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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 28, 2007

Why apologize profusely as a woman, when you can insult like a man?

A CULTURAL HISTORY OF JAPANESE WOMEN'S LANGUAGE by Endo Orie. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan, Center for Japanese Studies, 2006, 140 pp., $38 (cloth) When I was first studying Japanese back in 1947, I went to a local language school where the teachers were mostly older ladies, born in the Meiji...
Reader Mail
Jan 28, 2007

What passes for attractiveness

Recent moves by Spain to rein in eating disorders in the high-fashion industry by sanctioning a healthy body mass index and thereby curbing excessive skinniness among supermodels have spread to Italy and show signs of spreading to other countries as well. This is a good thing and only partly...
Reader Mail
Jan 28, 2007

Why are young adults so glum?

An international survey conducted recently in different countries revealed that only 8 percent of Japanese between the ages of 16 and 34 think that they are happy with their lives. Japan occupied the last position on the list. I was dumbfounded by these statistics because people in this age group are...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 28, 2007

The Courtship

Insight, fate and human frailties intermingle in this love story for winter from the pen of MICHAEL HOFFMAN
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 28, 2007

More than money was found wanting in 'the lost decade'

Last week in this column, in an attempt to trace the roots of the nationalism now becoming a mainstream political force in Japan, I discussed the currents that characterized this country in the 1980s. This week I will look at the 1990s, to see how the social euphoria of the '80s led to what has come...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 28, 2007

What evil lurks in the hearts of men?

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril: A Novel, by Paul Malmont. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006, 371 pp., $24 (cloth) DISCO FOR THE DEPARTED by Colin Cotterill. New York: Soho Press Inc, 2006, 247 pp., $23 (cloth) I must confess a pronounced weakness for well-crafted mysteries spun around real historical...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2007

Michael Jackson coming to Japan

slept with young boys, an admission that helped fuel the molestation charges that nearly derailed his career, Bain said Jackson has given only one brief interview.
Reader Mail
Jan 28, 2007

Information there for the taking

Jeff Kingston, in his Jan. 21 review of the book "Asian Labor in the Wartime Japanese Empire," states that "Knowledge among Japanese about wartime forced labor is sketchy and thus it might come as some surprise that there are five chapters on Indonesia." Apart from whether knowledge among Japanese about...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 28, 2007

From the truth comes some strange fiction

Homunculus by Hugh Paxton. Macmillan New Writing, 2005, 256 pp., £12.99 (paper). The grotesquely fanged monster armed with a spear and an assault rifle that comes hurtling out of a rising sun on the cover of "Homunculus" should be fair warning to readers that something a tad disturbing is to be found...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 28, 2007

Natto nonsense lands television show in sticky mess

Unless you're a big fan of natto, those sticky fermented soybeans, you probably didn't pay much attention to Kansai Telecasting Corporation's (KTV) sudden apology Jan. 20 for misinformation that was given on one of its variety shows. Anyone who watches TV regularly has probably developed the ability...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 27, 2007

Agents receiving massive sums for little work on transfers

LONDON -- The following conversation took place at a house in England recently . . .
SOCCER
Jan 27, 2007

Wanchope looks to lift FC Tokyo

Paulo Wanchope can't help but be labeled with the "veteran journeyman" tag, even though the striker is keen to point out he is still only 30 years old.
BASKETBALL
Jan 27, 2007

A big step: bj-league stages 1st All-Star Game

GINOWAN, Okinawa -- Pick a sport, any sport, and the following is a guarantee: All-Star games are fun events for fans and players alike.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2007

SpongeBob soaks up young fans in Japan

Square and loud, SpongeBob wasn't supposed to have much chance for success in Japan, a nation famous for its love of more cuddly characters like Hello Kitty and Pikachu.
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2007

State of the Union? Divided

President George W. Bush's State of the Union speeches will be seen as critical moments in his presidency. In 2002, he identified an "axis of evil" that threatened the United States and the world. A year later, he used 16 words alleged to be proof of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's efforts to...
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2007

China's growth outlook largely immune from outside turmoil

China is headed for continued growth of about 8 percent a year on average over the next 10 to 20 years -- backed by abundant domestic savings that support investments, and an almost unlimited supply of labor that will keep wage costs low, a Hong Kong-based scholar told a recent seminar in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2007

December CPI up just 0.1%

Japan's core consumer price index in December rose at a slower pace than expected, the government said Friday, adding to doubts that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates next month.

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40