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COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 2008

Barack Obama's overseas tour

Barack Obama wants three things out of his tour of the Mideast and Europe. He wants people everywhere to think that he has the answers for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He wants U.S. Jews to believe that he is Israel's unquestioning supporter. And he wants Americans to notice that Europeans would vote...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2008

Bettye LaVette brings her triumphant soul battle to Fuji

Few artists could have struggled through a career as thoroughly frustrating as that of American soul singer Bettye LaVette and still continue to display the strength and good humor that she does.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2008

Progress in making criminal leaders pay

PRAGUE — It has been only a little more than 15 years since the first of the contemporary international courts was created to prosecute those who commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Yet there is already a persistent theme in criticism of such tribunals: In their effort to do justice,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 22, 2008

Whaling: the meat of the matter

Whales are magnificent creatures I have always dreamt of seeing in the flesh. However, tucking into a slab of whale steak at a restaurant in Tokyo was not what I had in mind. Nevertheless, this was a close encounter with one of the world's largest mammals that I felt I could not duck out of: If I was...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 20, 2008

Tokyo: A guide for a certain type of resident

TOKYO: The Complete Residents' Guide, by Andy Sharp, Beau Miller, Frank Spignese, Jennifer Geaconne-Cruz, Julian Satterthwaite, Karryn Cartelle, Tamsin Bradshaw. Dubai: Explorer Group, Ltd., 2008, 444 pp., profusely illustrated, $14.99 (paper) This book, says the introduction, "is going to help you to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2008

The rising middle classes want their wheels

BEIJING — W hat becomes immediately apparent on entering the 10th annual Beijing car show is the emotional intensity with which China has thrown itself into its greatest consumerist passion to date: the first throes of an affair with the car. The entire nation, it turns out, is in love with them, is...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 18, 2008

I ain't afraid of those ghosts

There are lots of yureizaka (phantom slopes) in Tokyo, and at least seven of them have been spooking lily-livered pedestrians since the Edo Period (1603-1867). The slope I head for, in broad daylight, slants through the somnolent graveyards of old temples from the early 1600s. It's a beastly summer day,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2008

'Manufactured Landscapes'

It takes director Jennifer Baichwal close to 10 minutes to move from one end to the other of the electronic-parts factory in Fujian, China — the fast-moving camera glides along the floor showing aisles and aisles of yellow-jacketed workers bent over their tasks.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2008

Anti-Chavez axis emerging in Latin America

BRUSSELS — The rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages who had been held for years by FARC guerrillas marks more than a turning point in Colombia's long war against its drug-running, Marxist guerrillas. It also confirms the emergence of a new troika of Latin American leaders — Colombia's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 17, 2008

Aoi Miyazaki: from TV princess to rescuer of trafficked children

Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2008

Are 24-hour shops a waste of energy?

Are 24-hour convenience stores and other late-night businesses eco-friendly?
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 2008

Lawmaker takes 9/11 doubts global: readers' responses

A number of readers wrote to the Community Page in response to John Spiri's June 17 Zeit Gist article on Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukihisa Fujita. Following is a selection of the responses.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 15, 2008

Tanuki genitals

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2008

Japanese-type game show a hit in U.S.

A new Japanese export is luring U.S. consumers: television game shows that inflict pain, suffering and humiliation for a laugh.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 13, 2008

Focused Tamesue follows his own path in search of Olympic glory

I have a confession to make, and it won't send an electric shock through your nervous system, nor will it instantly give you a Don King hairdo.
Japan Times
Features
Jul 13, 2008

Top creators call for museums to save nation's modern heritage

What do industrial design, architecture, manga, anime, video games and traditional craft techniques have in common? Well, apart from each having spawned some of Japan's most popular cultural exports, the similarity is this: Japan has no national museums dedicated to their preservation, display and study....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 13, 2008

Tips from Japan that really work

URAWAZA: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks From Japan, by Lisa Katayama, with illustrations by Joel Holland. Chronicle Books, 2008, $14.95 (paper) Ever want to cure a stuffy nose, but nothing works? Try stuffing scallions up your nostrils. Your bedmate won't stop snoring? Tape a tennis ball to her back....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 13, 2008

Beauty of the beasts: mythological and real

A BRUSH WITH ANIMALS: Japanese Paintings 1700-1950, by Robert Schaap, with essays by Willem van Gulik, Henk Herwig, Arendie Herwig-Kempers, Daniel McKee and Andrew Thompson. Leiden: Society of Japanese Arts (distributed by Hotei/Brill), 2007, 206 pp. with 275 color illustrations, $117 (cloth), $81 (paper) This...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 12, 2008

Aoki makes big impact

For the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, who have made substantial changes to their roster over the past year or two, Norichika Aoki serves as a stabilizer on and off the field.
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2008

Forced to work for nothing

The Fair Trading Commission has ordered Yamada Denki, operator of the nation's largest consumer electronics retail chain, to stop the practice of forcing employees from its suppliers to work at its outlets without compensation. The Maebashi-based firm had some 250 suppliers send about 168,000 employees...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 11, 2008

Step into the shade

Inspired by a Japanese sense of beauty in subtlety, the Berlin dance duo of Malgven Gerbes and David Brandstatter will perform "Eulogy to the Shade" in Tokyo in early August.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2008

Confectioners spice things up with hot chili, soy sauce sweets

The Japanese sweets scene is heating up and getting salty to boot.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2008

Apple fans camp out for iPhone

With the Japanese launch of Apple Inc.'s iPhone set for Friday, signs that the hype was building began emerging Wednesday at Softbank's flagship store in Tokyo's Omotesando district.

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