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COMMENTARY
May 31, 2006

Textbook economists leave casualties in their wake

The United States and Europe have their trade problems with China, but pause for a moment to consider what is happening in the developing world.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 31, 2006

Philosopher reignites debate over contraception

When it was reported last month that Hollywood actor Tom Cruise intended to eat his wife's placenta raw, I thought it was one of the stranger stories going round at the time. Another, according to some newspapers, was that Cruise had bought his wife, actress Katie Holmes, an adult-sized pacifier to ensure...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 30, 2006

Japan ready to battle 'culinary imperialists'

Earlier this year I was commissioned by a British newspaper to research a Japanese company called Hakudai, which was reputed to be putting whale meat into dog food.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 30, 2006

'Gokiburi,' new law and residency

Cockroaches One of our readers has been having problems with cockroaches recently. She has been cleaning the apartment regularly, placing cockroach traps and even used a "bomb" to try and get rid of them, all to no avail.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
May 29, 2006

Creeping back toward thought control

NEW YORK -- Why are politicians so often regressive? Several years ago the Japanese government legally ritualized the singing of the national anthem and the raising of the flag. Now it is intent on changing a 60-year-old education law to codify patriotism.
EDITORIALS
May 28, 2006

Winning and losing on Mount Everest

It's hard to hang on to a reliable mental image of Mount Everest these days. Is the great Himalayan peak still among the planet's foremost symbols of inaccessibility? Or is it going the way of Mount Fuji, slowly evolving in the popular mind from a lonely, forbidding, lethal fortress into a routine trekking...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 27, 2006

England's showing in World Cup warmup fails to inspire

LONDON -- When England's "B" international against Belarus on Thursday was arranged earlier this year it was seen as little more than a loosener for players who had not played club football for two or three weeks.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 27, 2006

Corporate culture of deceit wreaks havoc on wealth and markets

Unethical conduct by corporate executives and employees -- ranging from outright fraud to excessive salaries and perks for CEOs -- can inflict much greater financial damage than deadly terrorist acts, visiting American experts warned in a recent symposium in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
May 26, 2006

Weak effort to equalize votes

The Upper House has passed and sent to the Lower House a bill to revise the Public Offices Election Law in order to rectify disparities in the relative value of a vote in Upper House elections. The bill, submitted by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito, is likely to...
EDITORIALS
May 25, 2006

A love that can't be legislated

The Diet has started discussions on a government bill to revise the Fundamental Law of Education. First and foremost, the bill represents an attempt to lay down a legal basis for using education as a means of instilling "love of nation" in students. While love of nation is something that should grow...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 25, 2006

Incidentally Capturing the city

Berlin is not beautiful like Paris, rich like London, or charming like Amsterdam. Prewar buildings in the German capital are pockmarked by bullet holes, while postwar architecture testifies to the city's division due to the Cold War -- American, British and French sectors were restored or rebuilt, the...
LIFE / Language
May 23, 2006

Opening up to difference: The dialect dialectic

Many people in Japan lead a double life -- linguistically speaking, that is. In their community, they speak the hogen (dialect) of their city, town or village, while outside it they may be accustomed to use hyojungo (standard Japanese). Their native language, in the true sense of that word, is their...
EDITORIALS
May 22, 2006

Repairing a lifelong ideological rift

The top leaders of the pro-Seoul and pro-Pyongyang groups of Korean residents in Japan met last week, ending almost 60 years of hostilities and marking the start of reconciliation. Mr. Ha Byeong Ok, president of pro-Seoul Mindan (Korean Residents Union in Japan) and Mr. So Man Sul, chairman of pro-Pyongyang...
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2006

The great ape debate unfolds in Europe

PRINCETON, New Jersey -- In his "History of European Morals," published in 1869, the Irish historian and philosopher W.E.H. Lecky wrote:
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 21, 2006

Zuleta defends his actions after being plunked by Kanemura

It was Sunday, April 16. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were playing in Kyushu. Hawks slugger Julio Zuleta was at the plate when Fighters right-hander Satoru Kanemura delivered a pitch that sailed inside and nailed Zuleta in the middle of his 197-cm frame.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 21, 2006

Henry says money not reason he chose to stay with Gunners

LONDON -- According to Thierry Henry, he had not thought about signing a new contract with Arsenal before last Wednesday's Champions League final defeat by Barcelona. The match over, Henry said he would start to think about his future.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 21, 2006

Will Japan's 'positive influence' persist as it didn't before?

Well, the news is out, and it's good news.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 21, 2006

See how Japan's TV entertainment evolved in Fuji TV's drama "The Hit Parade" and more

The model for the modern Japanese talent agency or "production company," which dominates all aspects of show business in Japan, was created by the late Shin Watanabe and his wife, Misa, in 1955. This Friday and Saturday Fuji TV will present a special two-part drama, "The Hit Parade" (9 p.m. each night),...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 21, 2006

Hopes and fears fuel soccer fans' far-flung parties

Walking up Gaien-Higashi Dori, the road that begins at Tokyo Tower and cuts through the Roppongi entertainment district, at 7 in the morning last Saturday there was more than the usual bags of garbage being torn at by crows, bleary-eyed hosts and hostesses knocking off work, or resting ticket touts and...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 21, 2006

Vision from the other side

It's not every day that you walk into a room to find yourself standing face-to-face with a skinned cadaver. It's the kind of thing that can change your whole day . . . or your whole life.
SUMO
May 19, 2006

Hakuho, Miyabiyama stay tied at top

Mongolian Hakuho posted a hard-fought win over compatriot Kyokushuzan on Thursday to remain tied for the lead with three days left in the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 19, 2006

Fukui library pulls books on gender issues on complaint

OSAKA -- A library in Fukui Prefecture has become the latest flash point in the struggle over gender equality after it was learned that 150 books on women's issues and gender studies were removed from the shelves.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 19, 2006

Africa fest in Tokyo

With Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's recent visit to Ethiopia and Ghana putting Africa on the front pages in Japan, African Festa 2006, taking place May 20 to 21 at Hibiya Park, Tokyo, could not be more timely.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2006

Publishers find silver lining in coloring books for the elderly

For many people, coloring conjures up fond memories of childhood -- books scattered across the table, engrossed in one's work, clutching crayons until one's hands ached.

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