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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2013

Can China's new government end corruption?

The typical Chinese public servant today collects feudal wages, yet he can afford cars, homes, travel, luxury goods and a Harvard education for kids.
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2013

A new era in space observation

The main part of the world's most powerful radio observatory, ALMA — in which Japan has a 30 percent stake — is inaugurated in northern Chile.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 5, 2013

Okinawa U.S. land return plan inked

Tokyo and Washington agree on a road map for the reversion of five U.S. military facilities in Okinawa south of the Kadena base and vow to accelerate the handover.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2013

Funds gripe snags SDF isle defense deployment

The Defense Ministry may have to abandon a plan to station a Ground Self-Defense Force coastal monitoring unit on Okinawa's Yonaguni Island because negotiations with the town over the price of land have deadlocked.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2013

To communicate in English, TOEFL is vital: LDP panel

English-language education at public schools should shift in emphasis to verbal communications skills, and for that purpose, universities must adopt the Test of English as a Foreign Language for entrance exams, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party's education reform panel said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 5, 2013

Subway riders get connected thanks to free Tokyo Metro Wi-Fi service

Life underground has grown more mobile-Internet friendly with Tokyo Metro Co.'s trial free Wi-Fi service expanding to effectively all of its subway stations at the start of the month.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2013

John F. Kennedy's legacy may finally come to Japan

If Caroline Kennedy succeeds John Roos as U.S. ambassador to Japan, she will complete a trip that her father, John F. Kennedy, began 50 years ago.
CULTURE / Music / MONEY AND MUSIC
Apr 4, 2013

Barakan wants InterFM to dial down the talk

While station-surfing on my car radio several years back, I chanced upon a program about Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. The disc jockey said Page's solo in "Stairway to Heaven" was among his best.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 4, 2013

U.K. immigration critical to success of anti-EU party

For the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), defeat has never looked this much like victory.
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2013

Cooperation with Mongolia

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his visit to Ulan Bator on March 30 agreed with Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag and President Tsakhia Elbegdorj to promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of mineral resources development, trade relations and the environment. They also agreed to launch a trilateral...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2013

Getting real on North Korea

The task in addressing North Korea's saber-rattling is made no easier by the world's having to confront an impoverished and effectively defeated country.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2013

Supreme Court has been no friend of freedom

The mythology of a heroic Supreme Court makes Americans forget that, for the most part, they've secured their status as a free people outside the courts.
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2013

More reform from the Stone Age

Earth to Abe, Earth to Abe: Requiring the TOEFL test for university entry — or exit — will do diddly squat to enhance Japan's global competitiveness. It's just more harebrained "reform" from the Stone Age: If students need better skills, let's mandate another test!
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2013

Reservations about 'Abecation'

Recently we've had an earful of "Abenomics." And now it looks like (wow!) "Abecation"! While any improvement in English education in Japan should be welcome, reservations regarding the prime minister's proposals demonstrate, at best, skepticism if not mistrust.
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2013

English-teaching issues revisited

The March 31 editorial, "Testing English versus teaching it," again raises many old issues, except for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) requirement proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party panel on education.
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2013

Where does human respect live?

Regarding Thomas Clark's March 28 letter, "Review of the Easter message": Clark would do well to take a look at the world he lives in rather than filtering his experience through the stained glass of dogma. It seems that all the places where human rights are well-respected and the quality of life is...
Reader Mail
Apr 3, 2013

Japanese-Brazilian's amazing feat

Regarding the March 30 article, "Japanese-Brazilian beats the odds to win place at university": Japan should offer more support to bicultural individuals such as this gentleman. (Twenty-year-old Rafael Yukio Kusuki, a third-generation Japanese-Brazilian, is said to be living in an Aichi Prefecture public...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2013

Kennedys have long, storied diplomatic history with Japan

Depending on which report you read, Caroline Kennedy is either definitely going to be appointed as the next U.S. ambassador to Japan or probably going to be appointed.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Apr 3, 2013

Akita veteran guard Hasegawa to retire after season

What has been expected for many months is now official: Makoto Hasegawa is set to retire after this season, the Akita Sakigake Shimpo and other media outlets reported on Tuesday, Hasegawa's 42nd birthday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
Apr 3, 2013

Eurocopter Japan helicopter; Little Red, Virgin's new U.K. domestic service; Korean Air duty free campaign

Helicopter transmissions
MORE SPORTS
Apr 2, 2013

Points' luck turns at Houston Open

D.A. Points can always find a ray of light in the darkest clouds.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 2, 2013

When remodeling isn't quite a home improvement

A year ago we looked at a 20-year-old apartment after it had just gone on sale in the city where we live, which is about an hour from Tokyo. It was large and sunny, but the walls needed to be re-papered and the floors replaced. The realtor told us that the ¥11.6 million asking price included the cost...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 2, 2013

Resurgent rubella raises fetus threat

The rubella epidemic is spreading quickly, particularly in the Kanto region.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’