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Features
Sep 25, 2005

Shinobazu Pond

"Listen," said Nishizawa-san.
EDITORIALS
Sep 20, 2005

Counting the overseas vote

Article 1 of the Constitution makes it clear that sovereign power resides with the people, and Article 15 says, "The people have the inalienable right to choose their public officials and to dismiss them." Thus the right to vote in elections is the most important constitutional right for Japanese citizens....
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 20, 2005

Brought to heel

The watchdog role of journalists in Japan is on trial in several cases with enormous implications for freedom of the press here
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2005

DPJ picks Maehara for top spot

The Democratic Party of Japan elected young conservative Seiji Maehara as its new president Saturday, passing over veteran former party leader Naoto Kan after suffering a devastating defeat in the House of Representatives election last week.
COMMUNITY
Sep 13, 2005

Readers Write Back

Readers respond to recent topics on the Community Page
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2005

Assemblywoman puts sex on the agenda

In April 2003, 28-year-old Kanako Otsuji became the youngest person ever elected to the Osaka prefectural assembly when she won the seat for Sakai City. It was a distinction made more special by the fact that there were only six other women in the 110-member assembly at the time. However, another distinction...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 6, 2005

The empire strikes back

Venerated by militarists and marinated in over a century of militarism and war, Yasukuni Shrine may well be Japan's least friendly venue for a demonstration by pacifists.
COMMENTARY
Sep 5, 2005

A historic scramble to rule

The Sept. 11 Lower House election will test Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's politics, giving voters a chance to choose the nation's leadership between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2005

More than postal reform at stake

As the Lower House election campaign goes into full swing, Japanese voters face an important decision: whether to endorse the reform politics of Liberal Democratic Party leader and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, or a different kind of reform politics pushed by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan....
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLL SHOWDOWN
Aug 26, 2005

SDP stays course, hopes for election luck

The Social Democratic Party's campaign for the Sept. 11 general election will be a continuation of its same platform: Japan must maintain its peace stance, SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2005

Welfare trumps posts as candidates' main concern

Most of the declared candidates running in the Sept. 11 general election say social welfare reform should be the policy priority after the poll, according to a Kyodo News survey released Monday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 15, 2005

Soul-searching for peace in Asia

As the nation marks the 60th anniversary of its surrender to Allied Powers in World War II, the Japanese face the unfinished task of squarely looking at Japan's colonialism and modern war and seriously considering a nonmilitary path that Japan must take to contribute to world peace and stability.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 15, 2005

Despite removal of dollar peg, yuan still a currency under control

On July 21, the People's Bank of China announced it had ended the yuan's effective peg to the U.S. dollar and that it would link it to a basket of currencies based on China's main trading partners. The central bank also said that the yuan's exchange rate as of that evening was 8.11 to the dollar.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2005

Koizumi confident as postal bills hit last stage

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday he is confident his contentious package of postal privatization bills won't be rejected by the House of Councilors and there will be no need to dissolve the House of Representatives.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jun 27, 2005

Shining a light on Turkish-Japanese ties

NEW YORK -- Selcuk Esenbel was in town. For many years now a professor of history at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Selcuk was, when I met her more than 30 years ago, studying Japanese history at Columbia University. The fruit of that study is her 1998 tome, which she gave me during her previous visit...
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2005

Perverse allusions to glory

LONDON -- I regard myself as a friend of Japan, not least because I have many Japanese friends and appreciate Japanese arts and culture, but this does not mean that I can look at Japanese history through rose-tinted spectacles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 8, 2005

Taking the art out into the garden

From actresses imprisoned in vitrines and sharks suspended in formaldehyde to plaster houses that deteriorate with the rain and artificial shorelines made of pebbles and plastic -- contemporary British artists seem, after 10 years, to be taking art out of the glass case and into the environment -- wholesale....
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2005

A tale of two constitutions

BRUSSELS -- On Sunday the world watched as the French electorate voted on whether to approve the new European constitution, and it will watch once again Wednesday when Holland holds a similar referendum. Both results will help determine the future direction and role of the European Union in the world....
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2005

61% support making change to Constitution: poll

Sixty-one percent of people responding to a Kyodo News survey said they support the idea of revising the Constitution, according to results released Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 15, 2005

Shedding imposed war guilt

Tokyo is right to blame the Chinese authorities for failing to prevent damage to Japanese diplomatic and other properties during recent anti-Japanese demonstrations. But the Chinese authorities probably had their reasons. Demonstrations in China can easily turn into ugly antigovernment riots when confronted...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 13, 2005

Vision of a 'superflat' future

NEW YORK -- Murakami-mania hit New York last week as the "Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture" exhibition at the Japan Society opened to much media fanfare.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2005

Rice shows her mettle in Asian gauntlet

HONOLULU -- A Korean journalist in Seoul last weekend asked visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice how she coped with a bureaucracy staffed largely with white men.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Feb 20, 2005

Sit down and be counted!

One chilly Friday morning last month, high-school teacher Noriyuki Ishida had probably the most stressful experience of his 35-year career.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 7, 2005

Amendment must be made easier to ensure prosperity for Japan

On Jan. 18, Keidanren released a report on basic national issues including constitutional revision and diplomatic and national security policies. It was the first time this business lobby had put together a set of proposals on these matters.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 1, 2005

'I want to make Japan a better place to live'

Chong Hyang Gyun has just written herself into the history books, but not for the reason she wanted.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 31, 2005

Far-fetched redesigns between the lines

NEW YORK -- "Contrapuntal reading," as Edward Said called it, is the ability to read between the lines. The reader must be able to have what is referred to, but not described, play off the main descriptive concern. This ability is particularly important with novels written while empire-building was in...
COMMENTARY
Jan 25, 2005

Short shrift to a leader ousted by outlaws

HONG KONG -- The death of former Chinese Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang is a reminder of the tragedy that befell 15 years ago when the People's Liberation Army was called upon to shoot down unarmed demonstrators in Beijing, students as well as civilians. But it is also a reminder that China even today...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jan 7, 2005

Old Asakusa lives on

Asakusa is a magnet for those who love old-time Tokyo. Like a theater full of excitement and festivity in praise of old Edo, Asakusa Kannon Temple and the surrounding business district are vibrant year-round, attracting on average 35 million people a year. This two-part article will take an in-depth...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2004

SDF officer's draft to alter Constitution said apolitical

A constitutional amendment drafted by a senior Self-Defense Forces officer is a private proposal and does not violate laws on the political activities of SDF members, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Monday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 5, 2004

TV Tokyo's "Totsugeki! Idobata 7" and more

According to a recent article in weekly newsmagazine Aera, 8,158 Japanese women are married to non-Japanese men (the largest national group is American), while 27,881 Japanese men are married to non-Japanese women. The article says that the divorce rate among these "international couples" is rising faster...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan