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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2013

EU proposals on bankers' pay miss the point

Anger in Europe over executive pay is finding its way into legislation. The European Parliament, backed by almost all of the EU's finance ministers, plans to cap bankers' bonuses, and 68 percent of Swiss voters endorsed a referendum initiative to ban "golden parachutes" and put other curbs on bosses'...
Reader Mail
Mar 7, 2013

Public buses serve the elderly

I agree with John Campbell's remarks in his March 3 letter, "Japan doing well by its elderly." The system in Japan is good for the elderly. Ideally there is room for improvement, but how many "perfect" countries do we have in this world after all?
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2013

Enforced or not, repressive laws are bad

The creeping infringement of human rights in Russia under President Vladimir Putin raises a broader quandary for the international community: Do repressive laws matter if they're rarely or never enforced?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2013

BofA surge affirms Buffett bet as Moynihan's gaffes fade

Brian Moynihan was impatient. It was August 2011, and the Bank of America Corp. chief executive officer was reviewing plans to impose a $5 monthly fee on debit-card users.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2013

Power is increasingly fleeting

In 2009, during his first address before a joint session of Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama championed a budget that would serve as a blueprint for the country's future through ambitious investments in energy, health care and education. "This is America," the new president proclaimed. "We don't...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2013

Too high to drive? Pot-legal Colorado mulls blood-level limits

When is someone too stoned to drive?
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 2, 2013

Virtual autopsy: Does it spell the end of the scalpel?

Anyone who has spent any time in a courtroom knows how easy it is for a skilled defense lawyer to plant doubt in the mind of a jury. Even in a relatively straightforward case, such as a hit and run, jurors are frequently presented with such a confusing array of photographic and forensic evidence that...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 2, 2013

PLA hackers are just the tip of cyberwarfare risk

China is awash with nondescript new office buildings, so the 12-story tower in Shanghai's Pudong area hardly looked likely to cause global headlines. Not even propaganda posters on walls surrounding it or People's Liberation Army guards standing at the gates made the building stand out.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 28, 2013

The long arm of the antipiracy law

Captured half a world away, off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean, four Somalis are sent to Tokyo to stand trial for piracy after a failed attempt to hijack an oil tanker. Three have already been convicted by the Tokyo District Court.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2013

Financial regulators' international variety show

It is hard to identify a correlation between regulatory structure and state success in heading off or responding to the financial crisis triggered in 2008.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 25, 2013

North Dakota activist goes against the grain of her state's gun culture

One recent afternoon, Susan Beehler, who may be the only gun-control advocate in all of North Dakota, walked into VFW Post 762, a dimly lit, wood-paneled bar in downtown Fargo.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 23, 2013

Wenger getting diminishing returns

The case for the prosecution is now stronger than that put by the defense.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 22, 2013

Tokyo literary festival writes its opening chapter

Every time David Karashima took a Japanese author to New York or London to do a reading, the local audiences would ask two questions: "Who's the next Haruki Murakami?" and "Why isn't there an international literary festival in Tokyo?"
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2013

From ADB to BOJ: a 'twofer' for Abe?

As President Barack Obama struggles to get his Defense and Treasury choices in place, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has his own personnel challenges.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 18, 2013

Can-can dancers, tea-time snacks and katakana confusion

In last month's column, I looked at the origins of several famous Japanese product brands. Thinking back, perhaps the very first brand I noticed here was a confectioner named 文明堂 (Bunmeido). The company, a 老舗 (shinise, well-established shop), was founded in Nagasaki in 1900, taking its name...
Reader Mail
Feb 17, 2013

Japanese art of avoiding rebuttal

According to Wikipedia, even Albert Einstein was impressed by the Japanese and their oft-touted modesty. One thing Japanese that is less lovable, however, is honne to tatemae.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2013

A king rediscovered

Few kings in history have been as vilified as England's Richard III. Will the discovery of his 15th-century remains prompt a reassessment of his legacy?
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 14, 2013

Japan still paying for war sins through international copyrights

If you're a copyright holder, you have a special reason to be happy if your work is sold in Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 14, 2013

Armed drones stir debate in pacifist Germany

The debate over the legality of drone warfare is stretching from Capitol Hill into the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate, as Germany considers purchasing armed drones for the first time.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2013

The message Asians hope Abe will say to Obama

Neither Japan nor China can give up its claims to the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, but stoking up conflict in today's world economy would hurt them both.
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2013

North Korea's reckless test

North Korea apparently has carried out its third nuclear explosion test since 2006, defying international efforts to keep it from becoming a nuclear power.
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2013

The right reason to perform well

The Feb. 1 article "Two sides to corporal punishment practices in Japan" mentions the rising problem of abusive Japanese sports coaches. Recent incidents include the suicide of an Osaka high school basketball team captain after he had been physically punished by his coach, and the physical harassment...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 4, 2013

Teach your teens basic life skills

Everyone graduates from high school knowing how to read, write and do basic math (you would hope). But to be a self-sufficient adult, those skills are not enough. In fact, they're nowhere close to enough.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2013

Ending the international war against women

According to the United Nations, one in three women worldwide will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 1, 2013

Abe says he feels war sex slaves' pain

Facing questions from an opposition lawmaker Thursday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refused to comment on the government's position on wartime sex slaves, but he did say he feels "heart-breaking pain" when he thinks of how their human rights were violated.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan