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EDITORIALS
Sep 4, 2005

Asia's ever expanding arms market

A sia's economic growth has many effects, not least of which is providing more money for governments to buy arms. So it should come as no surprise that the most authoritative assessment of the world's conventional arms market puts Asian nations at the top of the list of arms purchasers.
Japan Times
Features
Sep 4, 2005

Nagano's champion of change

He is perhaps the most well-known governor in Japan, largely because he has been breaking with tradition ever since he took office in Nagano Prefecture in October 2000.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 4, 2005

Selective thinking devalues the V-word's worth

There is a six-letter word so abused and perverted these days that I wouldn't blame the media for banning it altogether. It is the V-word and, I must confess, I hesitated to write this column about it myself. But journalists must not be daunted by trends that pollute . . . and so, here we go. The word,...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2005

Hot Hot Heat

Since last we saw Hot Hot Heat at Summer Sonic in 2003, the Victoria, British Columbia, band lost their invaluable guitarist Dante Decaro and released a major label album, "Elevator" (Sire-London/Rhino), that has incurred the unallayed derision of the indie-rock cognoscenti. For sure, "Elevator" doesn't...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 4, 2005

When money and politics merge

THE THAKSINIZATION OF THAILAND, by Duncan McCargo and Ukrist Pathmanand. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2005, 277 pp., $23 (cloth). Thaksin Shinawatra is Thailand's flamboyant and controversial prime minister, a wealthy telecom magnate who has transformed the domestic political scene...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 4, 2005

The aged better off heading for the hills on their limited pensions

The main opposition parties claim that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's attempt to make the upcoming Lower House election a referendum on postal reform is simply a scheme to deflect public attention away from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's fiscal failures under his leadership. Consequently,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 4, 2005

For the love of Bollywood

BEHIND THE SCENES OF HINDI CINEMA. Edited by Johan Manschot and Marijke de Vos. With contributions by P.K. Nair, Deepa Gahlot, Gayatri Chatterjee et al. Foreword by Amitabh Bachchan, Amsterdam: KIT Publishers, 2005, 160 pp., profusely illustrated (cloth). The subtitle of this beautifully produced, lavishly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2005

Once more, with feeling

With a mane of wild hair and the darkly circled eyes of the sleep deprived, one could easily mistake Kieran Hebden for a grad student up too late at the lab. There is little evidence in his striped polo shirt and khaki shorts that he is one of the more sought after electronica producers and performers....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2005

Ronnie Earl and Duke Robillard: "The Duke Meets the Earl"

Pairing two guitarists' guitarists, Ronnie Earl and Duke Robillard, "The Duke Meets the Earl" is a powerhouse blues recording. In the 1970s and '80s, Duke and Earl led, successively, the heavy-touring band Roomful of Blues. Duke later recorded with jazz greats and kept touring, while Earl formed The...
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2005

Zurich Life data loss

Zurich Life Insurance Co. said Friday its Japanese branch has lost some 1,200 pieces of customer data stored in dossiers and on a CD-ROM disc.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 3, 2005

Place in England team key to Owen's move to Newcastle

LONDON -- In the end it was like an arranged marriage with one party delighted at their acquisition and the other given little alternative.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2005

Man shot by himself, not by interrogator: top court

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a damages suit by a woman claiming a police officer shot her father to death during an interrogation, as ruled by a district court, and instead said the man committed suicide.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2005

South Korean surrogates on offer

Tokyo-based Excellence has been offering to match Japanese with surrogate mothers in South Korea since the beginning of the year, with two clients signed up, the head of the firm said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2005

Textbook revisionists plan to diversify

Despite the marginal adoption of its contentious history textbook, which critics say whitewashes Japan's wartime aggression, the group that compiled the book said Friday it now plans to pen a junior high school geography textbook.
EDITORIALS
Sep 3, 2005

Class size that works

A committee of experts assisting the Education Ministry recently submitted an interim report on a subject that very much interests parents: the size of school classes. But the report's conclusion has apparently disappointed many parents, as it supports the current ministry guideline that sets the upper...
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2005

Women-only salons offer refuge after last trains

There is good news for weary women in Tokyo who stay out late and miss their last trains after working long hours or hanging out with friends.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2005

Vaccine may be linked to bird flu cases

The weak strain of avian influenza recently detected at more than a dozen farms in Ibaraki Prefecture may have been brought about by artificial contamination, including by the use of vaccines, a farm ministry panel said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2005

Blunt message down under

SYDNEY -- So you live in Australia and preach terrorism? Well, get out. That's the blunt message senior Howard government ministers are telling radical Australian Muslims.
COMMENTARY
Sep 3, 2005

Europeans sing the blues

PARIS -- According to the latest Eurobarometer, a regular survey published by Harris, less than a third of European Union residents are "very satisfied" with their lives, and only 44 percent expect things to improve in coming months.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2005

LDP, DPJ said on nearly same reform page

Despite heated debate between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan over which is the real champion of reform, both parties would pursue the ongoing fiscal reconsolidation the same way, a key member of the government's deregulation panel said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 3, 2005

Bringing porn to the people

It has always surprised me how so often in Japan, the beauty of the countryside loses out to the convenience of the city. To most Japanese people, the countryside is backward and just not suited for everyday living. Nature is like a video to be watched for a few hours during your free time, preferably...
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2005

Managers complete World buyout

Japanese fashion apparel maker World Co. said Friday it has successfully completed its tender offer in a management buyout plan that will turn the company into a privately owned corporation.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji