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BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 20, 2006

Posting, free agents and the always-busy rumor mill

Japan's sports papers are saying the ownership of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows is indicating the team is leaning toward posting two star players for major league availability following the 2006 season. Third baseman Akinori Iwamura and lefty reliever Hirotoshi Ishii are the guys who may be put up for auction...
MORE SPORTS
Aug 20, 2006

Araki, Japan best S. Korea

Erika Araki scored a game-high 14 points to help Japan beat archrival South Korea in straight sets Saturday as the host won its second game in as many nights at the women's volleyball World Grand Prix.
EDITORIALS
Aug 20, 2006

Homegrown political terror

On Aug. 15, the 61st anniversary of the end of World War II -- the day when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid homage to the war dead at Yasukuni Shrine -- the house of the mother of former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Koichi Kato burned down. The veteran politician is a known critic...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2006

Following arson attack, Kato warns of 'dangerous' nationalism emerging

Veteran lawmaker Koichi Kato, victim of an arson attack on one of his houses last week following his criticism of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, is warning that signs of "dangerous" nationalism are increasing in Japan.
BASKETBALL
Aug 20, 2006

Ginobili leads Argentina to victory

SENDAI -- Argentina, Nigeria and Lebanon all scored victories in Group A action on the opening day of the FIBA World Championship here on Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 20, 2006

Notes on Yasukuni and a week that will live in infamy

Following his historic visit to Yasukuni Shrine last Tuesday on the 61st anniversary of Japan's surrender, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi spoke to the media. As usual, his comments had the bland quality of safely scripted pronouncements, but at one point he paused significantly: "I prayed for those...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 20, 2006

Japan: Never quite closed and still opening now

THE OPENING OF JAPAN 1853-1855: A Comprehensive Study of the American, British, Dutch and Russian Naval Expeditions to Compel the Tokugawa Shogunate to Conclude Treaties and Open Ports to Their Ships, by William McOmie. Folkestone: Global Oriental, 505 pp., 2006, £65 (cloth). The assertion that Commodore...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 20, 2006

Airs and grimaces

You don't even need a guitar to let your hot licks hang out anymore. Duckwalk like Angus (Young; AC/DC), windmill like (Pete; The Who) Townshend and bow like (Jimmy; Led Zeppelin) Page -- no prob; all with air, but not like (Michael; Nike Air) Jordan.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 20, 2006

The unique voice of Ryunosuke Akutagawa

RASHOMON AND SEVENTEEN OTHER STORIES, by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, translated by Jay Rubin, introduction by Haruki Murakami. London: Penguin Classics, 2006, 268 pp., £9.99 (paper). In what is still the finest assessment of Ryunosuke Akutagawa's life and work, Howard Hibbett complained that for most, the...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2006

Okinawa to get school backed by U.S. military

The Japanese and U.S. governments are working to establish an international school in Okinawa Prefecture that promotes English education among Japanese children with the help of the U.S. military.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 20, 2006

NHK's "Beatles Rainichi 103 Jikan," Nihon TV's "24 Hour TV" and more

Japan is still celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' only visit, and on Monday at 10 p.m., NHK-G will present "Beatles Rainichi 103 Jikan (The Beatles Come to Japan for 103 Hours)." The documentary will relive the Fab Four's arrival at Haneda Airport, which experienced a security crunch like...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 20, 2006

A nation of animal lovers -- as pets or when they're on a plate

The Japanese consider themselves a compassionate people when it comes to an animal's fate. Memorial stones have been erected in whaling villages since the early Edo Period (1603-1867), as they are today at slaughterhouses. Buddhist priests are hired to read the sutras before altars set with incense and...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 20, 2006

Seniors go French with a 'little pig'

During the summer months in Japan, parks, baseball grounds and school yards come alive with the grimaces, grins, grunts and cries of triumph or dismay from people of advanced years who gather together to toss big metal balls at a little wooden one.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2006

Limits of long-term arrogance revealed

JERUSALEM -- Wars are won not only on battlefields, but also in people's minds. So, while Hezbollah has not decisively won its current war with Israel, by maintaining its ability to fight in the face of the might of the Israeli Army, it has captured the imagination of Arabs, restoring lost pride in the...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 20, 2006

There's gold being panned in them thar hills

There may be many perfectly good reasons to spend a weekend sloshing around in water panning for gold. Trying to get rich isn't one of them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 20, 2006

Medieval gem to blow you away

Heidelberg's a blast! This German university town has something about it that simply says "style." It also has a history of revolutionary ideas, religious schisms, destruction, anarchy and heroic restoration.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 20, 2006

Summertime, and the dying is easy

RENDEZVOUS AT KAMAKURA INN by Marshall Browne. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, 288 pp., $23.95 (cloth). SAYONARA BAR by Susan Barker. London: Black Swan Books, 2006, 430 pp., £6.99 (paper). For Detective Inspector Hideo Aoki of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, the sprinklings of misfortune have become...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2006

Ex-lawmaker's former aide questioned over Mizutani scam

Prosecutors probing alleged tax evasion by engineering firm Mizutani Kensetsu Co. have questioned a former secretary to a retired Diet member who once served as a Cabinet minister and was a top executive of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
BASKETBALL
Aug 19, 2006

Coach K chooses three captains for Team USA

SAPPORO -- Even for mighty Coach K, it may have been too hard to choose just one man.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’