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EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2010

To protect and enhance life

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose administration is 4 1/2 months old, opened his policy speech for the coming year with words that bore his colors: "I want to protect people's lives. This is my wish. . . . I want to protect the lives of those who are born, of those who grow and mature."
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2010

'Crossing' bares North defector fate

Every year, poverty-stricken North Koreans risk their lives crossing the border into China to escape the repression and starvation plaguing their hermit homeland.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2010

Boeing discloses more JAL orders

Boeing Co. has orders for 71 planes worth about $10 billion from Japan Airlines Corp., which filed for bankruptcy Tuesday. That's 21 more than the U.S. company had previously disclosed.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2009

Lowly Nikkei still has upside to offer

The Nikkei 225 stock average, the world's worst performer in the 20 years since it set its highest level, offers a cheap way to bet on emerging markets, according to Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co.
Reader Mail
Dec 24, 2009

Copenhagen dissenters silenced

Regarding the Dec. 19 article "China, India snag emissions deal": In the Readers' Form of Dec. 13 I commended The Japan Times for standing up for freedom of expression in the case of a Buddhist monk whose rights had been trampled on by the police and Supreme Court. I also suggested that people are apathetic...
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2009

An abuse of intelligence

The U.K. government has been under pressure for some years to hold an inquiry into British participation in the Iraq war and on the events that led up to the decision to go to war. The various previous inquiries were seen by many as inadequate or whitewash. The government eventually conceded that once...
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2009

Yemen captors free engineer

A Japanese engineer abducted by armed Yemeni tribesmen Nov. 15 was freed early Tuesday Japan time along with his local driver, government officials said in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2009

Unholy hunt for an EU president shows the hypocrisy of states

HONG KONG — With the signing of the Lisbon Treaty by Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus, the leaders of the 27 countries of the disunity known as the European Union are now free to take an important step backward on the tortuous road to give Europe global relevance that matches the size of its combined...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2009

Embedded malcontents of nuclear Pakistan

BANGALORE, India — A government unable to control large parts of its territory, a military in disarray, loss of control over nuclear assets, radical Islamists intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction — that's the stuff nightmares are made of, at least for the West. Pakistan's current turmoil...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Nov 10, 2009

Betting your family on Japan: readers respond

Life is long, should be long Mr. Cory, I truly sympathize with your comments and experiences. Your comment about mixed feelings toward your wife really struck home with me as well. Indeed, I too am a Richard Cory, living a farcical life with all of the appearances of the enviable.
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2009

Pollution fears don't dent coal's popularity

Asia's rebound from the global economic slump is cheering the world with its promise of more growth, jobs and trade. But the revival is bad news for the environment because it is largely driven by a production and transport system addicted to fossil fuels, especially coal and oil. This helps explain...
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2009

DPJ, LDP to feint, not fight for time being

A bell will sound Monday to mark the opening of the extraordinary Diet session and the legislative debut of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's administration.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 20, 2009

Abortion still key birth control

People may be surprised to know abortion has been legal in Japan since 1949, more than a decade earlier than in other industrialized countries.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 7, 2009

Beijing battles online 'disharmony'

Thousands of goose-stepping troops, rumbling rows of tanks and floats celebrating China's achievements paraded proudly in front of Tiananmen Square last week, all intended to convey the message that Beijing has everything under control.
Reader Mail
Oct 4, 2009

Abduction of another kind

Regarding the Sept. 30 article "Okada, Yu want to keep pressure on N. Korea": Japan hopes to resolve the fate of Japanese nationals abducted in the past by North Korean agents and looks for other nations' support. Yet, recent news reports indicate that Japan is hiding many kidnapped children from international...
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2009

Arctic heating up

The polar ice cap is melting. As the Arctic ice thins, littoral countries are beginning a race to claim the region's heretofore inaccessible resources. A navigable Arctic also holds out the promise of new trade routes, with much shorter travel times between Asia and Europe. An "open Arctic" has important...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 26, 2009

Reaching young people with music

When someone asks his age, Michael Di Stasio sometimes responds that it is the same as the late king of pop, Michael Jackson: "May he rest in peace."
EDITORIALS
Sep 22, 2009

Less than sterling democracy

A month after the ballot was held, preliminary results for the Afghan presidential election are in. According to that tally — and to the surprise of no one — incumbent President Hamid Karzai has won. With more than 50 percent of the votes counted, his margin of victory allows him to skip a runoff...
COMMENTARY
Aug 22, 2009

The decline of policymaking

I have misgivings about the decline of Japanese policymaking abilities.
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 2009

Breakthrough with North Korea?

The release by North Korea of two Korean-American journalists is a welcome event. The two women broke the law, but incarceration was excessive punishment and their release was long overdue. The delay suggests the fate of these two women was determined by forces much larger than the details of their particular...
EDITORIALS
Jul 31, 2009

U.S. and China step forward

Both sides are calling the first meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue a success. Of course, success is in the eyes of the beholder and both governments have strong reasons to wear rose-colored glasses. Although the concrete results of this meeting are less impressive, establishing...
JAPAN / PARTY POWERS
Jul 29, 2009

New Komeito chief slams DPJ policies, rules out alliance

Citing the Democratic Party of Japan's "unreliable" policies, New Komeito chief Akihiro Ota says joining hands with the DPJ is unlikely even if the largest opposition force wins the Aug. 30 election.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2009

Out of step over failed price deal

SYDNEY — Australia is having to rethink its dealings with China following the bizarre jailing in Shanghai of an Australian businessman and a flurry of undercover diplomatic requests for explanations from Canberra to Beijing.
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 2009

A last gasp for the G8?

The rationale for the Group of Eight, composed of leading industrialized nations, has been thinning for years. Not only has the group produced little of substance at its annual leaders' summit, but its members are unable to deliver on whatever pledges are produced. Moreover, the political heft of the...
JAPAN / G8 ITALY SUMMIT
Jul 10, 2009

Developing nations bring own agenda, demands to summit

ROME — Negotiations grew more complex Thursday at the Group of Eight summit in L'Aquila, Italy, as developing nations joined discussions on crucial issues such as climate change and the global economy.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2009

Key gripes converge in Tokyo poll

With the July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election drawing near, opposition parties are beginning to attack the contentious policies endorsed by the bureaucracy and Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jun 28, 2009

Mythmaking and the Kamikaze 'volunteers'

NEW YORK — Lisa Hosokawa Garber, a fresh graduate of St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina, has sent me "Crosswind," her short, imaginative account of three months in the life of a youth training to be a Kamikaze pilot. It describes what its author calls a Shakespearean "twist of fate":...
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 18, 2009

Forget the suicide stereotype

Now that spring has dissolved into the sticky humidity of rainy season, now that go gatsu byo — "May sickness" — has melted away along with the memory of the cherry blossoms, perhaps it is time to wash away one of the most pervasive stereotypes of Japan, its dubious status as a "suicide nation."...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2009

Masks with ostrich antibodies aid swine flu fight

Researcher Yasuhiro Tsukamoto's flock of 500 ostriches is being enlisted into the global fight against swine flu by exploiting Japan's practice of wearing masks in public to ward off allergies and colds.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers