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COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2009

Central bankers must finesse money supply

TILBURG, Netherlands — The current economic crisis highlights the need for major changes at central banks. It is time for a return to some form of moderate monetarism — but in a 21st-century mold.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Dec 11, 2009

Countdown with salsa, champagne

The Hilton Tokyo will host two countdown parties on New Year's Eve to welcome in 2010: the Salsa Countdown Party and the Champagne Countdown Party.
COMMENTARY
Dec 9, 2009

Doom and gloom scenarios for lifeboat Japan

Japan is a lucky country. When the global average temperature has gone up by 2 degrees Celsius and most of mainland Asia is ravaged by famines, when civil wars and failed states and waves of climate refugees are the norm from Tehran to Hanoi and from Madras to Beijing, Japan will still be at peace and...
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2009

Bankruptcies fall to two-year low

Corporate bankruptcies fell for a fourth month in November to their lowest level in almost two years, a sign that government measures to support smaller firms are working, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2009

Climate talks run up against clock, politics

, the international group of climate scientists and advisory group to the U.N. whose opinions represent the consensus of the vast majority of the world's leading climate experts, issued a stark warning: Unless the world takes quick action to curb greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, the Earth's...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2009

Breakthrough hoped for at climate talks

COPENHAGEN — A conference billed by some as the world's last chance to halt global warming and catastrophic climate change opens Monday in Copenhagen in an atmosphere of optimism among U.N. delegates and political leaders that a basic agreement can be reached now and a formal treaty hammered out later....
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2009

Globalized road to recovery will be bumpy, U.K. economist warns

Even though many economies appear to be emerging from recession, the road to recovery is going to be pocked with setbacks and slippages in the coming year, with prospects for future growth clouded by the long-term effects of the global financial crisis, a British expert said at a recent seminar in Tokyo....
Reader Mail
Dec 6, 2009

Tattoos and Japanese tradition

I agree with all of Debito Arudou's Dec. 1 article, "A level playing field for immigrants." It's sad to see Japan, which is supposed to be one of the leading countries, falling short. The article should have included a section on how to teach Japanese society to be less fearful of non-Japanese people,...
Reader Mail
Dec 6, 2009

Immigration buoys the economy

Regarding Hiroaki Sato's Nov. 29 article, "The warring mind-sets on U.S. immigration": Thanks to immigration, the population of the United States continues to grow, and due to the influx of young and not-so-young blood, the economy is more dynamic than stagnant.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Dec 6, 2009

Clubhouse rooms with a view

Over the last 22 years we have had many guests visiting our woods up here in the Kurohime hills of Nagano Prefecture. However, their numbers have shot up since we converted our holdings into being The C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust in 2002.
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2009

The Dubai debt bomb

The announcement that the government of Dubai would suspend payment of debts incurred by its investment group, Dubai World, has rattled global markets, sparking fears of another dip in the global economy.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2009

Coalition freezes Japan Post share sale

The first extraordinary Diet session held under the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama adjourned Friday after the ruling bloc used its majority to ram through the Upper House a law to freeze the state's planned sale of shares in Japan Post Holdings Co. and its banking and insurance units.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 5, 2009

Tom-san, the big man in kids' soccer

So who is the most famous soccer coach in Japan? Well, it could be Japan team coach Takeshi Okada or maybe Gamba Osaka's Akira Nishino. On the other hand, it may be someone many adults have never heard of: Tom-san.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2009

Housing starts may drop to 48-year low

Housing starts may drop to a 48-year low as a sluggish economy discourages home buyers, according to Takeo Higuchi, head of the country's largest home builder.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 4, 2009

Winter tale: Do oseibo have a future?

The tradition of oseibo (winter gifts) undergoes a sea change as younger generations shift their priorities to practicality and sustainability.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2009

Farm households could get some relief

, agrees that direct payments to full-time farmers would at least give them a minimum wage. "Their income is rapidly decreasing" because of declining food prices, he said. The average annual income from farm products for full-time rice farmers was ¥3.37 million per household in 2007, according to the...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 4, 2009

2009: Cracks in the facade

A year of tragic deaths, amusing scandals and a series of increasingly senile looking attempts by the music industry to cling onto its outdated business model — that was 2009.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2009

Pachinko maker pushes for legalization of casinos

SINGAPORE — The government lacks the will to legalize casinos and let the industry compensate for declining tax revenue amid deflation, according to the head of pachinko maker Universal Entertainment Corp.

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