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COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2007

Another Japanese prime minister falls

LOS ANGELES — Japan is of gigantic importance to the United States and to the world. This nation — of 127 million people squeezed into one relatively small island — developed into the second-largest economy in the world.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2007

'Shadow' leader Fukuda combative but seasoned

and Taro Aso raise their fists Saturday before officially registering for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on Sept. 23. KYODO PHOTOS
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2007

Fukuda in lead to take over LDP

Yasuo Fukuda emerged Friday as the clear favorite in the race to replace Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, in what is shaping up to be a two-man contest with LDP Secretary General Taro Aso.
COMMENTARY
Sep 13, 2007

Lashing out at U.S. won't help Taiwan

TAIPEI — For all the divisions that define Taiwan politics, parties on both ends of the political spectrum agree on one thing: The island is in trouble. At that point, however, they part ways.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2007

Stocks fall on Abe's decision to step down

Stock prices closed lower Wednesday following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's surprise announcement of his decision to resign.
EDITORIALS
Sep 12, 2007

Mr. Abe tones down rhetoric

In his policy speech in the Diet on Monday, the first day of the extraordinary Diet session following his Liberal Democratic Party's devastating defeat in the July 29 Upper House election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe toned down rhetoric on his conservative political agenda and touched more on issues closely...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2007

Clock ticking as Councilor Kawada goes after what has long ailed Japan

Newly elected Upper House lawmaker Ryuhei Kawada was diagnosed with hemophilia soon after he was born.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2007

Farm chief for week, Endo exits in scandal

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's week-old Cabinet suffered a major blow Monday as farm minister Takehiko Endo stepped down over a money scandal just eight days after he was appointed.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2007

'Executioner' looks positively presidential

MOSCOW — In the latest interview given by Andrei Lugovoi, the man Britain wants Russia to extradite for poisoning the dissident Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium in London last fall, there was a remarkable moment that has not been fully appreciated. Lugovoi, still rather diffident but...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2007

Transformation of Turkey

ISTANBUL — Abdullah Gul's election as Turkey's 11th president marks a watershed in the country's history.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2007

Masuzoe stakes political life on fixing pension mess

New Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe says he will "stake his political life" on matching the 50 million unidentified pension premium records, whose decades of mishandling by the Social Insurance Agency led many people to receive smaller payments than they were due.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2007

China's happy mask hides huge problems

BEIJING — China's "face" may be its Achilles' Heel. As it basks in its new status as an economic superpower — the dragon that is outpacing Asia's tigers as well as the donkeys of the West — China is mistakenly downplaying its own serious structural weaknesses.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 28, 2007

Picking faction bosses Abe's bid to show tactful maturity?

In a desperate effort to mend his and his Cabinet's damaged credibility, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took the safe course Monday by picking a new team of mainly veteran lawmakers, including Liberal Democratic Party faction leaders.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2007

Japan's bureaucrats versus Shinzo Abe

OSAKA — Much has been made of the massive defeat Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party suffered in the July 29 Upper House elections. But as the smoke from the vote dissipates, it has become clear that the real victor is neither the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)...
COMMENTARY
Aug 16, 2007

Japan, India: natural allies

NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, weakened by a mortifying defeat in Upper House elections, will address the Indian Parliament later this month. This is an honor that U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao did not get during their state visits to India last year. India and...
COMMENTARY
Aug 2, 2007

What the Japanese election really means

LOS ANGELES — The country is deadlocked. The people are divided. The stock market is grumbling. The leader is discredited — but vows to govern onward anyhow.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2007

Confused by a Turkish veil

ISTANBUL — On Monday millions of Turks will wake up to a new, post-elections Turkey. What will happen is hard to foresee. Turkish politics is full of surprises that only foreigners find surprising.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2007

Ban on online campaigns further besieged

of the Democratic Party of Japan takes part in an event to promote Internet election campaigning in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on June 15. HIROKO NAKATA PHOTO
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2007

Upper House campaign commences

The campaign for the July 29 Upper House election has officially started. It is the first national election since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in September 2006. Under the Abe administration so far, the Fundamental Law of Education has been revised to instill patriotism in children and strengthen...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2007

'The Magic Flute'

"The Magic Flute" is one of the most familiar and best-loved operas in the world, but barring Mozart and opera enthusiasts, how many can claim to have sat through the whole thing and er, understood it all?
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2007

Fujimori's run for the Diet draws condemnation

Human rights activists and legal experts Wednesday slammed disgraced former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori's bid to win a Diet seat in the July 29 House of Councilors election as a shameless attempt to elude justice.
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 12, 2007

Komeito to stay firmly in coalition camp

For New Komeito leader Akihiro Ota, the priority in the July 29 election is maintaining the ruling bloc's control of the Upper House, but he won't say if he will resign if the coalition falls short.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2007

Palestinians' 'Blair option' needs help

LOS ANGELES — The release of an abducted BBC journalist in Gaza is being seen by some as an attempt by Hamas (which denies any part in the kidnapping) to curry favor with Tony Blair, who on stepping down as Britain's prime minister was appointed international envoy to Israel and Palestine. Blair has...
Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 10, 2007

No tieups for Kokumin Shinto: Watanuki

Although the leader of Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) has ruled out the possibility of forming an alliance with another party, that doesn't mean he isn't interested in cooperating on policy where possible.
Reader Mail
Jul 8, 2007

Kyuma's statement overdue

Regarding the July 1 front-page story "A-bombings 'couldn't be helped': Kyuma": Someone finally had to say it in Japanese politics, although Fumio Kyuma (who resigned as defense minister Tuesday) could have said it better. He should still be thanked for saying it.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2007

How the West lost its nerve with Russia

MOSCOW — Nation-states are built on ethnic and territorial unity, and their histories and political development are grounded in a sense of collective identity. Empires emerge when a national group considers its existence inside its territorial borders either risky or ineffective, and embarks on a forced...
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2007

'Japan's Condi Rice' known for courting controversy

OSAKA — New Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, 54, is a world traveler fluent in Arabic and English and considered one of the Diet's leading experts on the Middle East.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years