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COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2012

U.S. presidential election needs another Teddy

What America feared above all was the growing concentration of wealth and political power. A Republican alliance with big business had flooded election campaigns with torrents of money, and it threatened to reduce — if not eliminate — whatever influence ordinary Americans had with their elected officials....
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2012

London Paralympics starts

The London 2012 Paralympics starts Thursday (Wednesday local time) with some 4,300 physically disabled athletes from 166 countries and regions taking part in 20 sports. From Japan, 135 athletes will participate in 17 sports. It is hoped that the Paralympics, which will continue through Sept. 9, will...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY AVENUE
Aug 29, 2012

Philippine festival in Yokohama

The best of Philippine culture will be showcased in Yokohama during the Philippine Festival Barrio Fiesta, which is free and open to all and will be held Sept. 1 and 2 at Yamashita Park.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2012

Middle East buildup refutes critics of Obama

Here are some facts that should be considered by those who criticize the Barack Obama administration for "leading from behind" in the troubled Middle East.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 26, 2012

Should the public trust Japan's leaders when the 'big one' hits Tokyo?

No two calamities are alike, yet the needs of victims vary only in scale, not in kind.
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 2012

Lawbreaking cops among us

The National Police Agency issued a report Aug. 16 showing that police departments nationwide have been plagued by a series of irregularities involving police officers and workers. When you take into account the nearly 300,000 people working for the police force, the known irregularities are probably...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2012

Yen traders say Shirakawa missed the price target boat

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa, who set the nation's first inflation goal six months ago to halt a decade-long struggle with deflation, has failed to produce the weaker currency craved by exporters.
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 14, 2012

Japan exceeded expectations during London Games

Sixteen action-packed days of competition — plus a few days of soccer that began before the Opening Ceremony on July 27 — delivered a better-than-expected performance for Japan at the 2012 London Olympics.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 13, 2012

Bolt, Farah, Felix win more gold in electric night on track

The two most recognizable stars heading into the 2012 London Olympics were American swimmer Michael Phelps and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 11, 2012

Legislation's OK just start of long, rough road ahead

The countdown to raising the sales tax officially began Friday with the Diet passing the necessary legislation, but the move is just the start of a long road that still lies ahead.
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 2012

Defense white paper eyes China

The 2012 white paper on defense, endorsed by the Cabinet on July 31, expressed concern over China's rapid defense buildup and muscle-flexing in the Pacific Ocean, noting that it has become common for Chinese naval vessels to enter the Pacific Ocean, and that China appears intent on improving its ability...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2012

'Total Recall'

This is going to sound crazy, but I have this memory ... It's faded, like so many from the acid-house era, but I can clearly see Arnold Schwarzenegger playing this blue-collar kinda guy who comes home one day and finds his loving and beautiful wife, played by Sharon Stone, suddenly trying to kill him....
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 9, 2012

Coe a great spokesman for sport

What if the Soviet Union didn't invade Afghanistan in 1979?
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 7, 2012

U.K. track success gives games 'signature day'

Looking back at the second evening of athletics at Olympic Stadium, so many images and sounds are flashing through my mind.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 5, 2012

Strange tales emanating from the jungles of Southeast Asia

Border Run, by Simon Lewis. Scribner, 2012, 240 pp., $24.00 (hardcover) Slash and Burn, by Colin Cotterill. Soho Crime, 2012, 290 pp., $25.00 (hardcover) "I've always loved that classic noir staple — of doomed characters trying to get away with a crime and just digging themselves further into a hole,"...
EDITORIALS
Aug 2, 2012

New antismoking drive

The government in early June set a numerical target for reducing the percentage of Japanese adult smokers — the fist attempt of its kind — and incorporated it into a five-year basic program to push countermeasures against cancer from fiscal 2012 to 2016 and into a fiscal 2013-22 program to promote...
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Jul 27, 2012

London will launch dreams for millions

You can't put a price tag on dreams. And that alone has created worldwide fascination for the Olympics for decades now.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2012

Toyota takes first-half sales lead from GM

Toyota Motor Corp., rebounding from lost production after last year's natural disasters, is on an annual pace to outsell General Motors and Volkswagen and reclaim its title as the world's top-selling automaker.
OLYMPICS
Jul 5, 2012

Olympics just keep getting bigger

In the 64 years since London hosted the 1948 Summer Olympics, the ways in which global athletics are promoted and produced have gone through dramatic changes. The challenge to produce a bigger, flashier Olympics is ever-present.
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2012

Recovery of Japan tourism

The 2012 white book on tourism endorsed by the Cabinet on June 15 shows that foreign tourists are once again visiting Japan. The Japanese government has a plan to attract 18 million tourists from abroad by 2016. To ensure its success, it will be vital to utilize not only historic sites and places of...
COMMENTARY
Jul 2, 2012

Entering uncharted territory of broken models

We live in a world of broken models. To understand why world leaders can't easily fix the global economy, you have to realize that the economic models on which the United States, Europe and China relied are collapsing. The models differ, but the breakdowns are occurring simultaneously and feed on each...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 1, 2012

Sexual policies and politics during the occupation of Japan

Occupying Power: Sex Workers and Servicemen in Postwar Japan, by Sarah Kovner. Stanford University Press, 2012, 240 pp., $50.00 (hardcover) Love, Sex and Democracy During the American Occupation, by Mark McClelland. Palgrave MacMillan, 2012, 252 pp., $85.00 (hardcover) Six decades after the U.S. occupation...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 24, 2012

Adventures and danger in the land of smiles

Vulture Peak, by John Burdett. Knopf, 2012, 304 pp., $25.95 (hardcover) A World of Trouble, by Jake Needham. Marshall Cavendish, 2012, 356 pp., $5.09 (Kindle) "Vulture Peak" is the latest installment in John Burdett's ongoing saga of Thai police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. Whatever impression readers...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 15, 2012

England must end jinx against Sweden

It seems to be an unwritten law in football that in competitive matches England does not beat Sweden. In seven meetings at the World Cup and European Championship there have been five draws and two Swedish victories.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jun 14, 2012

Bolt hungry to take star to new level during Olympics

Has anyone, anywhere, had a greater love of the camera than Usain Bolt? Maybe Marilyn Monroe.

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’