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JAPAN
Dec 27, 2004

Bill to boost SDF overseas role nixed

The government has decided to forgo submitting a bill during the next Diet session that would make international peace missions a "principal duty" of the Self-Defense Forces, government sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 27, 2004

Grass-root case for independent Taiwan

NEW YORK -- Sallie Huang is a passionate advocate of Taiwan's independence. She argues that China is simply flaunting its ignorance and wrongheadedness in claiming Taiwan as part of its territory.
COMMENTARY
Dec 27, 2004

Extract the Yasukuni thorn

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's practice of making annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine is a thorn in the side of Japan-China relations.
COMMENTARY
Dec 27, 2004

Democracy by cookie cutter

LONDON -- U.S. President George W. Bush claims his policy is to promote democracy because democratic countries do not wage aggressive wars.
EDITORIALS
Dec 26, 2004

A summer date with Harry Potter

To the delight of her young readers, her publishers and booksellers everywhere, British author J.K. Rowling last week announced that she had delivered to the printers the manuscript of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," Book 6 in her phenomenally popular fantasy series. It should have come as...
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2004

Nonaka cuts China trip over Lee visa

Hiromu Nonaka, a former secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Saturday he will cancel a trip to China next month because Japan issued a visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui.
EDITORIALS
Dec 26, 2004

A Christmas admonition

Last Sunday Pope John Paul II said something that, while directed to Roman Catholics, perhaps deserved a wider audience. Speaking in the runup to the Christmas season, the pope expressed regret at the suffocation of the holiday by what he called "material things" and called for a simpler, more community-minded...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2004

Gay penguins found in aquariums

A group of researchers said it has found a number of same-sex pairs of penguins at aquariums and zoos around Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 26, 2004

Archer Prewitt: "Wilderness"

The fourth solo release by graphic artist and Sea and Cake guitarist Archer Prewitt is a passionate ode to romantic melancholy. In the spirit of Jimmy Webb, Prewitt lends mystical qualities to songs that can hold their own on Top 40 radio, highlighting his lush, high tenor rather than his guitar this...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 26, 2004

Mapping out a metropolis

TOKYO CITY ATLAS: A Bilingual Guide, supervised by Atsushi Umeda. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2004, 124 pp., 2,205 yen (paper). Here is the third revised, updated edition of the handiest of all Tokyo atlas guides. Since the 2001 edition came out, there has been, as always, an amount of change in this...
COMMUNITY
Dec 26, 2004

Revealing 'The Japanese Sensibility': Humanism

What could be said for the human being after Nanking, Dresden, Auschwitz, Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Whatever the motivation, this is what we did to each other, and continue to do to this very hour. How can a writer write about goodness when people of all nations, autocratic or democratic, take up murder...
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2004

Prince Hotels to withdraw from two sites

Prince Hotels Co., a member of the scandal-hit Seibu Railway group, is planning to pull out from the management of hotels in Kitakyushu and Singapore as contracts with the owners come to an end, company officials said Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 26, 2004

Jubilo to meet Verdy in final

Second-half substitute Masashi Nakayama struck a late winner Saturday as defending champion Jubilo Iwata came from behind to beat the Urawa Reds 2-1 in the Emperor's Cup semifinals to set up a meeting with Tokyo Verdy in the New Year's Day final.
Japan Times
Features
Dec 26, 2004

The voice

The first time he met her she told him everything, but he wasn't listening to the words.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 26, 2004

Victory can't save IBM from relegation

IBM Big Blue may have recorded its first win of the year, in beating World Fighting Bull 37-28 at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to prevent it from taking up one of the two automatic relegation spots from the Top League.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 26, 2004

The Clash: "London Calling: 25th Anniversary Edition"

"London Calling" is one of those timeless songs that can't help sending a shiver up your spine anytime you hear it and the double album it lent its title to is, for many, the quintessential Clash album. To celebrate 25 years since its release, "London Calling" has been re-issued as a special CD/DVD pack....
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2004

Obituary: Jiro Kinjo

Potter Jiro Kinjo, designated in 1985 as a living national treasure, died Friday night, his family said Saturday. He was 92.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 26, 2004

Foreign language of Japanese politics

TALKING POLITICS IN JAPAN, by Ofer Feldman. Portland: Sussex Academic Press, 2004, 214 pp., $65 (cloth). One of the greatest frustrations of studying the Japanese language is constantly being lectured by native speakers of the language, as well as fluent foreigners, on its inherent difficulty and grammatical...
Japan Times
Features
Dec 26, 2004

Men or monkeys in 2004?

A year is a novel that writes itself. The plot may be incoherent and the main characters disappointing, but the overall effect never fails to be riveting.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 26, 2004

Great goalkeeper not a necessity for a championship club

LONDON -- There is a growing suspicion that apart from having the best team in the Premiership, Chelsea also has the two best goalkeepers in England's top league.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 26, 2004

V.A.: "WarpVision: The Videos 1989-2004"

Sheffield's Warp label has been associated with cutting-edge visuals as well as its electronic music -- a reputation no doubt based on the strength of its packaging, as well some of its more striking videos, notably by the lauded director Chris Cunningham. His best work for Warp stands out on this DVD...
COMMENTARY
Dec 26, 2004

The will to clean up politicos

MANILA -- Political parties are essential components of democratic governance. Democracies require political parties as these offer the voter political choices at election time. They also represent and channel divergent social interests and diffuse them in what is typically a protracted political process....
MORE SPORTS
Dec 26, 2004

JFA to join AFC tour of N. Korea

Soccer officials from Japan, Iran and Bahrain will join the Asian Football Confederation's inspection visit to North Korea ahead of next year's final-round World Cup qualifiers, Japan Football Association President Saburo Kawabuchi said Friday.
Dec 26, 2004

Nonaka cuts China trip over Lee visa

Hiromu Nonaka, a former secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Saturday he will cancel a trip to China next month because Japan issued a visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui.

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?