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JAPAN
Jan 25, 2010

LDP tries to build steam before poll

The opposition-leading Liberal Democratic Party held its annual convention Sunday, promising party reform and victory in the July Upper House election while assailing the ruling Democratic Party of Japan over recent money scandals dogging Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa....
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 25, 2010

Davis miffed about acrimonious breakup with Apache

Second in a two-part series
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2010

Tough first year for Mr. Obama

Many Americans were glad to see Mr. Scott Brown, a Republican, elected to the U.S. Senate last Tuesday in Massachusetts, especially since the seat he won has traditionally been held by a Democrat — most recently the late Edward Kennedy. Mr. Brown's victory, while certainly a fillip for the GOP, is...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 24, 2010

A 'stable' life for Ozawa, yakuza, sumo stars

In the Jan. 25 issue of Aera, show-business reporter Yoshiko Matsumoto, writing about the persistence of image, related an anecdote about Seiji Maehara. The land minister was traveling coach on a domestic JAL flight and after the airplane landed he helped other passengers remove their belongings from...
LIFE
Jan 24, 2010

Secrets and lies

Japan marked the 50th anniversary of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty on Jan. 19 amid calls for an inquiry into the dispatch of Japanese Self-Defence Forces to Iraq, which critics say was illegal. But in contrast to the fierce debates over the origins and legitimacy of the 2003 Iraq invasion in both the...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 24, 2010

Two dramas: a jealous love triangle and paralegal's perseverance; CM of the week: McDonald's

The title character of the new Fuji TV series, "Massugu Otoko" (Tues., 10:15 p.m.), is, as the title indicates, a "straightforward man," though some might see obsessive- compulsion in his scrupulous adherence to a personal code of ethics.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2010

'Crossing' bares North defector fate

Every year, poverty-stricken North Koreans risk their lives crossing the border into China to escape the repression and starvation plaguing their hermit homeland.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 23, 2010

Tips on how Japan can solve its aging problems

By 2015, it is said that one in four Japanese citizens will be 65 or older. Many worry that these elderly people will burden the health and pension system. There just aren't enough young people to prop up the old.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 23, 2010

Big changes from life's small lessons

Naotaka Aoki, a black belt in tae kwon do, stands tall among his students. A few days later, he stands at ease while leading 160 service members from the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base on a recent tour of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. Fluent in English and Japanese, he laughs quickly in every language.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2010

Optimism in Asia tempered by call for better oversight

HONG KONG — Key financial leaders and regulators from around Asia gathered at a two-day conference that began in Hong Kong on Wednesday, with participants trumpeting an economic power shift from West to East in the wake of the global financial crisis, despite growing concerns about a possible asset...
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2010

Suzuki head touts VW parts tieup

Suzuki Motor Corp. Chairman and CEO Osamu Suzuki stressed Thursday the importance of making common auto parts with its new alliance partner Volkswagen AG in emerging Asian markets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 22, 2010

Depp the magical mystery man

HOLLYWOOD — It's no surprise Johnny Depp is starring in a fantastical new movie titled "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which opens in Japan on Saturday.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2010

Desperate wives tap 'secret savings'

Housewives' "secret savings" fell about 20 percent last year as households were forced to tap these reserves to cover living costs amid falling family income, according to a survey by Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 22, 2010

Tokyo's burger joints have never been better

It looks as though Tokyo has finally woken up to the idea that there's much more to a burger than the cheap, bland offerings of the fast-food chains. Premium burgers, made by hand with quality ingredients and cooked with care, are all over town these days and the best of the recent bunch is the strangely...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2010

Paying CEOs too much is bad for business

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — There is now intense debate about how the pay levels of top executives compare with the compensation given to rank-and-file employees. But, while such comparisons are important, the distribution of pay among top executives also deserves close attention.
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2010

Citizens lose in Google vs. China

The challenge thrown down by Google last week seemed unequivocal: Either China accepts uncensored information on Google.cn or the Internet giant will shut down its operations in the country.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2010

Poverty remains endemic

NEW YORK — Last year the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization announced that the number of hungry people in the world increased over the last decade. In 2008, the World Bank announced a significant decline in the number of poor people up to 2005.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 20, 2010

Arenas, Wizards continue to look clueless

NEW YORK — So, where do we begin today's NBA installment of Pinhead Wizards?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2010

EU consumers to foot bill for protectionism

LONDON — The European Union imposed 89 new trade barriers in 2009 and rounded off the year by prolonging tariffs on shoes from China and Vietnam, originally due to expire in 2008. The EU needs to understand that trade barriers limit growth and economic recovery — as well as harming its own companies...
BUSINESS
Jan 19, 2010

JAL better off without government umbrella

Kiyoshi Watanabe bought Japan Airlines Corp. shares last year at about ¥100 and lost more than 90 percent of his investment on speculation the former flag carrier will file for bankruptcy. Yet he supports the government's decision to forgo a bailout.
EDITORIALS
Jan 18, 2010

More trade 'noodles'

Little noticed at the beginning of the year was the introduction of several more strands into the "noodle bowl" of Asia-Pacific trade agreements. On Jan. 1, several new free trade agreements went into effect. These trade deals are by no means perfect. In fact, they represent distinctly second- or even...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 17, 2010

SMAP put on the spot

The most recent edition of NHK's New Year's eve song contest, "Kohaku Uta Gassen," received more attention than usual owing to a number of production coups.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 17, 2010

Seeking exactitude can sometimes exact a high cultural price

I freely admit a prejudice. It is against the concept of "national character," or kokuminsei in Japanese. Is there really such a thing or is it merely a jumble of stereotypes, whichever is the country or culture in question?
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2010

Ex-Ozawa secretary spills beans

Tension ratcheted up a few notches at Democratic Party of Japan headquarters this week when prosecutors raided DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa's office in connection with a shady Tokyo land purchase by the kingpin's fund management body.

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