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JAPAN
Jun 2, 2007

Hold classes on Saturday: panel

Public schools should be allowed to hold classes on Saturdays to help students improve their academic performances, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on education reform said in its second report released Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 2, 2007

V.C. Lingam

The attraction of higher education in Japan first brought V.C. Lingam here from Singapore. "I read a few books, and I thought why not?" he said. That was a very long time ago. He is 93 now, and a permanent resident of Japan.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2007

Guarding against measles

A recent temporary closure of schools due to an outbreak of measles shows that Japan is lagging in its efforts to contain the infectious disease. In the 1950s, thousands of people died of measles. Although the number of annual deaths is said to have come down to single or double figures since the 1990s,...
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2007

Far from the end of the United Kingdom

PRAGUE — Three hundred years after the first Scottish Parliament voluntarily voted itself out of existence in 1707, the Scottish National Party has won a plurality in the devolved Scottish Parliament that is one of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's great legacies. Does an SNP-led government herald...
Reader Mail
May 27, 2007

Constructive mayor will be missed

Misawa Mayor Shigeyoshi Suzuki passed away on May 1 at age 66. I was shocked to hear this, having met him in my previous capacity as director of the Status of U.S. Forces Agreement Division of the Foreign Ministry.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 23, 2007

Can 'organic' feed us all?

Having experienced firsthand the waste, power abuse and nepotism that malign the United Nations from within, I am not usually a fan of its conferences.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2007

Unlike Yeltsin, Putin has luck on his side

WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin's assertive foreign policy stance of recent years reflects the confidence that comes with a booming economy. In 1999, the year before Putin succeeded Boris Yeltsin as president, Russia's GDP was a paltry $200 billion. By last year, it had reached $1 trillion....
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 27, 2007

Zing, laughter, fuss and froth

Theater director Sho Ryuzanji, 59, started his Rakujuku (loosely, "having-fun club") in 1997 with the specific intention to involve non-theater professionals over the age of 45 in drama. The company now comprises 14 members -- all women. For its 10th anniversary program, Ryuzanji's troupe will tread...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2007

Whole world is weeping

News that a young man with two guns took 32 lives in a coldblooded rampage at a U.S. university has triggered shock and dismay around the world. Revelations about the life of Seung-Hui Cho that emerged after the killings have compounded fears and concerns and raised questions about immigrant dreams and...
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 22, 2007

Indian schools make a mark

Every day at the Global Indian International School (GIIS) in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward starts with yoga. All the students -- from kindergarteners to 14-year-old ninth-graders -- have a 20-minute session in their classrooms. The focus is on breathing, which it's thought helps them to relax and concentrate...
Reader Mail
Apr 18, 2007

Declining level of knowledge

Regarding Takamitsu Sawa's April 9 article, "Redundant higher education": Sawa's opinion that "At U.S. colleges and universities, many first- and second-year undergraduate students receive a basic education equivalent to the Japanese high school level" is a smug generality and simply not true.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 10, 2007

Reported stalking cases likely just tip of iceberg

The day started like any other. The alarm clock rang at 7 a.m. and Laura Fitch, a Canadian then 28 years old, made her sleepy-eyed way to the shower to freshen up before brewing her first coffee of the day.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 8, 2007

Seeing yourself through the literary ways of others

With the 2007 academic year now about to begin in Japan, it's a good time to take a look at English-language teaching in the nation's universities. Yes, the tides are indeed running there. The emphasis is shifting determindly toward the utilitarian: English as a tool for Internet communication; English...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 2, 2007

Think tanks offer Japan plenty of personnel with policymaking potential

The 21st Century Public Policy Institute (21PPI) is a think tank established by Keidanren in 1997. As it enters its 10th year this month, a revamp is in progress to beef up its activities.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 1, 2007

Drawing on experience

Cartoonists in Japan are as abundant as the cherry blossoms at this time of year -- but Rieko Saibara is probably the only one who has both a lyrical and rebellious side to her work -- along with an astonishing power and what has been called a "lethal poison.''
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 27, 2007

'Multicultural Japan' remains a pipe dream

In February, education minister Bunmei Ibuki called Japan "an extremely homogenous country." Eighteen months earlier, now Foreign Minister Taro Aso described Japan as having "one nation, one civilization, one language, one culture, and one race." What was notable about these comments is that they were...
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Mar 20, 2007

Japan's gold poop

Dear Alice,
Reader Mail
Feb 28, 2007

Moms need to do soul-searching

Why is it that many Japanese women are so outraged at health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa's tactless remarks over Japan's declining birthrate and the need for more babies?
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Feb 18, 2007

Close your eyes, count to 10 . . . and play to your heart's content

It seems only natural that everyone should have a wild time, at least once in their life, because for the most part our mortal span is occupied with studying, making a living or raising a family. All that, of course, can be fun -- but it tends to be rather serious stuff as well.
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2007

Exam system put to the test

When road signs point to universities, racks at shrines fill with rows of handwritten ema (votive pictures/messages), and a respectful hush falls over the city, you know it's time for one of Japan's most important rituals -- entrance exams.
COMMUNITY
Feb 3, 2007

Aikido fuels life of selfless service

Meet Kenkichi Futami, in many ways the archetypal Japanese salaryman of the postwar period whose sacrifice helped position Japan so productively in the world today.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past