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JAPAN
May 6, 2008

Article 9 conference calls for spread of pacifism in Asia

CHIBA — The spirit of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution should not only be protected but also extended to other Asian countries, panelists at a symposium said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2008

Spurious link between education, economy

LOS ANGELES — When Japan's Central Council for Education recently announced its plan to move the nation's schools away from yutori kyoiku, the "more relaxed education" policy adopted in the 1990s, its decision was largely based on the belief that effective schools are responsible for a robust economy....
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
May 5, 2008

Japan lags European peers on female empowerment

The latest EU-Japan summit wrapped up on April 23, with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda holding talks with European Council President Janez Jansa (the Slovenian prime minister) and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The meeting came at a time when both Europe and Japan are facing an enormous...
CULTURE / Books
May 4, 2008

Japan as a land of many religions

PROPHET MOTIVE: Deguchi Onisaburo, Oomoto, and the Rise of New Religions in Imperial Japan, by Nancy K. Stalker. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007, 265 pp., $49 (cloth) Reviewed by Florian Coulmas Japan has sometimes been called an irreligious country, but students of religion know that this...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 2, 2008

Real estate deflation looms

Akira Mori, Japan's richest man, spent a record ¥231 billion buying Tokyo's Toranomon Pastoral Hotel last September. He now says it's worth closer to ¥200 billion.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2008

What exactly is the West?

PARIS — Everyone everywhere has by now heard about the "clash of civilizations." This Samuel Huntington concept has become universal. In the 1950s, French economist Alfred Sauvy had a comparable success with the expression "Third World." One reason these phrases gain wide acceptance is their lack of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
May 1, 2008

U.S. looking for 'accountability' at July summit

KYOTO — The United States' agenda for the upcoming Group of Eight summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, emphasizes health and development issues, making sure previous agreements are carried out in a publicly accountable way and guaranteeing that developing nations are part of a post-Kyoto Protocol treaty, said...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2008

State of Korean democracy

Recent National Assembly elections laid bare both the strengths and weaknesses of South Korean democracy. South Korea proved once again to be one of most dynamic democracies in the world, but unless both lawmakers and citizens confront shortcomings in the election rules and political parties, South Korea's...
Reader Mail
Apr 27, 2008

Protests serve to remind

Regarding the April 16 article "What China and the world must do now," I am surprised and disappointed that professor Tom Plate understands so little about the anti-Chinese protests sweeping the world. I and everyone else are well aware of the fact that China regards Tibet as a part of China. The problem...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 25, 2008

'Drawing Book' series exhibit to delight kids

This is one of the best times of the year to be a child in Tokyo, especially as the fascinating world of popular American picture books is coming to Ebisu Garden Place from April 26 to May 6 with an event for children and parents titled "It's Easy! It's Fun! The World of Ed Emberley's Drawing."
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2008

Steel sheet prices set to rise again

Nippon Steel Corp. and JFE Holdings Inc. will raise wholesale prices for steel sheets by 10 percent as early as June, according to three metal traders familiar with price talks.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2008

China's foreign minister wraps up 'diplomatic' visit to Osaka, Nara

Politics was off the menu as Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi wrapped up his visit to Japan over the weekend with dinner Saturday in Osaka and lunch Sunday in the ancient capital of Nara.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Apr 19, 2008

Antlers logical destination for rehabbing Ronaldo in Japan

Whether there's truth in reports this week suggesting Ronaldo may be headed to the J. League, it is certainly a compelling story.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2008

Industry chiefs to G8: Forge fair emissions goals

Business leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations called on G8 member nations Thursday to create a post-Kyoto Protocol framework that is fair and impartial to all major emitters.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2008

Marshall Islands, nuke test victim call for nonproliferation

With the effects of the U.S. atomic tests in the Pacific still lingering, the Marshall Islands' ambassador to Japan and a Japanese victim of a 1954 hydrogen bomb test recently called for a nuclear-free world.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 13, 2008

Early results not always a barometer for final standings

American baseball agent Alan Nero tells the story of his client, Randy Johnson, who thought he was going to the World Series when he joined the New York Yankees in 2005. The "Big Unit" figured he would help bolster the pitching staff of that powerhouse club and it would breeze to the championship.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 13, 2008

Confusion reigns after 'Yasukuni' doesn't tell us how to feel

The big media-related news story on April 1 was the ongoing controversy over the documentary feature "Yasukuni," screenings of which had been canceled by a number of movie theaters in Tokyo and Osaka out of fear of rightwing protests. That night, NHK's regular 7 p.m. news bulletin did not mention the...
Reader Mail
Apr 13, 2008

Tough to read new weather forecast

I have subscribed to The Japan Times for over 18 years but this is the first time that I've felt the need to write. My concern is the new format for the weather forecast. What happened to the instructional weather map, the percentage chance of rain and the "Today's Weather" description? Is The Japan...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 13, 2008

Landmark case spotlights 'Japanese-style nationalism'

"The most critical thing for us Japanese in the 21st century is to free ourselves from Japanese-style nationalism, both politically and culturally." So said author Kenzaburo Oe to me in the autumn of 1995, a year after he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Apr 11, 2008

Mega-chef Gordon Ramsay cooks Tokyo a gala dinner

Gordon Ramsay comes to Tokyo Gordon Ramsay, the world-famous chef based in London, will be in Tokyo on April 19, and the French restaurant Gordon Ramsay at the Conrad Tokyo, for which Ramsay is a consultant, will hold special events to mark the occasion.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2008

Whither Africa's 'frontier markets'?

NEW YORK — Zimbabwe's election appears to confirm a truism: Africa only seems to make international headlines when disasters strike — a drought, a coup, a war, a genocide, or, as in the case of President Robert Mugabe, grossly incompetent government.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2008

JFE, IHI to form top shipbuilder in Japan

JFE Holdings Inc. and IHI Corp. will discuss combining their shipbuilding operations to create Japan's biggest shipyard, challenging South Korean and Chinese rivals.
COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2008

Suppose Texas was like Iraq

LONDON — Suppose the shoe were on the other foot. Suppose that the former United States had splintered into half a dozen fragments after the South won the Civil War 145 years ago.
Reader Mail
Apr 6, 2008

Moral badge isn't needed to criticize

In his March 21 article, "Tibet and Olympic Games," Gregory Clark claims that countries should not boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing because their reasons are biased and based on a double standard. Although I do not believe politicizing the Olympics is productive, I believe Clark's interpretation...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 5, 2008

Breaking the bubble of pain and isolation

Nobuaki Kobayashi is a phenomenally kind and dedicated man. Life has never been easy, however. Now his wife is chronically unwell and he too is feeling his age.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past