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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2010

U.S. forecast from November

STANFORD, Calif. — November's midterm elections were a sharp rebuke to the vast expansion of government spending, deficits and debt in the United States. Elected in the midst of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008, President Barack Obama and the Democratic leadership of Congress seemed surprised...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 17, 2010

New Russia's political maneuvering harkens back to the U.S.S.R.

If I had to choose the event in my adult lifetime with the greatest historical import it would be, hands down, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2005, then president of Russia Vladimir Putin was not exaggerating when he called it "the greatest political catastrophe of the 20th century."
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2010

Nago eyed for Pacific islands summit

The government wants Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, to host the 2012 summit of Pacific island countries, its top spokesman said Friday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 16, 2010

Rooney's days with United may be numbered

LONDON — When Wayne Rooney was presented with the Footballer of the Year trophy last May the prospect of him (a) leaving Manchester United and (b) scoring just one outfield goal in seven months would have been so preposterous that any discussion could only have come at the end of a long night.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2010

The resistance to Russia's political order

MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's decision to fire Moscow's long-entrenched mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, is the most decisive move of his presidency. Is it really part of his drive to modernize Russia, or part of an emerging power play with Moscow's real strong man, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin?...
EDITORIALS
Sep 21, 2010

Looking after the elderly

Ten years have passed since the introduction of the nursing care insurance system in April 2000. In fiscal 2009, some 3.92 million people used nursing care insurance services. Discussions have started in preparation for a once-every-three-years reform of the system that will be implemented in fiscal...
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2010

Historic schools face doom

From August, Chuo Ward in Tokyo will start to razing two "fukko" (revival) elementary schools, and demolish a third one around two years later.
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2010

Panasonic moves to beef up energy biz presence

Panasonic Corp. announced Thursday it has reached an agreement to turn Sanyo Electric Co. and Panasonic Electric Works Co. into wholly owned units by April to beef up its energy business amid intensifying global competition.
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2010

A Japanese Steve Jobs?

Why, asks a Japanese magazine, wasn't the iPad invented in Japan? The short answer would be that Steve Jobs isn't Japanese. Japan does, however, have a similarly hard-driving perfectionist manager in Mr. Tadashi Yanai, head of Fast Retailing, who is rapidly turning his chain of clothing stores, Uniqlo,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2010

Global warming fight fizzles

In December, delegates from 193 countries took part in the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen in an attempt to form an agreement on how to combat global warming beyond 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires.
COMMENTARY
Apr 21, 2010

Hong Kong treads the democracy tightrope

The Hong Kong government announced earlier this month that it had nominated a leading jurist, Justice Geoffrey Ma, to be the next head of the judiciary, succeeding Chief Justice Andrew Li, who served in that post since the former British colony became a special administrative region of China in 1997....
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2010

Boost for nonproliferation

At the just-concluded summit on nuclear security, representatives from 47 nations — 38 of them heads of state — joined with host U.S. President Barack Obama to rally support for the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear materials within four years. Coming on the heels of publication of the U.S....
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2010

Dai-ichi Life's chief says expansion in Asia is next goal

Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. plans to expand in Asia to counter declining demand in Japan after its stock surged on debut in Tokyo in the world's biggest initial public offering in two years.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2010

Green pledges put on the record

Making good on a Jan. 31 deadline under the Copenhagen Accord, 55 countries submitted their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the secretariat of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2010

Push begins to clear electric-car obstacles

SINGAPORE — Does 2010 mark the start of a new era in road transport as electricity increasingly takes over from petrol and diesel engines as the source of power for vehicles?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2010

Expecting an unbound generation of leaders

SYDNEY — The appointment of five provincial-level Chinese Communist Party chiefs in early December is a reminder that the ascension of China's next generation of leaders, who will take power in 2012, may be the most significant development in Chinese politics since the reign of Deng Xiaoping began...
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2009

Taiwan poll's weight overhyped

HONOLULU — Voters in Taiwan went to the polls in 17 counties and cities recently to elect mayors and magistrates. The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party won 12 of the 17 seats and enjoyed an overwhelming victory in elections of county and city councilors and township chiefs. The opposition Democratic Progressive...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2009

Climate talks tense after walkout

COPENHAGEN — U.N. negotiators at the COP15 climate change conference were racing against the clock Tuesday, trying to conclude some form of agreement before nearly 120 heads of state began arriving Wednesday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami