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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2007

Escaping from the Kremlin

TALLINN — Communism's fall gave the nations of the former Soviet bloc a chance to turn toward democracy, a market economy, and the rule of law. Some countries cut ties decisively with the communist past; others were less successful, a few failed catastrophically.
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Jun 13, 2007

Watashi to Tokyo

This is the first in a series of profiles of bloggers who write about Japan.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jun 12, 2007

Sumo at the Olympics or a dohyo too far?

Sumo in Japan is on the up and up. We now have two yokozuna with a good half decade of rivalry in the tanks, one young enough to still be around in 10 years time. Irrespective of reports in the Japanese-language media, the sport is not sinking into the abyss with the continued success of its foreign...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 12, 2007

Japan's green strides belie spotty record

Last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought a leading role in the fight against climate change when he proposed a global initiative to halve greenhouse gas emis sions by 2050.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 12, 2007

Good will hunting; rent fees

Renewal fees revisited Peter Link in Kyoto writes on the subject of renewal fees for renting property. This is the Japanese system whereby a renter can expect to pay a charge of up to three months' rent every two years to the landowner.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2007

Mock trial provides look at judicial system's future

Second of two parts
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 10, 2007

Here comes the sun . . .

Some may shudder at the very thought of it, but more and more people are flinging off their duvets with glee and bounding into action-packed days that start when even larks are still lounging in their nests
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 10, 2007

In Japan, show reverence where it's due (or not)

Japan is the country that I feel most at home in. Yet, despite having arrived in 1967, and living here for the better part of the intervening 40 years, I still see myself as the odd man out in one particular aspect. I just can't "act Japanese" — if you will excuse the generalization — when it comes...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 10, 2007

Bunroku Shishi: Finding humor in a recovering postwar Japan

SCHOOL OF FREEDOM, by Bunroku Shishi, translated and with an afterword by Lynne E. Riggs. Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, 2006, 256 pp., $29.95 (cloth). Bunroku Shishi (1893-1969), who was born as Toyoo Iwata, had two occupations, just as he had two names. He was...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2007

Energy savings start at home

The white paper on the environment and a recycling-based society approved by the Cabinet expresses serious concern about global warming and stresses the importance of individual citizens taking conscious action to alleviate environmental problems and to help slow global warming. The white paper comes...
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2007

Blame game on pensions begins

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito attempted Thursday to shift blame for the pension data fiasco onto former opposition leader Naoto Kan, who was health minister at the time the government decided to computerize the records.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2007

'Kantoku Banzai!'/'Dai Nipponjin'

It was a marketing gimmick of the first order to open Takeshi Kitano's "Kantoku Banzai!" and Hitoshi Matsumoto's "Dai Nipponjin" on the same weekend. This head-to-head duel between films by the two reigning kings of Japanese comedy can only boost the box office of both.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2007

Six Day War left mixed legacy

Forty years ago, Israel won one of the most unlikely military victories in history. The Jewish nation's triumph over its Arab neighbors in the Six Day War was a stunning blow from which the world is still reeling. Sadly, four decades have not made Israel more secure, and many Israelis now concede that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2007

One man's porn is . . .

Sexuality is polymorphous. It has to be. This is because — rightly or wrongly — it often faces rigid repressive structures that it can only outflank by changing its forms and pouring its energy in new directions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 7, 2007

A midsummer bonanza

Many of the hottest tickets theatergoers are after this summer come courtesy of one person — English director John Caird.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 7, 2007

The cross-cultural theater connection

John Caird doesn't see his staging of three plays in Japan this summer as making a big splash that leaves ever-decreasing ripples that then fade away.
Reader Mail
Jun 6, 2007

Principled stand helped East Asia

Regarding Gregory Clark's May 28 article, "More compelling than common sense": Clark is at it again about poor, dysfunctional, ineffectual Australia. Never mind the almost 11 years of record economic growth we have had, together with a strong and warm relationship with Japan -- all, apparently, accidents...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2007

A 'socially accepted' act of child abuse

Last October the Supreme Court of Japan unanimously dismissed a young woman's final appeal of an Osaka High Court ruling that had found no illegality in her father's self-admitted act of suddenly touching her breast for a few seconds to "measure her sexual growth" when she was 11 years old.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Jun 5, 2007

'Takoyaki' czar looks to spread tentacles to U.S.

In Los Angeles last December, Morio Sase had a bout of nerves. What had made him think he could persuade Americans to cast off their culinary prejudices and warm to something with as great an "ick factor" as octopus?
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2007

Avoid the security dilemma in Asia

Military modernization is a constant process. Securing the state and protecting its citizens are the first tasks of any government. Militaries are vital to achieving these objectives, even though they are not the only means for doing so. Moreover, wise governments recognize that security is not absolute...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2007

A rare internationalist off to the rescue

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Will newly anointed World Bank President Robert Zoellick be able to get the organization back on its feet after the catastrophic failed presidency of Paul Wolfowitz? Although hardly a megawatt star of the Bob Rubin category, he certainly brings some positive attributes to the job....
BUSINESS / EAST ASIA SYMPOSIUM
Jun 4, 2007

Take your partners for economic integration

See related stories: U.S. presidential election casts long shadow Sustained economic growth is a question of balance for China

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’