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Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 27, 2009

Let's Bike!

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama could have made a stronger impact at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in New York last week had he trumpeted another environmentally laudable proposal in addition to his declared goal of Japan cutting its greenhouse-gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 22, 2009

'The last flies of summer'

Three years ago, I was lying on the beach of a package hotel, watching a pair of jet skis churn the sea to muddy silt. J-pop blared from the shore-side Tannoy, and two lifeguards were pinning down a hysterical toddler, while a third doused vinegar over a scarlet welt of jellyfish sting.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2009

Pardon Mr. Chen to help Taiwan

The conviction and sentencing of former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian is a troubling development. The life sentence handed down to Mr. Chen is certain to deepen the fissures in an already deeply divided and volatile society. He has appealed the sentence.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2009

Okada to prioritize ties with Asian neighbors

To envision how Katsuya Okada will approach his new job as foreign minister, one need look no further than his grilling of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during budget deliberations at the Diet on June 2, 2005.
BUSINESS
Sep 17, 2009

Big changes to budget process expected under DPJ

Ending more than half a century of almost unbroken Liberal Democratic Party rule, the administration led by the Democratic Party of Japan that was formed Wednesday is expected to bring major changes to the nation's governance.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 17, 2009

Why don't we eat bent cucumbers?

An aging agricultural workforce, a food self-sufficiency rate below 40 percent and the constant threat of environmental damage: How can tiny vegetable distribution companies in Chiba Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, tackle the issues facing Japan's farming industry?
EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2009

Justice in Scotland

Justice should be tempered by mercy. That was the thinking of the government of Scotland when it decided to release Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal cancer, from prison, eight years into a 27-year minimum sentence for blowing up an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, and killing...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2009

Japan ready for 'no nukes'

As the Obama administration contemplates major reductions to its nuclear arsenal, Japan's commitment to nuclear disarmament is being tested as never before.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2009

'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'

What to say about "Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (opening locally as "Night Museum 2"), the latest outbreak of Hollywood sequelitis? Well, I can tell you with all confidence that leading man Ben Stiller is just as funny here as he was in "Meet The Parents 2" or "Madagascar 2." Or that...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2009

Foreign reserves to stay in dollars: DPJ's Okada

The Democratic Party of Japan has no plans to diversify the country's foreign reserves away from the dollar if it wins next month's election, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada said.
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...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2009

Diversify from dollar to IMF bonds: DPJ exec

Japan should consider diversifying its foreign reserves from the dollar and buying International Monetary Fund bonds, according to the top finance official in the Democratic Party of Japan.
COMMENTARY
Jul 13, 2009

Playing with goal numbers

Salient points of the government's 2020 target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, announced June 10 by Prime Minister Taro Aso, are as follows:
Reader Mail
Jul 9, 2009

Power against the powerless

Regarding the July 1 article "Visa overstayers given too many breaks: rightist": The views of Daisuke Arikado are disturbing to say the least. They are sardonic, cynical and self-serving. To start with, instead of a highhanded name such as the Movement to Eradicate Crimes by Foreigners, why doesn't he...
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2009

LDP slams Hatoyama on funds scandal

The ruling bloc lambasted Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama over the political funds scandal he's embroiled in, but the opposition chief held his ground Thursday and said he had fulfilled his duty to explain the details.
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2009

Sundown on the merger era

A panel of the internal affairs ministry has submitted a recommendation to Prime Minister Taro Aso that the mergers of municipalities carried out at the initiative of the government in the past decade end by March 31, 2010. The mergers were aimed at using financial resources efficiently and streamlining...
EDITORIALS
Jun 28, 2009

Those maddening economists

For most mortals, economics is a dark and deeply confusing topic. The vocabulary is dense, the relationships contorted. Economists are notorious for offering two — contradictory — opinions on most topics. So forgive us if we are confused at the most recent forecasts of the global economic outlook....
EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 2009

Specifics emerge in debate

In their second debate in the Diet on Wednesday, Prime Minister Taro Aso and the Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama managed to talk in more concrete terms than they did the first time. Important issues for the coming Lower House election appear to have emerged.
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2009

Feasible anti-emission goal

In July 2008 the Japanese government adopted a target for 2050 of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 60 to 80 percent from 2005 levels. At the same time, a special panel was created to deliberate midterm reduction goals (through 2020).
COMMENTARY
Jun 5, 2009

Suspect in stabbing death a national hero

HONG KONG — A public outcry in China over the case of a woman arrested for stabbing to death a local official who assaulted her after she refused to provide sexual services reflects the widespread distrust of officials and sympathy for the underdog — even someone who may face murder charges.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
May 20, 2009

Tokyo Photojournalist

Journalists everywhere are facing the twin challenges of recession and rapidly changing technology. With his blog, Tokyo Photojournalist, Tony McNicol showcases his work as a Japan-based freelance journalist and discusses photojournalism in the age of Flickr and Twitter. In this interview with The Japan...
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2009

Sign of weakness in Pyongyang?

North Korea, which was condemned in a statement by the United Nations Security Council's president for its April 5 launch of a long-range rocket, has taken a provocative attitude of late. It has announced its withdrawal from the six-party talks for the denuclearization of the country and kicked out International...

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