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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 30, 2007

Bilingual blanks are nothing to kobosu your guchi about

Last week in this column, I addressed the trials and tribulations of bringing up a child to be bilingual — both for parents and children. As anyone who has been down that road knows, it's what Japanese people would call shinan no waza (an arduous task).
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2007

U.S. won't forget abduction issue: Hill

During a brief visit to Tokyo on Wednesday, the top U.S. negotiator with Pyongyang avoided commenting on what conditions the U.S. would consider in removing North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 26, 2007

Turning waste into rich resources

Visit Calcutta, even briefly, and you soon learn the rules of the road — or rather that there aren't many, if any. You will also meet some of the planet's most resourceful people, from street children to scientists who are masters of making very little go a long way.
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 Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 25, 2007

Running circles round the Emperor

Some people run it, some cycle it, some simply walk it. Any way you do it, the route around the Imperial Palace has become Tokyo's best-known track.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Sep 23, 2007

Japanese: A language in a state of flux

Languages are never static. They change and evolve with people over time. They also interact with other languages, and through an endless cycle of loaning and borrowing of words, ideas and concepts are shared, exchanged and nurtured across national and cultural boundaries.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 21, 2007

Seigetsu: Great balls of cedar promise good sake

It's the constant conundrum we all face when we arrive in a strange city or wander into an unfamiliar neighborhood. Among the profusion of restaurants and bars, how can you tell which ones are any good? One rule of thumb that has stood us in good stead here over the years: keep your eyes peeled for sakabayashi....
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 18, 2007

Typhoons more predictable but still deadly

Most years, the typhoon season peaks in September, as illustrated by the recent Typhoon No. 9, called Fitow, which killed two, and Typhoon No. 11, also known as Nari, which approached Okinawa last week.
EDITORIALS
Sep 6, 2007

Definition of 'all' in nuclear talks

Emerging from a bilateral meeting in Geneva this week between the United States and North Korea, top U.S. negotiator Mr. Christopher Hill said that both parties agreed that North Korea "will provide a full declaration of all their nuclear programs and will disable their nuclear programs by the end of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 24, 2007

'Sicko'

In the space of merely a few years, director Michael Moore has seen his reputation morph from "the guy who made documentary films truly popular" to "the guy who plays fast and loose with the truth." His moment of greatest triumph at the box office — "Fahrenheit 9/11," which raked in some $120 million,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 15, 2007

Bliss for a Lazy Birder

Birders are often motivated by their species list — often something akin to their meaning of life.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 7, 2007

Still the king of alcohol in Japan

The unbearably hot and humid summer is peak beer season in Japan. Here are some facts about the nation's beer market and its taxes, as well as regulations related to the alcoholic beverage:
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2007

Revise the personal information law

The Personal Information Protection Law, which went into effect in April 2005, in principle bars organizations that possess or handle personal information from providing it to third parties without the consent of the people concerned. Good intentions are behind the law.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 6, 2007

Eating your way along the coast

The ocean sparkles; the beach beckons; a breeze stirs the appetite. And the Shonan coast — an hour or so south of Tokyo by train — looks mighty appealing, especially the secluded inlets down the peninsula in genteel Hayama. That's where you'll find the Food File.
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2007

Hope for six-party talks lives

SEOUL — It's not exactly clear what Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Christopher Hill told (or promised) North Korean officials during his surprise visit to Pyongyang last week — or if the mere continuation of the long sought after one-on-one direct dialogue was sufficient — but the DPRK has finally...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2007

New cell phone services tap image-recognition technologies

Normally used for security purposes, face and image recognition technologies are making their way into other, more entertaining, fields. One service, kaocheki, lets people send a digital photo of themselves via cell phone to find out which celebrity they most resemble.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2007

Assuaging fears of being a judge

Within two years, the lay judge system will be introduced in Japan. Citizens will be able to have their opinions directly reflected in initial, lower-court trials for heinous crimes. But the system will impose new civic duties and burdens on citizens. It is imperative that the courts, the bar and the...
SOCCER
Jun 19, 2007

Osim announces provisional squad

Ivica Osim named Japan's provisional squad for the Asian Cup finals at JFA House on Monday evening, and the national team coach couldn't find room in his 30-strong list for Europe-based players Koji Nakata and Junichi Inamoto.
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2007

Surveillance of citizens

The Japanese Communist Party has made public copies of two documents it says were prepared by the Ground Self-Defense Force's information security units during a period when grassroots opposition to the dispatch of the GSDF unit to Iraq was strong. The documents are said to show detailed surveillance...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 29, 2007

Aso Mining's POW labor: the evidence

One year after media reports that Aso Mining used 300 Allied prisoners of war for forced labor in 1945, Foreign Minister Taro Aso is refusing to confirm that POWs dug coal for his family's firm — and even challenging reporters to produce evidence.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?