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Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 21, 2010

Joho's passion gives Lakestars a real boost

Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2010

Investors unconvinced by Fujitsu claims, TSE probe

Fujitsu Ltd. has drawn renewed calls from investors to shed more light on the departure of former President Kuniaki Nozoe after the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended a probe Tuesday into the conflicting reasons given by the firm.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2010

IMF flunks good governance

HONG KONG — On Feb. 26, International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn put forward a bold-sketch map for what he called "an IMF for the 21st century," but in the very same week he and two key members of the fund, China and Japan, flunked the most important test for the future...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Mar 10, 2010

Admitting worst-kept secrets all about timing?

The Democratic Party of Japan-led government effectively dragged the skeletons in the closet of postwar Tokyo-Washington diplomacy out into the light Tuesday, in the process exposing the hollowness of its predecessor administrations' long denials.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 5, 2010

A16: Brick Square is hip

Spring may not be here for real just yet, but it's never too early to celebrate the first al fresco lunch of the year. So when last week's unseasonably warm spell arrived we knew exactly where to go — into the heart of the city, to grab an outside table at A16.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2010

DPJ-led bloc's vote passes 2010 budget

The Democratic Party of Japan-led coalition passed the fiscal 2010 budget in the Lower House on Tuesday evening, having survived relentless grilling from the opposition over a series of political funding scandals.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2010

Japan starting to balk at footing bill for U.S. forces

GINOWAN, Okinawa Pref. — In Japan, where land is a precious commodity, many U.S. bases boast golf courses, football fields and giant shopping malls whose food courts offer everything from Taco Bell to Subway to Starbucks.
COMMENTARY
Feb 19, 2010

Japan, China, past, present

China's recent economic progress coupled with its growing assertiveness in international politics has, in Asia, Europe and the U.S., given rise to some concern and a number of commentaries about the role of China in international politics.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2010

Edano tasked with polishing Cabinet's image

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukio Edano was appointed the new administrative reform minister Wednesday, as the Hatoyama administration works to clean up the Cabinet's scandal-tainted image.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 2, 2010

Non-Japanese suffrage and the racist element

On Jan. 17, Takeo Hiranuma made this statement about fellow Diet member Renho:
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 31, 2010

Groping pregnant women shouldn't be what's it about

On Jan. 14, 36-year-old comedian Sayaka Aoki made her last TV appearance before taking some time off to have a baby. The appearance was on Fuji TV's noontime variety show "Waratte Ii to mo" ("It's OK to laugh"), where she was a semiregular. The show's host, Tamori, placed his hands on Aoki's belly as...
LIFE
Jan 24, 2010

Secrets and lies

Japan marked the 50th anniversary of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty on Jan. 19 amid calls for an inquiry into the dispatch of Japanese Self-Defence Forces to Iraq, which critics say was illegal. But in contrast to the fierce debates over the origins and legitimacy of the 2003 Iraq invasion in both the...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2010

Hatoyama reaffirms innocence

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama again proclaimed his innocence Thursday in a political funds scandal involving donations from his mother, telling the House of Representatives Budget Committee that he is ready to resign if the facts prove otherwise.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 22, 2010

E*A*T: Fast food worth lingering over

The bright yellow sign calls down over the busy, narrow sidewalk like a grandmama from the old country exhorting her brood to come to table. "EAT EAT," it shouts. Do as you're told: Go in and sit down. We did. And we ate. We ate very well indeed.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2010

Nago mayor vote a referendum on base

OSAKA — In an election with major implications for Japan-U.S. relations, voters in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, will head to the polls Jan. 24 to either re-elect a mayor who supports relocating the Futenma air base nearby or install a challenger who wants the base out of the prefecture and, preferably,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2010

Kan sets his sights on cutting government waste

Given the nation's snowballing deficit and sluggish growth, Deputy Prime Minister and now also Finance Minister Naoto Kan announced Thursday plans to review government spending to reduce waste and come up with policies to expand the economy.
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2010

Supporting medical services

The Hatoyama administration has decided to raise remuneration to medical institutions for fiscal 2010 and 2011. Although the raise amounts to only 0.19 percent on average, significantly it is the first raise in 10 years. The decision came against the Finance Ministry's demand that payments be lowered...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 8, 2010

Assisted living: You can't take it with you

There gold's in the silver sector and everyone wants a piece of the the kaigo hoken (nursing care insurance) system.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 6, 2010

Hatsu 2010 — time to rise and shine for Koto, Kise and Go

With holiday decorations now back in the box and vacations ending for most people, the 700 men active in sumo are once again warming up the muscles, stretching the limbs and preparing for combat.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 5, 2010

Human rights in Japan: a top 10 for '09

They say that human rights advances come in threes: two steps forward and one back.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 22, 2009

Too innocent for prejudice?

Are kindergarteners racist? Do they discriminate between children with different skin colors?
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 18, 2009

Okada unfazed by Nakamura's struggles in Spain

National team manager Takeshi Okada has reassured Shunsuke Nakamura that he will form the cornerstone of Japan's 2010 World Cup challenge despite failing to make an impact at Espanyol.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2009

Politics and the Emperor

The government's decision to let Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping have an exceptional audience with the Emperor Tuesday made many people wonder whether the government, especially Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, has a correct understanding of the constitutional order with regard to the position of the...
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2009

Realistic view on war and peace

In the October announcement of its decision to bestow the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on U.S. President Barack Obama, the Norwegian Nobel Committee attached special importance to his "vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons." The committee also praised the U.S. president by stating: "Only very...
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2009

Poorest nations seek $200 billion

COPENHAGEN — Developing countries raised the stakes Thursday for any successful outcome of the U.N. climate talks, demanding that the international community provide $200 billion to mitigate global warming in the poorest nations.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2009

Inside Thailand's hidden separatist war

LEEDS, England — Thailand's former prime minister, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, recently ignited a furor when he proposed that the separatist campaign in his country's Muslim-majority southern provinces might be solved politically, with a form of self-rule. Thailand's ruling Democrat Party immediately called...

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell