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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 11, 2007

Rock swallow

* Japanese name: Iwa tsubame * Scientific name: Delichon dasypus * Description: The translation of the Chinese name for this bird is smoky-bellied hair-leg swallow. It is also known as the Asian housemartin. It's a small bird, some 12-cm long, and is colored a dark steel-blue above and is white —...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jul 10, 2007

House of Holland, Kim Songhe and HIROCOLEDGE yukata

Brand-name wear
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2007

'Confession of Pain'

There are some things at which the Asian male excels and that includes looking exceptionally fatigued. Not attractively or glamorously so but plain, I-just-got-off-a-16-hour-shift fatigue enhanced by the discomfort of public transportation and too much nicotine.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2007

Office weighs less in the work-life balance

After his son was born last April, Hyogo Prefecture civil servant Akira Hirabayashi decided to cut back on overtime at work. He yearned for more time with little Susumu and also wanted to give his wife, Chie, a chance to return to her teaching job at an elementary school.
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2007

China aims for bigger share of South Asia's water lifeline

NEW DELHI — Sharpening Asian competition over energy resources, driven in part by high growth rates in gross domestic product and in part by mercantilist attempts to lock up supplies, has obscured another danger: Water shortages in much of Asia are beginning to threaten rapid economic modernization,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jun 26, 2007

Metaphys, Bunaco, etc.

Earlier this month at Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center, the massive Interior Lifestyle show hosted more than 600 exhibitors, more than half of which were domestic companies. Having dug through the many products on display, this week I will spotlight the best Japanese designs you can expect to see on...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2007

Windsor Hotel prepares for second wind

The Windsor Hotel Toya in western Hokkaido has a lot of things going for it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Jun 13, 2007

Watashi to Tokyo

This is the first in a series of profiles of bloggers who write about Japan.
LIFE
Jun 10, 2007

When and how you slumber is not as simple as it may seem

Getting up early is one of those things that people older and wiser always say is "good for you.''
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2007

Apathetic clouds of smoke

Two years after the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) took effect, many countries are coordinating efforts to curb tobacco use.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 26, 2007

Bringing about world change through literacy

Imagine. You are a rising executive with Microsoft, with a corporate credit card and an associated lifestyle. Then one day, at age 35, you clear your desk, cash in your investments and walk away.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2007

France embarks on the right revolution

WARSAW — Is France about to exchange the fake revolution of May 1968 for a sham counter-revolution this year, or have the French given Nicolas Sarkozy a mandate for real change to modernize their country?
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 9, 2007

BYO cool air and pet stress patches

Climbing Mount Fuji is a right of passage that comes with a price tag. Just breathing at that elevated altitude is a challenge. Technology offers a solution, at a cost, with canned oxygen. An object of some ridicule during the climb's early stages, it is a blessed relief near the top. Now, strutting...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 8, 2007

Children of yesterday had more rags than riches

I saw a young girl and her sister with their parents the other day in Isetan, the department store of choice for young, hip families in the Tokyo area, probably shopping for Children's Day (Kodomo no Hi), which was last Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 8, 2007

Confessions of a hostess

Teaching English in Taiwan wasn't always as easy as ABC, so days would often unwind drinking with the betel-nut-chewing, red-gob-hawking locals.
EDITORIALS
May 6, 2007

Kiosks and koban

Two of Japan's most respected institutions — kiosks and koban (police boxes) — have gone empty in recent weeks, upsetting many who regularly depend on them. The shock waves are still reverberating around the country, but especially in Tokyo, where their essential everyday services were reported closed...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 29, 2007

Spare a shudder in memory of an American 'ism' that lives on

This coming Wednesday, May 2, marks the 50th anniversary of the death of a venal and cowardly man, a true antihero of the 20th century.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2007

Improving consumer lifestyle choices key to meeting CO2 goals

Consumer behavior holds the key to Japan's ability to fulfill its commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming, as rising greenhouse gas emissions in the household and transport sectors make it increasingly hard to achieve the nation's goals, said participants in a recent symposium...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2007

No smile limit in this Australian town

PRINCETON, New Jersey -- If you were to walk along the streets of your neighborhood with your face up and an open expression, how many of those who passed you would smile, or greet you in some way?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 15, 2007

It was 40 (very different) years ago today . . .

The re-election last Sunday of Shintaro Ishihara as Tokyo governor has demon- strated once again that the people of Japan's capital city remain attracted to the policies of this outspoken author-turned-politician.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2007

At 6.6 trillion yen, gay, lesbian market no small niche

Japan has an estimated 2.74 million people who are either lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and in terms of targeting a niche market, they have a combined purchasing power of 6.64 trillion yen -- the equivalent of the nation's liquor consumption.
Reader Mail
Apr 8, 2007

Giving Tokyo what it needs

The candidates in Sunday's Tokyo gubernatorial election seem at a loss for innovative ideas. The current governor has done a middling job on crime (Kabukicho, curfews for kids) and has banished diesel fumes, but he's a xenophobic blowhard who, among his many irrational proclamations, has averred that...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2007

Fast-food binge continues to take Japan

After years of staying slim on a humble diet of fish, vegetables and rice, Japanese are developing a sweet tooth. That's proving a business opportunity for Krispy Kreme and other chains from the U.S., a nation famous for knowing a thing or two about fattening food.
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2007

Shoddy ruling on baby twins

Regarding the March 24 article "Top court: No registry for pair born surrogate": Why would the Supreme Court judges punish TV celebrity Aki Mukai for seeking the loving support of a surrogate mother to have children? Even if the surrogate in this case happened to be (gasp) an American woman? Does this...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 23, 2007

Ms. Lauryn Hill and Lupe Fiasco

The second Springroove, promoter Creativeman's hip-hop and R&B festival, boasts homegrown talent such as AI along with international superstars Kayne West, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and up-and-comers Lupe Fiasco and Lady Sovereign.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Mar 9, 2007

This wine school gets better with age

Japan's oldest and largest wine school, the Academie du Vin, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Something of an institution in Japan's wine world, the academy has turned out more than 30,000 graduates in its two decades of operation. But rather than rest on its laurels, the school continues...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2007

'Two Sons of Francisco'

At times the tried and true formula works best and this is certainly the case in "Two Sons of Francisco," a Brazilian box-office superhit that had the whole nation rushing to the theaters -- over 5.5. million.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2007

Aussie skiers spark land boom in Niseko

"When I started the business, people told me 'Ben, you're crazy, it's too expensive,' " he said. "But our buyers were saying the opposite: 'Ben, you're crazy. Why is it so cheap?' " suggesting properties in the area are still underpriced compared with overseas ski resorts.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?