Joined by Hello Kitty, three girls pose in front of a make-believe hot air balloon at the entrance to Sanrio Marchengallery on the seventh floor of the Tobu department store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, on Thursday. With 200 sq. meters of floor space, the renovated and newly opened outlet is the largest Sanrio Co. shop in Tokyo. YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTO
Slaying in Afghanistan will not deter Japan's antiterror mission
By MASAMI ITO
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura vows that the murder, apparently by rebels, of Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito in Afghanistan will not change Japan's policy toward the country.
DPJ trio to form new party
By KAZUAKI NAGATA and MASAMI ITO
Three Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers will leave the DPJ to form a new political party with two Upper House independent lawmakers.
Chinese investigator in tainted 'gyoza' case replaced
A Chinese official in charge of investigating food poisoning cases in Japan triggered by Chinese-made frozen dumplings has been replaced.
Dewi Sukarno
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Italian economy goes high gear
China's business hub still leads race
Letting the light of peace and reconciliation shine -- Fire RitesFestival kindles hopes for peace.
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Your key to learning about Japan, its language and culture: Our recommended Japanese language schools.
通訳・翻訳業界の総合ガイドブック2009年度版が誕生！一部コンテンツをウェブで公開中。
The Japan Times Online Updates
- Japan Times Weekly Digital Version: The Japan Times Weekly can now be read via digital reader software, with all pages in full color. Click for more information (in Japanese) about the digital version of The Japan Times Weekly. The Japan Times Weeklyのデジタル版がスタートしました。デジタル版は全ページがカラーです。 お申し込みはこちらから。
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Giants' Uehara returns to rotation with a win
By JASON COSKREY
Hurler Koji Uehara starts his first game in over four months, leading the Yomiuri Giants to a 7-1 win over the Yokohama BayStars.
TENNISJankovic pushed hard in win
OLYMPICS: TRACK AND FIELDBolt ready to run in Zurich
Natural by design
By WINIFRED BIRD
I magine being able to maintain a perfect temperature and humidity in your home year round, without spending a single yen in electricity or gas bills. That's exactly what Professor Emile Ishida of Tohoku University in northern Japan is striving ...
WEEK 3Big business in death
By SETSUKO KAMIYA
WEEK 3'Inaudible' ring confounds adults
By EDAN CORKILL
By DANIEL ROBSON
The new edition of 'The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan' offers a reworked introduction to the sounds of a nation.
Ainu musician Oki brings the world to Hokkaido
By DANIEL ROBSON
Coppola totally uncorked
By GIOVANNI FAZIO
Francis Ford Coppola says he can now afford to lose several million dollars on a film every couple of years. If he's making stuff like this, let's hope he's right.
Je m'appelle ElisabethSpirited away . . . not quite
By KAORI SHOJI
Detroit Metal CitySome sympathy for the devil
By MARK SCHILLING
The perfect gin and tonic
By NICHOLAS COLDICOTT
From the temperature of the ice to the sweetness of the tonic, Tokyo's award-winning bartenders tell how to pour a perfect G&T.
Ten things you never knew about gin
By NICHOLAS COLDICOTT
Five for summer: Malibu cocktail recipes
The naked and the (almost) dead
By SIMON BARTZ
Hot springs, soy sauce, gangsters and jelly-kneed vertigo in Choshi.
ON THE ROADElectric bikes charge the market
By LEE BROWN
What do you buy for the U.S. president who has everything?
Between Sword and Spear in the Japanese Alps
By PERRIN LINDELAUF
Lasenkan to stage 'Dejima'
By TAI KAWABATA
Lasenkan Theater is a Japanese drama group based in Berlin. Since 2002, it has spent two-thirds of every year in the German capital, presenting works by author Yoko Tawada, a resident of Germany.
Get familiar with the 'G Mark' concept
By EDAN CORKILL
Special screening set for 'Fragment'
By ERIKO ARITA
Pampering at the Otani, curries at the Hyatt
The pick of this week's specials at Japan's hotels and restaurants.
Fukui quizzed on office expenses
Japan to evaluate foreign flu vaccine
Six-party talks key to defusing North nukes
By JUN HONGO
Critics dispute Michelin regard for Tokyo
Music hath charms to soothe a savage miso
Japan next for Aussie 'cosplay' champions
Toyota plugs into electric vehicles
By HIROKO NAKATA
Debt-servicing costs swell next year's budget
By KANAKO TAKAHARA
MUFG to raise stake in lender Acom to 40%
Coming out of the shadows
By MICHAEL HASSETT
LIFE IN JAPANAppropriate that 'G-word'
VIEWS FROM THE STREETWhat will you remember most about the Beijing Olympics?
By BRIAN PUBLICOVER
The Pantone Slide, TwistTogether Lamp and Sony Sountina
By JEAN SNOW
Tattoos come out of hiding
By MANAMI OKAZAKI
Dewi Sukarno
By JUDIT KAWAGUCHI
Indecisive moments
By ASHLEY RAWLINGS
ARTContemplative in Gunma
By YOKO HARUHARA
INSIDE ARTWhy curators stay at home
By EDAN CORKILL
Slipknot "All Hope is Gone"
By ALEX HOBAN
MUSICMore far-flung festival fun at Sado Island's Earth Celebration
By DONALD EUBANK
LISTENING POST CD REVIEWWire "Object 47"
By IAN MARTIN
Today we itadaku, for tomorrow we die
By ROGER PULVERS
Cache of weapons concealed in kanji
By MARY SISK NOGUCHI
A tensely wrought tale of true believers
By MARK SCHREIBER
Some lessons from Japan's burst bubble
By ANTHONY FENSOM
'One scene/one shot,' one director
By DONALD RICHIE
Sharing summer memories becomes even easier
By PETER CROOKES
The face that launched a thousand robots
By TIM HORNYAK
This mask is used for seeking, not hiding
By PETER CROOKES
Gamers can tap into their neural impulses
By PETER CROOKES
Channel surf
It's time for perfectly cute 50 -year- old Japanese women
By PHILIP BRASOR
Workers tune in, turn off, burn out
By GEOFF BOTTING
Feeding the trash can
By MICHAEL HOFFMAN