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Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2007

LDP appointments illustrate Fukuda's isolation

The appointments of four executives of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party highlight a weakness of Yasuo Fukuda — the lack of close allies within his own party.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 25, 2007

Pachinko seeks to shed shady image as market shrinks

Filled with noise, bright lights and cigarette smoke, the attraction of the pachinko parlor is hard for many to fathom.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2007

Fukuda elected new LDP president

joins his main contender, Taro Aso (left), and other members of the Liberal Democratic Party in shouting banzai after winning the party's presidential race Sunday. YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTO
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2007

Russia and the Kosovo card

TBILISI — Look before you leap is as sound a principle in foreign policy as it is in life. Yet, once again, the Bush administration is preparing to leap into the unknown. Even though lack of foresight is universally viewed as a leading cause of its Iraq debacle, the United States (with British backing...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 24, 2007

The Self-Defense Forces: living with a lie

NEW YORK — Many commentators have invoked historical analogies for U.S. President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq and its still unfolding aftermath, with some saying, correctly, that no exact historical analogies are possible for anything, the least of all this damnable war.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 2007

The sentence for keeping a journal

Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China, by Kang Zhengguo. W.W. Norton & Co, 2007, 443 pp., $27.95 (cloth) For Kang Zhengguo it all started when he began keeping a diary. In Maoist China, with no place for privacy, even an innocent record of daily life could be an incriminating document.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2007

Greater mobility for smaller wage gaps

PRAGUE — From its earliest days, the European Union has aimed for balanced economic development across its regions. The Maastricht Treaty contains the striking phrase "overall harmonious development." But however admirable this sentiment may be, there is no "scientific truth" about the "right" level...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 21, 2007

Touring German ensemble offer up brass from the past

German Brass, one of the world's top brass ensembles, will tour Japan Sept. 23-28. Ten experienced players perform together in a unique combination, showing off their effortless synchronization perfected over more than three decades and entertaining the audience with a wide and varied repertoire.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2007

BOJ leaves key interest rate unchanged

The Bank of Japan Policy Board decided Wednesday to keep its key interest rate at 0.5 percent, after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate the day before.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 20, 2007

Seeking collectors in Shanghai, not censors

Shanghai Exhibition Center is a massive, Stalinist birthday-cake of a building surrounded by newly constructed glass-and-steel skyscrapers in Shanghai's center. Originally know as Palace of the Sino-Soviet Friendship, from Sept. 6 to 9, the exhibition center had within its walls a new, capitalist friend,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 20, 2007

Faces of the screen queen

The screening of "I'm Not There" at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month left many in the aisles whispering "Academy Award" in reference to just one member of the ensemble cast — Cate Blanchett.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2007

Filipinos respectful of a star's conviction

BANGKOK — Joseph Estrada, the disgraced former president of the Philippines, faces the prospect of spending his remaining years in prison after a special court in Manila found him guilty of amassing around $15 million in bribes and kickbacks. During the 30 months he ruled his country, from mid-1998...
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2007

Another Japanese prime minister falls

LOS ANGELES — Japan is of gigantic importance to the United States and to the world. This nation — of 127 million people squeezed into one relatively small island — developed into the second-largest economy in the world.
Reader Mail
Sep 19, 2007

'Criminality' at the gates

Regarding the Sept. 4 article "Hatoyama a hawk on . . . illegal immigrants": It is nice to know that Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama is irked by "immigrants" and that he links them with crime. How ironic it is, then, that recent funding scandals involving farm ministers, Vice Foreign Minister Yukiko...
LIFE / Language
Sep 18, 2007

Lang-8 puts networking onto a linguistic level

W ith the current enthusiasm for online networking sites reaching a fever pitch with people flocking to MySpace and, recently, Facebook by the millions — not to mention mixi, which has 8 million users in Japan — it was only a matter of time before there would emerge a Web site devoted to foreign...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2007

'Shadow' leader Fukuda combative but seasoned

and Taro Aso raise their fists Saturday before officially registering for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on Sept. 23. KYODO PHOTOS
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 16, 2007

They're fey, maybe not gay, but anyway, the 'talent' are coming out to play

It's been more than 9 months since this column last looked at Johnny's Jimusho, Japan's most powerful talent agency, and in the meantime a lot has happened to the young male charges of reclusive company president Johnny Kitagawa. For one thing, these charges, or at least some of them, are no longer young,...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 16, 2007

Three cheers for the boys!

Take a moment to try to think seriously about cheerleaders. Nowadays, they don't just wear skimpy outfits, wave pompoms and do high kicks. Oh no, the cheerleaders jump, tumble and perform acrobatic stunts. And, of course, they dance, chant and smile as well. But colorful pompoms and short skirts apart,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2007

LDP factions huddle to choose new leader

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party scrambled to find a successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday as former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga expressed their intention to vie for the LDP presidency and thus the prime ministership.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2007

Ever ambivalent APEC

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), once derided as "four adjectives in search of a noun," is a study in frustration. APEC's strongest asset is also its greatest weakness. The group is made up of 21 member economies that account for 41 percent of the world's output and 50 percent of world trade....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 13, 2007

Blue Man Group: Attack of the 'Smurfs'

Butoh dance, attack art and the band Devo have all had a role in influencing Blue Man Group — which is bringing a two-month run of avant-garde theater to Japan.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat