Search - u_times

 
 
COMMENTARY
Jul 19, 2009

Like it or not, China is not about to go away

KUALA LUMPUR — There was never the slightest doubt in the mind of a single reputable expert anywhere in the world that China was a caldron of ethnic unrest ready to boil over. Nor was there the slightest possibility that the masters of the People's Republic of China would be able to escape, within...
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Jul 19, 2009

Yokohama port anniversary, population boom, Zen bus-drivers and Japanese longevity

100 YEARS AGO
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Jul 19, 2009

Soul on ice: Resilient Ando primed for second chance at Olympic glory

"Don't judge a person until you have walked in their shoes."
CULTURE / Books
Jul 19, 2009

We all live in a 'yellow peril' submarine

This 454-page thriller, written in the time frame between the outbreak of SARS and swine influenza, puts a new twist on biological warfare. Indeed, what if an insidious crime syndicate were to infiltrate medical research and then, seeking huge profits, practice extortion on a worldwide scale?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2009

Out of step over failed price deal

SYDNEY — Australia is having to rethink its dealings with China following the bizarre jailing in Shanghai of an Australian businessman and a flurry of undercover diplomatic requests for explanations from Canberra to Beijing.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 19, 2009

History in a stunning setting

It may be hard to imagine of a Saturday night in the gaijin gulches of Tokyo's seething Roppongi entertainment district, but back in the 16th century, foreigners — especially of a Western ilk — were a complete novelty in Japan.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 19, 2009

Bowling 'em over

The game of lawn bowls may appear straightforward — players in whites repeatedly roll 1.5-kg rounded plastic "bowls" over finely cut grass — but Japan's male and female singles champions are taking decidedly different approaches to the World Singles Champion of Champions, set to begin in Ayr, Scotland,...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 19, 2009

Bowling 'em over

The game of lawn bowls may appear straightforward — players in whites repeatedly roll 1.5-kg rounded plastic "bowls" over finely cut grass — but Japan's male and female singles champions are taking decidedly different approaches to the World Singles Champion of Champions, set to begin in Ayr, Scotland,...
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jul 18, 2009

Galaxy beat Red Bulls in Beckham's return to MLS

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) David Beckham returned to Major League Soccer with a whisper, not a shout.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / JAPAN NATIONAL BASEBALL TEAM
Jul 17, 2009

Top-of-the-class Kato powers Japan to title

Down to the their final out and trailing by three runs, Japan was looking for a miracle in the finale of the USA vs. Japan Collegiate Championships.
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2009

Scrutinizing fitness to lead

LONDON — How much importance should we give to the right to privacy? Should politicians and personalities in the public eye be expected to forgo this right because the public need to know the facts about them in order to judge their fitness for office?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2009

Tokyo's top toy expo shows what's cooking

The International Tokyo Toy Show kicked off Thursday at Tokyo Big Sight, highlighting the latest trends in Japan's toy industry, including the growing popularity of cooking toys and products for the future, particularly environmentally friendly gadgets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 17, 2009

East German backs Japan's public theaters

Peter Goesnner was born in Leipzig, in the former communist East Germany, in 1962. His dream was to be a great football player, but 40 years later, the witty, easy-going German is in Tokyo directing "Sekishoku Elegy" ("Red Elegy") by absurdist playwright Minoru Betsuyaku. Staged in 1980 for only one...
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2009

China market value overtakes Japan's

China overtook Japan as the world's second-largest stock market by value for the first time in 18 months, after government stimulus spending and record bank lending boosted share prices this year.
Reader Mail
Jul 16, 2009

'Spousal hire' par for 21st century

The May 25 reprinting of the Los Angeles Times' article "Support for women takes care of population" couldn't have been timelier. The Japanese Diet is debating an immigration bill that would end spouse visas for people doing "tanshin funin" (working at a post without one's family). Being forced to live...
Reader Mail
Jul 16, 2009

The trashy forests of rural Japan

The July 10 Kyodo article, "Japanese group polishes the Big Apple," states: "In a hygiene-conscious country like Japan, where items like antibacterial calculators and toothbrushes are sold, the volunteers — most of whom are Japanese — do not flinch when they encounter dirty trash. Instead, they enjoy...
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 16, 2009

Ishigaki

Dear Alice, Is it weird to love a wall? I recently visited the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and was totally blown away by a high rock embankment on the far side of the moat. That rugged face! Those elegant lines! I am completely enchanted and want to know anything at all you can tell me. But there's one...
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 16, 2009

Kashima leading by example at halfway point of season

One glance at Kashima Antlers' eight-point lead might suggest JFA president Motoaki Inukai is right to label the J. League "boring." But even if this season's title race is shaping up to be more one-sided than in recent years, an improvement in quality among the leading teams is a worthwhile tradeoff....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2009

Tokyo doctor refused Jackson stimulants

Dr. Eugene Aksenoff, who treated Michael Jackson on four separate occasions in Tokyo, warned the late "King of Pop" against taking stimulants because they could be life-threatening.
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2009

Reflecting on the lessons of Robert McNamara's war

The death of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at age 93 has reopened the debate on his role, first as architect for the Vietnam War, and then later in apologizing for it with his 1995 book "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam." Since a hawk with a conscience is a rare commodity,...
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2009

Daiichi Sankyo delays stake in India's Zenotech

Daiichi Sankyo Co. said it will delay acquiring 20 percent of India's Zenotech Laboratories Ltd. after the Chennai High Court ordered a halt to the offer.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 15, 2009

Washiya eyes quick climb to majors

Naoya Washiya had to wait a little longer than expected before seeing his name in the MLB Draft.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2009

Toyota widens hybrid lineup with new Lexus

Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday launched its first Lexus built as a hybrid from the ground up, widening its gasoline-electric lineup amid the recent spike in demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.
COMMENTARY
Jul 15, 2009

China's false monoculture

By blanketing the oil-rich Xinjiang with troops, China's rulers may have subdued the Uighur revolt, which began in Urumqi, the regional capital, and spread to other heavily guarded towns like Hotan and Kashgar, the ancient cultural center whose old city is to be razed and redeveloped to help drain supposed...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2009

Diet calls shots on taxes: top finance bureaucrat

The Finance Ministry's top bureaucrat, Yasutake Tango, said this week his ministry will prepare to raise the consumption tax as stipulated by law, but it is also ready to change course if the Democratic Party of Japan, which is reportedly against a consumption tax hike over the next four years, takes...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 14, 2009

For Hatoyamas, politics is considered birthright

Often compared to the Kennedy family for the impressive list of lawmakers and scholars hailing from its ranks, the Hatoyama clan is one of the nation's most prominent political dynasties.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb