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COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2008

Condemning the crime in Gaza

ATLANTA — The world is witnessing a terrible human rights crime in Gaza, where a million and a half human beings are being imprisoned — with almost no access to the outside world by sea, air or land.
COMMENTARY
May 9, 2008

How to succeed in Burma with a practical approach

NEW DELHI — Such is the tragedy that Burma symbolizes that, in one week, it has been hit by new U.S. sanctions and by a tropical cyclone that left thousands dead.
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2008

Smoother path between rivals

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao, in their meeting in Tokyo this week, reconfirmed the importance of the Japan-China relationship and showed their determination to put it on a smooth path through dialogue and cooperation by "looking toward the future." Mr. Hu's visit to Japan,...
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
May 6, 2008

Activism vs. academia

Back in January, I was a panelist at Waseda University's Global Institute for Asian Regional Integration, invited to give an "activist's perspective" to an academic crowd.
EDITORIALS
May 6, 2008

A sham in Myanmar

The military junta that rules Myanmar plans to hold a referendum this week on a new constitution. The ballot is a sham that offers the long-suffering people of Myanmar no real choice about the future. The outcome must not be accepted by the international community.
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Mental check of sailors a good idea

Regarding the April 30 article "U.S. sailors to undergo mental check": The survey seems like a great idea and should have been part of our overseas survey. But people are going to lie about things and lie about stuff they did.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
May 1, 2008

EC to G8: Match our ambitious carbon goals

The European Commission will push members of the Group of Eight industrialized countries to equal the European Union's commitment to fighting global warming when the G8 summit opens in July in the hot-spring resort of Toyako, Hokkaido, a senior EC official said.
Reader Mail
Apr 27, 2008

No way to express one's view

Regarding the recent vandalism of Zenkoji Temple following its decision to not host the start of the Olympic torch relay, it is a pity that people, whatever their reason, resort to vandalism instead of expressing their personal opinion in a more respectable and mature manner. Vandalizing a historical...
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2008

EU envoy sounds climate warning

Climate change is "a threat multiplier" that could cause various crises, including forcing some of the weakest states to break apart, a key European Union diplomat warned Thursday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 22, 2008

Summit wicked this way comes

You've probably heard about July's G8 Summit in Toyako, in my home prefecture of Hokkaido. In case you're unfamiliar with the event, here's a primer from the Foreign Affairs Ministry:
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2008

To survive, companies need a conscience

It's time for Japanese companies to review their profit-driven culture and think about the meaning of being truly accepted by consumers and society, according to a public policy expert and former vice governor of Tokyo.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 15, 2008

Kyodo bochi

Dear Alice,
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2008

Whither Africa's 'frontier markets'?

NEW YORK — Zimbabwe's election appears to confirm a truism: Africa only seems to make international headlines when disasters strike — a drought, a coup, a war, a genocide, or, as in the case of President Robert Mugabe, grossly incompetent government.
JAPAN / Q&A
Apr 8, 2008

Japan must put TICAD ball in play

Japan held the first Tokyo International Conference on African Development in 1993 to get the international community to reengage with poverty-stricken Africa.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 5, 2008

Breaking the bubble of pain and isolation

Nobuaki Kobayashi is a phenomenally kind and dedicated man. Life has never been easy, however. Now his wife is chronically unwell and he too is feeling his age.
BUSINESS / ASIAN ECONOMY SYMPOSIUM
Apr 4, 2008

'Deeper' integration must go beyond Asia's borders

Asia needs to start considering ways to "deepen" its economic integration while at the same time keeping itself open to parties from outside the region, experts told the March 24 symposium.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 1, 2008

Public forums, spinning wheels

A friend sent me a Yomiuri article (Feb. 10) about a neighborhood forum in Kanazawa. Its title: "Citizens consider how to live together with foreigners."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2008

Last chance for millions of Zimbabweans

PRAGUE — As the world rooted for former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in his recent efforts to end the violence in Kenya, many also found themselves wondering whether a weary Annan, or some other global leader, will be battling another fire by the end of this month: this time in Zimbabwe....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 18, 2008

Police in dock over rape

Crimes by women and crimes against women in Japan receive uneven coverage in the press. Female suspects, particularly those charged with serious offenses, are so thoroughly skewered in the media that defense attorneys often complain that a fair trial is near impossible. Crimes against women receive...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Mar 10, 2008

Isolationist tendencies threatening to turn Japan into a 'subprime state'

Although the word "subprime" may have been understood only by a few industry insiders a few months ago, it is certainly entering the global lexicon with some force these days. Governments around the world have been deploring the state of their economies, usually invoking the dreaded problem as a key...
EDITORIALS
Mar 8, 2008

Wanted: more volunteer firefighters

Community-based fire brigades called "shobodan," composed of ordinary citizens, play an important role in firefighting and fire prevention. But the number of shobodan members has been declining. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency in January started a three-month campaign to encourage citizens to...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2008

Bolstering U.S.-ASEAN Cooperation

BANGKOK — The strategic presence of the United States in Southeast Asia takes two forms, both of which are interrelated: The relationship is institutionalized through the Pacific Command in Honolulu and then formalized through various hub-and-spoke agreements with member states of the 10-member Association...
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Mar 4, 2008

Dusting off the A-word

Causes are what activists take up as a matter of course. But in Japan, just doing that is a challenge, given the general aversion towards activism here.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 4, 2008

Remains issue clouds Tokyo-Seoul ties

Historical issues involving Japan and South Korea have entered a new phase with the inauguration in Seoul last week of a conservative president and the return to South Korea last January of the remains of 101 Koreans who died while forcibly serving in the Japanese military during World War II.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes