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Japan Times
JAPAN / UPPER HOUSE SHOWDOWN
Jul 13, 2007

Novice candidates have issues

Political newcomers, including wartime Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo's granddaughter, a former TV Asahi newscaster and a hemophiliac with HIV, hit the Tokyo campaign trail Thursday, vying to represent voters in the House of Councilors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2007

'Funuke Domo, Kanashimi no Ai o Misero'

Black comedies about dysfunctional families are common enough in Japan, from Sogo Ishii's anarchic "Gyakufunsha Kazoku (The Crazy Family)" (1984) to Takashi Miike's batty "Katakurike no Kofuku (The Happiness of the Katakuris)" (2001), which also has the distinction of the being the first Japanese zombie...
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2007

Upper House campaign commences

The campaign for the July 29 Upper House election has officially started. It is the first national election since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in September 2006. Under the Abe administration so far, the Fundamental Law of Education has been revised to instill patriotism in children and strengthen...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 13, 2007

Taking a stroll back through time

TAKAYAMA, Gifu Pref. — In a country that deems houses well past their best-by date after 20 or 30 years, and fit only for destruction and reform, it is a minor miracle of sorts that wooden private houses built in the Edo Period (1603-1867) remain almost intact here, and that most of them are still...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 13, 2007

Antibalas "Security"

The fourth album from Afrobeat standard-bearers Antibalas comes roaring in with a fanfare of battle horns over razor-sharp breakbeats on the aptly named opening track "Beaten Metal." LPs don't open much more ferociously than this. Next comes "Filibuster X," the track that will best please the Afrobeat...
SOCCER
Jul 12, 2007

Musovic: Osim's reaction no shock

Qatar coach Dzemaludin Musovic has come out in support of his old boss Ivica Osim after the Bosnian labeled his Japan charges "a bunch of amateurs" after the draw between the two teams in their Asian Cup finals Group B opener.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 12, 2007

From a whim to pottery passion

Masayuki Inoue's repertoire includes sky-high monoliths and massive sculptures that span several meters. Many of these monumental works are held together by metal bolts and industrial adhesive, which in itself is not particularly unusual in the world of contemporary art. But here's the twist: Inoue is...
MORE SPORTS
Jul 11, 2007

U.S. scores 11 TDs, demolishes South Korea 77-0

During halftime of the United States' game against South Korea a number of Germany's supporters were seen heading to nearby vendors and buying South Korea jerseys. Although the Germans may want to think twice about wearing them lest the Americans suffer a case of mistaken identity Thursday night.
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2007

Premature plan for devolution

A study group within the Liberal Democratic Party has submitted an interim report on introducing the "doshu" system of regional governments to the Abe administration. The crux of the idea is to divide the nation into nine to 13 regional blocs and give them greater autonomy than they have now.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2007

Palestinians' 'Blair option' needs help

LOS ANGELES — The release of an abducted BBC journalist in Gaza is being seen by some as an attempt by Hamas (which denies any part in the kidnapping) to curry favor with Tony Blair, who on stepping down as Britain's prime minister was appointed international envoy to Israel and Palestine. Blair has...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 10, 2007

Hawker T-shirt campaign launched

In March, 22-year-old Nova teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker was brutally murdered in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. Tatsuya Ichihashi remains the Japanese police's only suspect and has still not been found.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2007

Breaking locks on the pillars of finance

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — One has go back to the "Year of Three Popes" (1978) to find a succession drama as strange as what has been happening at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the two pillars of global finance.
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Kleptocracy to 'freedom'?

Hla Aye Maung's nightmare began in the central Tokyo district of Nishi Nippori when he went shopping. A police car pulled up beside him and the officers found he was one of the more than 250,000 illegal aliens apparently working in Japan. They took him to a police station in nearby Ueno, from where he...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 7, 2007

Collins hopes Kiyohara can return next April

After winning the first game of their July 3-5 series against the Chiba Lotte Marines, the Orix Buffaloes lost the final two games. When the dust settled, two games wasn't all they lost.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 7, 2007

How a look out to sea can help you determine lodging rates

Just as I was jogging down the beach past Amano-san's house, I saw her in her yard with a hoe, turning up the grass. I winced each time the hoe cut into the ground, digging up another patch of green, but she was working very hard at this. I suppose dirt is easier to take care of.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 6, 2007

Buffaloes happy with their end of Yoshii-to-Marines deal

Sometimes things come full circle pretty quick.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 6, 2007

Six things you must do this summer

Summer heat getting you down? Don't sweat it. Whether the weather is friend or foe, there are plenty of ways to add some variety to the coming months.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2007

'Glastonbury'

As the summer festival season draws closer in Japan, now is a good time to take a moment and recall the festival that has served as an inspiration for so many others (including Fuji Rock Festival). No, I'm not talking about Woodstock, which is a great example of how to run a nonsustainable event in which...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jul 4, 2007

Lakers won't buckle and trade Kobe

NEW YORK — Before I go away for the summer (to camp . . . at least that's what my family is telling me), there are certain things I want to get off my chest.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jul 4, 2007

A very special friend

Last year, on June 10, my dear friend Eiji Nakahara died. He was 65.
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jul 4, 2007

R2D2 shapes up as the real gadget star

In the 70-odd years since the advent of talkies, how big a movie star you are has been measured by how many lines of dialogue you get. Presumably these need to be uttered in a language known to at least some members of humanity. R2D2, the robot droid of Star Wars legend, defied that convention to grab...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Jul 3, 2007

"Tunnels," "The Boy in the Biscuit Tin"

"Tunnels," By Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Chicken House; 2007; 463 pp. Books that lead to sequels are good news and bad news bundled into one. Good news because a sequel means that there's more where this came from, and bad news because the author is not obligated to resolving the plot by the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 3, 2007

What are the cultural differences of dating and relationships?

COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2007

Hong Kong media thrive under China

LOS ANGELES — Not every place in the world takes its news media seriously, to say the least. Some governments view it as a nuisance, if not a menace; others as an arm of public instruction, if not propaganda. But this is not the view taken here in what (since the 1997 handover from Britain) is officially...
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2007

Miss Universe director turns Japanese into women of world

and "sekushii" (sexy) woman. "The kawaii concept is for 12-year-old girls," she said. "Real beauty for women comes from the inside. It's a mental thing. It's about sensuality and intelligence."
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2007

New nursing-care plan already struggling

system is not designed for providers to earn profits," Hattori said. However, she said the way Comsn tried to expand its business was particularly despicable. Before the fraud scandal mushroomed, if Comsn got caught inflating the number of employees at a nursing-care facility, it would shut the facility...

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