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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2009

The return of religion to Europe

BUDAPEST — It's a well-worn contrast: the United States is religious, Europe is secular. Yet, in some respects, this cliched opposition has actually been reversed recently: Religion played virtually no role during the last American presidential election, while in a range of different European countries...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 2, 2009

Whether to come out at the office

"Do you live on your own?"
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2009

EU cyclone belts the left

BRUSSELS — The only results to cheer in the recent European Parliament elections came from Greece, where PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) went up to nine seats, and Ireland, where the financial crisis and public re-evaluation of regulation saw the Irish Labour party win two to three seats. Meanwhile,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 23, 2009

Fans make troupe phenomenon it is

Takarazuka Revue Co., Japan's all-female musical troupe, is a love-it or hate-it theatrical landmark.
COMMENTARY
Jun 14, 2009

A purge of Parliament is calling

LONDON — In British politics the familiar scenario is for the opposition to press for an early general election — there being no fixed-term provision in the very flexible British constitution — and for the government of the day to reject all such demands and sit tight.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2009

Emissions goal draws fire from all sides

OSAKA — Prime Minister Taro Aso's announcement Wednesday that Japan will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 appears to have pleased nobody.
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2009

The governors' governor

Gov. Wataru Aso of Fukuoka Prefecture has been elected to a third two-year term as head of the National Governors' Association, at a time when the nation is suffering from a deep economic downturn and is in the grip of a new influenza virus. In combating these and other problems, the head of the nation's...
EDITORIALS
May 30, 2009

End of 'hereditary lawmakers'?

Those who "inherit" campaign machines, political funds and electoral districts from a close relative are dubbed "hereditary lawmakers." While the practice has been going on for years, it now has become a red-hot issue.
EDITORIALS
May 28, 2009

Deciphering Iran

Tragedy often results when individual lives are caught up in great power politics. When state interests are placed on the scale, individuals are invariably overwhelmed — at best they are pawns in bigger games. It is not yet clear how journalist Roxana Saberi fits into the larger mosaic of U.S.-Iran...
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2009

Regional challenges await Indian government

LONDON — With India facing a regional security milieu in which all states on its periphery, barring Bhutan, are engulfed by crises of various kinds and magnitude, the new government has little time to waste in the realm of foreign policy.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2009

Life of coalition extended

DELHI, OPINION ASIA — The outcome of the just-concluded 2009 national poll in India reflect continuity because the verdict was clearly in favor of an incumbent coalition government that presages political stability. Equally, the results are indicative of change because voters rejected regional parties,...
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2009

Building trust between contentious brothers

SINGAPORE — Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya recently announced that Thailand would facilitate resettlement in third countries for 158 Hmong refugees detained in Nong Khai province.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 3, 2009

Manabu Miyazaki: Outsider looking in

Born the son of a yakuza boss in Kyoto, Manabu Miyazaki is now a best-selling author. His life may read like fiction, but he raises social, political and media facts in a manner that's as frank as it is hard-hitting
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2009

South Africa votes for Mr. Zuma

There was never any doubt about who would win parliamentary elections held in South Africa last week. The African National Congress (ANC), which has dominated the country's politics since the apartheid era ended, was certain to prevail. The only question was the ANC's margin of victory and whether it...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2009

Opening the door to foreigners

Massive layoffs from the current economic crisis are falling heavily on foreign workers, many of whom are opting to leave the country to seek work back home.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2009

'Red shirts' are in retreat

BANGKOK — The defeat of the "red-shirt" protesters under the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) has restored calm and order in the streets of Bangkok after a day of rioting that resulted in two deaths and scores of injuries. The red shirts have evidently lost the battle, but their...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Apr 1, 2009

Worldwide recession exposes cracks in South Korean society

The continuing decline of the middle class and increase in the ranks of the poor threaten to exacerbate South Korea's demographic woes, Kim Dong Seop, an editorial writer for the Chonsun Ilbo daily, told the March 13 symposium.
COMMENTARY
Mar 20, 2009

New consensus in Pakistan

LONDON — The dancing in the streets in Pakistan after the latest political crisis ended may have been overdone, but the relief was genuine. Americans should be dancing in the streets, too, because what has happened in Pakistan will probably force the United States to abandon its foolish anti-Pashtun...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2009

'Frost/Nixon'

Almost completely gripping. That would be an apt way to describe "Frost/Nixon," the sleeper hit that almost brought Academy Awards to director Ron Howard and actor Frank Langella.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2009

LDP members to return Nishimatsu cash

Two ruling party lawmakers who received political funds from scandal-tainted Nishimatsu Construction Co. denied any wrongdoing Friday but said they have decided to return the money for ethical reasons.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 6, 2009

Redefining defiance for a modern Japan

More than 3 million people are likely to tune into the second installment of NHK drama "Jiro Shirasu" on Saturday night — and chances are, most will be waiting expectantly for the re-enactment of one particularly famous episode from the subject's life.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2009

Power of words eludes politicians

Japanese prime ministers aren't known for the impact they make with their words, or straight talk with the public.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2009

Obama's part in an ethics-based economy

TUBINGEN, Germany — Many say the world financial crisis could not have been foreseen. Perhaps not by financiers and economists, but others who were watching how markets were developing — often with dismay — were more than worried.
Reader Mail
Feb 22, 2009

Contrast in political behavior

Regarding the Feb. 18 articles "Nakagawa resigns after G7 disgrace," and "Japan, U.S. sign accord on forces" with a photo of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Prime Minister Taro Aso: It has been said that Japanese people are indifferent to politics. But after watching many times on...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2009

Thai pendulum swings to the Establishment

BANGKOK — Thailand's political pendulum has now swung all the way back to an era that existed before the rise of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2001. What transpired under Thaksin during 2001-2005 is being undone and redone. Whether the new Democrat Party-led government of Prime Minister...

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