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JAPAN
Aug 6, 2010

Privacy law may face new scrutiny

The government may look into revising the Personal Information Protection Law if some of its provisions are stopping municipalities from ascertaining the status of "missing" centenarians and other pension recipients, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku hinted Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2010

$1 trillion wasted on wars

HONG KONG — The calculator busily counting out how much money the United States has spent on wars since 2001 has raced past $1 trillion — $1,024 billion plus at the start of August. There is little point in trying to give a more refined figure since the clock ticks remorselessly on, mesmerizingly...
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2010

The changing book world

In a time of major uncertainty for the Japanese book world, the latest winners of two major book awards have been announced. The Akutagawa Prize for promising newcomers went to Ms. Akiko Akazome, and the Naoki Prize for more established writers of popular fiction to Ms. Kyoko Nakajima.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2010

Toyota recalls 412,000 cars in U.S., 16,000 here

Toyota is recalling 412,000 cars, mostly the Avalon model, in the U.S., and another 16,420 vehicles in Japan for steering problems, the automaker said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2010

Pair hanged; Chiba attends as witness

Two inmates were hanged Wednesday in the first executions since the Democratic Party of Japan took power 10 months ago.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2010

Reform delay may snap JGB cycle

Japanese government bond yields may surge if Prime Minister Naoto Kan fails to carry out financial reforms, prompting an exodus of foreign money that had been drawn to the safety of the nation's assets, Barclays Capital Japan Ltd. said.
EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 2010

The tragedy in North Korea

With the sinking of the South Korean Navy vessel Cheonan, the missile and nuclear tests and the fire-breathing rhetoric, it is easy to forget that North Korea is also an economic basket case. A nation that once outpaced its southern neighbor in economic development has been teetering on the brink of...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2010

Muskoka declaration of health highlights abandoned promises

WATERLOO, Canada — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper — who is the 2010 president of the Group of Eight industrialized nations — has summarized the "Muskoka Initiative: Maternal, Newborn and Under-5 Child Health" by exclaiming "We have been successful."
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2010

Foundation of science crumbling

In 1995, Japan enacted the science and technology basic law with the idea that, owing to scarce natural resources, Japan should promote science and technology as the foundation for its development. Under the law, the government has so far prepared three basic plans for science and technology — each...
JAPAN / GROWING OLD ALONE
Jul 21, 2010

Cleanup after unnoticed death now a growing industry

Yoshinori Ishimi could hear a high-pitched whine coming from the apartment in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, he was about to enter. When he went inside, he saw black "mini-twister" clouds of flies.
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2010

Rwanda: Kagame's dilemma

Did Paul Kagame really stop the genocide in Rwanda 16 years ago, or did he just interrupt it for a while? That question frightens him so much that he will not risk everything on the outcome of a democratic election.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 17, 2010

Journeyman Fernandez keen to make most of Seibu return

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — The stairs must have seemed endless.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 17, 2010

Briton looks through lens with an eye to change

Japan-based photographer and activist El-Branden Brazil quotes Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama: "If you think you're too small to make a difference, sleep in the room with a mosquito."
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 16, 2010

Slugger Ortiz finding his stride with Hawks

The 2010 season hasn't dampened Jose Ortiz's recollection of the way 2009 ended.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2010

Sexual empowerment with a large dose of Grey matter

Sasha Grey is not the sort of movie star you normally see discussed in these pages. With a resume that includes "Oral Supremacy" and "Sex Toy Teens," Grey has risen to become one of the top porn stars in the United States, appearing in more than 180 films in a three-year period starting when she was...
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 15, 2010

Ladies' plans

Dear Alice,
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2010

Ex-immigration boss: detentions too long

Illegal residents should not be held in detention for more than one year because any longer causes too much stress, a former chief of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau said, noting extended incarceration led to two hunger strikes at detention centers this year, one of which followed suicides.
COMMENTARY
Jul 14, 2010

U.S. bidding Iraq goodbye and good luck

As the American withdrawal gains speed, there are fewer American troops in Iraq than in Afghanistan for the first time since 2003. By the end of August there will be no U.S. combat troops left in Iraq, though some tens of thousands of support troops will remain until next year. And still there is no...
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Jul 13, 2010

Buffaloes hurler Kisanuki thriving in new surroundings

What's that old saying about one man's trash again?
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 11, 2010

Japan's great gamble

Sheldon Adelson, crusading chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, was in Singapore last month to launch his company's latest casino-anchored mega-resort, the $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands Singapore.

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’