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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2007

Gen. Musharraf's last act?

PRAGUE — Desperate to hold onto power, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has discarded Pakistan's constitutional framework and declared a state of emergency. His goal? To stifle the independent judiciary and free media. Artfully, though shamelessly, he has tried to sell this action as an effort to bring...
COMMENTARY
Sep 28, 2007

The politics of assassination

LONDON — The assassination of Lebanese politician Antoine Ghanem on Sept. 19 is likely to be used, predictably, to further U.S. and Israeli interests in the region. Most Western and some Arab media have argued that Syria is the greatest beneficiary from the death of Ghanem, a member of the Phalange...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 18, 2007

Looking on the bright side

Last in a two-part series
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 4, 2007

The scapegoating of Asa

The Japan Sumo Association has recently tag-teamed with the Japanese media to lay into Asashoryu, the Mongolian sumo champ who has all but dominated the sport for the past few years.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 26, 2007

Paranoid android Abe blind to reality when it comes to eye contact

Image and issues always compete for voters' attention on the campaign trail, with the former usually winning. A successful candidate is the one who uses the media most effectively in shaping an image that's acceptable to more people than the next candidate's. Issues, on the other hand, have become more...
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2007

Experts doubt Abe can pull out of political spiral

Following the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's staggering loss in the July 29 Upper House election, all eyes are focused on whether embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can shore up his credibility with a new Cabinet.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 8, 2007

Take a slab of meat, beef up the label on it and Hope for the best

There's a stereotype that says the Japanese possess a refined palate. The French are said to possess it, too, but have you seen a French movie lately? All they eat is spaghetti.
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2007

Chief executive who serves two masters

This is the first in a series of columns on the political and economic status of Hong Kong. On Sunday, the former British crown colony will mark its 10th anniversary as a special province of China.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 6, 2007

Karel Van Wolferen: Insights into the new world disorder

When Karel Van Wolferen released his seminal book "The Enigma of Japanese Power" in the dying months of the bubble economy, the normally staid monthly magazine Chuo Koron described its impact as akin to being struck by a bolt of lightning. For once, the hype was merited. Little before had matched the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 20, 2007

Demise of crime magazine historic

Making headlines worldwide last month was the publication of a magazine entitled "Kyogaku no Gaijin Hanzai Ura Fairu ("Shocking Foreigner crime: the Underground File"). On sale at major Japanese bookstores and convenience stores nationwide, Gaijin Hanzai (GH) attributed criminality to nationality, and...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 11, 2007

Female foreigners are OK in Japan, so long as they're not Asian

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's refusal to apologize anew for Japan's sex-slave policy during World War II has a different meaning in Japan than it does abroad. The issue has come around again because the U.S. Congress is considering a resolution to demand that Japan clearly accept responsibility for the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2007

Kansai Time Out: 30 years without a breather

KOBE -- On the cover of the December 1979 issue of Kansai Time Out magazine, an Osaka-based foreign aikido instructor, sporting an Afro, is seen executing a throw that puts his Japanese opponent on the floor.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2006

One bad apple set to spoil Osaka's 'buraku' aid barrel

projects because the system of distributing funds could easily be abused," he said. "Local political leaders at that time bear much of the blame for Osaka's current scandals." Osaka pumped billions of yen into social welfare projects run by Konishi for more than three decades in line with its policy...
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2006

One bad apple set to spoil Osaka's 'buraku' aid barrel

More than six months after mobster Kunihiko Konishi was arrested for decades of embezzlement, Osaka is set to scrap two dozen city projects to aid the plight of the local 'buraku" community of descendents of the feudal outcast class.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2006

Suicides lay bare bullying menace

Eight years ago, Shinichiro and Midori Komori's 15-year-old daughter, Kasumi, committed suicide.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2006

Human rights bill may get another try

Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura said Monday that a controversial provision on regulating media coverage in a human rights protection bill may be revised or deleted before submitting the once-killed bill to the Diet next year.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2006

Rights bill still on the burner

Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura on Friday suggested the government might be ready to resubmit the human-rights protection bill next year with revisions, including to the contentious media restrictions clause.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2006

Deregulation of broadcasters pushed

The government will consider easing shareholding limits among media organizations to help boost the capital strength of Japanese broadcasters and increase their global competitiveness, a senior communications ministry official indicated Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 9, 2006

Veteran writer Wiggins honored with FSAJ award

Longtime sports columnist and sumo television announcer Dave Wiggins was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the second annual Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan Media Awards dinner on Monday night in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2006

What right to torment?

Muslim furor in the Middle East and other parts of the world touched off by the appearance of cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad has led to diplomatic rows, embassy burnings and violent protests. It now begs serious thought about how the media should exercise the rights to freedom of the press...
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2006

Horie and LDP boosters have it coming

Some Western media seem to want to dismiss the Livedoor scandal now convulsing Japan as an example of Japan's conservative establishment seeking to shoot down a high-flying, unconventional entrepreneur who had been too successful. The reality is quite different.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 29, 2006

With Horie's downfall, who can young Japan look up to?

The media has had a field day with Takafumi Horie, the 33-year-old founder of the communications firm Livedoor.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2005

Referendum reporting curbs eased

A ruling coalition panel said Wednesday it would refrain in principle from trying to ban media forecasts of the outcome of a possible referendum to revise the Constitution, reversing its earlier position, panel members said.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 20, 2005

Getting hitched and escaping from the Imperial self-preservation society

Ever since it was revealed more than a year ago that Princess Nori would marry civil servant Yoshiki Kuroda, the media have expressed mild concern about her future as a commoner, implying that it might be difficult for her to adjust to life in the real world.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2005

The dark side of the Libby indictment

SANTA BARBARA, California -- Arguing with an icon is a loser's game. In America, Daniel Ellsberg is certainly a political and antiwar icon. But I do have a quarrel with him, and it is so serious that I'll take my chances.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 17, 2005

Talking about the modern Japanese woman

Meeting last Monday, Barbara Hamill Sato is not sure how many women won seats in the previous day's general election, but suspects it may be the most ever.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2005

Sound-bite tactics pay huge dividends

Turning his back on the Liberal Democratic Party's traditional campaign strategy and gambling his political career, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi turned the political landscape upside down with a historic landslide victory in Sunday's election.
Japan Times
Features
Sep 4, 2005

Nagano's champion of change

He is perhaps the most well-known governor in Japan, largely because he has been breaking with tradition ever since he took office in Nagano Prefecture in October 2000.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2005

TBS to issue 20 billion yen in new shares to partners

Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. announced Wednesday that it will issue 20.6 billion yen in new shares to major ad agency Dentsu Inc. and several of its other business partners to raise money for new projects.
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Aug 23, 2005

DVD gives lesser players chance to shake up camcorder market

A major shift in recording media from tape to disc is taking place in the camcorder market, with manufacturers rapidly expanding their DVD-compatible model lineups.

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’