on good clothes, whereas people from Osaka spend their money on good food.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2005

Checking the threat that could be China

HONOLULU -- When U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld addressed the Shangri-la Security Dialogue in Singapore last weekend, most of the attention in the meeting and later in the press focused on his candid comments about China's military strategy, spending and modernization.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 12, 2005

Thanks to the efforts of many, baseball remains intact despite merger

You may be reading this column between 7 a.m and 8 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Japan Times
Features
Jun 12, 2005

Retro points to a rosy retail future

When the four floors of the Nakano Broadway shotengai opened for business in October 1966, resident retailers went for a high-class image in the hopes of attracting a wealthy clientele.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2005

Man to sue TV Asahi over report he smuggled guns

A Japanese man now serving a 15-month sentence in the United States will seek 5 million yen in damages from TV Asahi for defamation for airing a report that he was illegally selling guns.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 12, 2005

TBS's "Red Suspicion," "Downtown DX" on NTV and more

More than a few critics have taken exception to the Korean TV drama boom that has swept Japan in the past few years, saying that many of the plots were lifted almost directly from Japanese TV dramas of the 1970s, especially the "Red" serials that always starred idol Momoe Yamaguchi and which invariably...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 12, 2005

Japan's leaders try to be 'cool' to take heat off themselves

Some people are hard to please. Though he was a member of the committee that chose the term "Cool Biz" for the campaign launched last week to bring government dress more in line with seasonal realities, fashion designer and critic Don Konishi is very disappointed with the sartorial choices made by Diet...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jun 11, 2005

Eyes of rugby world on New Zealand as Lions fans fly in

Even though the final decision as to who will host the 2011 Rugby World Cup will not be made until November, the next few weeks will be crucial for the three countries hoping to host sport's third biggest event.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 11, 2005

Punshiment for Bowyer over Dyer incident has gone too far

LONDON -- It is with the heaviest of hearts that this correspondent sticks up for Lee Bowyer, the Newcastle midfielder who would undoubtedly figure in most supporters' top five least popular players.
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2005

Slots, cops, and deception

LAS VEGAS -- The Japanese have been kicking around the idea of building American-style casinos in Japan for four years now. The Parliament Committee on Casinos with 100 Diet members has been gathering information on casinos, and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara has been a major proponent of the idea. In...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2005

Indian growth must co-opt the bypassed

MANILA -- India is a paradox. The successes of a select group of sectors -- from information technology to industr and services -- are creating an urban elite showcased as the builders of a modern and vibrant country on the cusp of joining the major economic powers of the world.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 11, 2005

'Artistic space consultant' unites walls and works

Nob Hagiwara is a brave man indeed. How many top-rank executives decide one day to chuck it all in and pursue personal goals? Not many -- and especially not in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 11, 2005

June, a month of maritime disaster

June 7 welcomed the return of two Japanese sailors who circumnavigated the globe nonstop: Kenichi Horie and Minoru Saito. I have a special admiration for these men because June also marks the first anniversary of my rescue from the sea while attempting to cross the Pacific in a yacht to Australia.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jun 11, 2005

Up in knots over natto

A reader from jolly ol' England recently sent this question:
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2005

New law to make firms report greenhouse gas emissions

The Diet passed a bill Friday to revise the current antiglobal-warming promotion law so that about 8,000 firms will have to report emissions of six greenhouse gases.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2005

Koizumi says time is right to again boost ODA budget

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called Friday for an increase in the foreign aid budget, which has been cut over the past several years.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2005

Vinegar fad shows no signs of souring as more take to drinking it straight up

Japanese tend to be quick to warm to a new fad and just as fast to abandon it.
EDITORIALS
Jun 11, 2005

Democratic dilemmas in Mideast

Two election results pose deep dilemmas for democrats who support reconciliation in the Middle East. In recent municipal ballots in the Gaza Strip, the Islamic militant group Hamas made a surprisingly strong showing. Soon after, a coalition of parties led by Hezbollah swept elections in southern Lebanon....
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2005

Beer shipments up as new suds surge

Shipments of beer and beerlike alcoholic beverages made by the nation's five major breweries inched up in May for the second straight month, as their new "third-category" brews offset slumping sales of beer and other products, according to industry data released Friday.

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?