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COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 27, 2006

Righting a wrong

In July 2005, Doudou Diene, a special representative of the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights, came to Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2006

Successor inherits ever-unpopular deficit mess

Most banks have shed their burden of bad loans. The Nikkei 225 average has recovered from rock bottom and the economy is finally picking up. But what about Japan's debt-ridden finances?
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2006

End of the oil age in sight?

LONDON -- First there was wood. Then it was replaced by coal. Then coal was replaced by oil. Is it now the turn of oil -- which currently accounts for some two-thirds of the world's primary energy -- to be pushed aside by other energy sources and devices?
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2006

Manual is no substitute for ethics

A court ruling handed down earlier this month on a botched operation at a hospital affiliated with the Jikei School of Medicine sheds light on the lack of ethics among some doctors. The operation led to the patient's death a month later.
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2006

Relapse in Afghanistan

With international attention focused on Iraq, it is easy to forget the other front in the fight against terrorism. A coalition of forces, acting under United Nations authorization, has waged war against Islamic extremists in Afghanistan for nearly four years. That battle has been overshadowed by the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2006

Japan heats up whaling wars

The battle over whaling has grown more acrimonious in recent years principally because Japan has become a more vociferous and belligerent advocate for a resumption of commercial whaling. In the recently concluded meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Japan's representative browbeat and...
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2006

Investors get more vocal on management decisions

Over the past several weeks, company executives have been beating a path to Pension Fund Association's door, trying to get the investment manager to agree with proposals they plan to submit at their shareholder meetings.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 24, 2006

Irrepressible force raising funds for 3,000 kids

It seems ironic to find 30-year-old Sylvia Charczuk worrying about her biological clock when already she has 3,000 children. But her energy is so prodigious, her determination so single-minded, that it would take a very special kind of partner to fit into the scheme of things. She knows this, of course,...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 21, 2006

Pacers ponder shipping out Jermaine

MIAMI -- If you read a quote by a named Pacers official or an unnamed source denying Jermaine O'Neal is being shopped, do not fall for it.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2006

Mitsui Sumitomo faces suspension

The Financial Services Agency is considering ordering Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. to suspend part of its operations for inappropriate nonpayment of insurance claims, FSA sources said Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 18, 2006

Dress-fest for a warming world thaws political chill

These days, between blasts of hot air over disputed gas fields and outbursts condemning "revisionist" history books, it's rare to hear praise from China for its geopolitical rival to the east.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 16, 2006

Wanted: Contestants for kids' cooking competition

Hattori Nutrition College in Tokyo is currently recruiting elementary school-age children -- and their parents -- to contest its "12th Hattori Kids' Cooking Contest" to be held July 28. The theme for the competition is primarily breakfast, and in particular, "breakfast made from tomato with miso soup."...
SUMO
Jun 15, 2006

With Wailing Walls and Dead Sea dips, who needs the World Cup?

Sumo, unlike football -- (the proper one as opposed to the pads and helmet version) -- never stops.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2006

Breaking the Iran stalemate

NEW YORK -- The conclusions of a study led by former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix are important to overcome the present stalemate with Iran. According to the independent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, "the first line of defense against the spread of nuclear weapons is to make states...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 14, 2006

Osaka school wins national title

Ryuji Shoji went 3-for-4 and drove in five runs as Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences edged defending champion Aoyama Gakuin University 7-6 in the final of the national collegiate baseball championship Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

'17 trillion yen needed' to put budget in black

The government on Monday revised downward the estimated shortfall it must cover if it is to reach its goal of achieving a budget surplus by fiscal 2011 from 20 trillion yen to 17 trillion yen.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 13, 2006

Pensions, credit and new law

Missing pension Reader X began working for a company here eight years ago, at which time his employers failed to inform him of his right to enroll in the Employees' Pension and Health Insurance Programs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 13, 2006

Fuss over fingerprinting

No consistency The new law requiring foreigners to be fingerprinted and photographed at Japan's airports is unfair.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2006

A tenable vision of efficiency

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms for creating a "simple, efficient government" have entered the final phase. In late May, the Diet enacted the administrative reform promotion law and four related bills aimed at continuing Koizumi's reform programs after he steps down in September...
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2006

42 public works projects axed in '05

The government canceled 42 public works projects for being unnecessary or inefficient in fiscal 2005, up by 30 from the prior year, for a total of 840 billion yen, according to a government white paper released Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2006

Nonpermanent workers' training shortfalls hit

Part-time and contract workers in the manufacturing sector get less training than their permanent, full-time colleagues, raising concern that young people may not be gaining enough skills, according to a government report.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2006

A lifetime in search of Japan's true self

Shohei Imamura, who died on May 30, had one of the great careers of postwar Japanese film, winning the Cannes Palme d'Or twice, as well as many other awards and honors. But he spent much of that career on the fringes of the industry, like a bull elephant who separates himself from the herd and goes his...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 2006

Planting seeds of hope in Japan's youth

The bright laughter of children is the true measure of a society's health. Ten years ago, I was in San Jose, Costa Rica, for the opening of an exhibition on the reality and threat of nuclear weapons. Even as participants began a dignified rendition of the national anthem, through the wall that separated...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2006

Behind the scenes is where he preferred to be

"I founded the school in the first place because my father taught me I should do something for young people when I reached the age of 50.'' -- Shohei Imamura (in an interview with a former student in 1994)
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2006

Thaksin best underscores fatal flaws of his kind of rule

HONG KONG -- Thailand's "democracy" is in limbo. Judges of the country's three top courts have decided that April's elections were unconstitutional, and new ones must be held. The Election Commission set October for new elections, but the judges said the commission has no power to set the date and its...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 6, 2006

From the sole, a new soul

There's nothing quite like a foot rub, especially after a hard day's work and a long commute home. It's sure to be even more pleasurable if the person working on your feet is a trained practitioner of reflexology, a holistic therapy currently enjoying a boom throughout Japan. Reflexology is an easy way...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2006

90,650 people disappeared in 2005

The National Police Agency said Thursday that 90,650 people left their homes and were unaccounted for last year, falling 5.6 percent from the previous year for the third year of decline.
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2006

From recovery to resilience

A devastating earthquake hit Indonesia over the weekend, even as the country is still struggling to recover from the magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami off Sumatra Island that killed about 168,000 people in the country in December 2004.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years