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EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2011

Tracking former sex offenders

A proposal by Gov. Yoshihiro Murai of Miyagi Prefecture to attach Global Positioning System devices to ex-convicts of sex crimes and people prone to committing domestic violence has given rise to renewed discussions of how to prevent sex-crime recidivism.
Reader Mail
Feb 27, 2011

'Love' for pets beats abandonment

Regarding Grant Piper's Feb. 20 letter, "Unrequited love for pet owners": I know that we don't understand how pets such as dogs and cats really think, feel or trust. In this respect, I agree with Piper. Also, I sometimes come across animals that are treated too much like humans. In addition to dogs wearing...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 27, 2011

Nationalism and its discontents

In this wide-ranging feature following a recent visit to Chengdu, China, Jeff Kingston examines Sino-Japanese relations and challenges facing the government in Beijing
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2011

The battle for Bahrain

MANAMA — The fervor for change that inspired revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt is now rocking Bahrain. But the uprising in Manama differs from the mass protests that turned out longtime rulers in North Africa. Indeed, sectarian fault lines, together with the security forces' complete fealty to the monarchy,...
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2011

Government shutdown in June?

As battles rage in the Diet between the ruling and opposition camps over fiscal 2011 budget-related bills, one dreadful scenario has emerged: The debt-ridden government may run out of funds by around June.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 22, 2011

NPO tax status threatened by Diet split

With the opposition camp trying to veto all budget-related bills in the divided Diet, the fate of legislation proposed by the Democratic Party of Japan-led government to enhance the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations is hanging in the air.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2011

Tabloids feast on Imperial family foibles

Emperor Akihito is a quiet, studious type. The paragon of respectability. But, oh, what a family!
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2011

Punish Ozawa at your peril: 16 DPJ allies

Sixteen Lower House members of the Democratic Party of Japan loyal to Ichiro Ozawa applied Thursday to leave the DPJ's parliamentary group in the Diet and form a new group in an apparent attempt to pressure party leaders to back away from punishing the kingpin.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2011

The world needs more elephant mothers

MELBOURNE — Many years ago, my wife and I were driving somewhere with our three young daughters in the back, when one of them suddenly asked: "Would you rather that we were clever or that we were happy?"
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2011

Kan short on budget, leadership options

Prime Minister Naoto Kan is expected to face mounting calls to resign or call a snap election in order to get the fiscal 2011 budget bills passed on time, experts say.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 12, 2011

A serving paints a thousand words

In Japan, food is not just food. It's art.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 11, 2011

'Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson'

On one level, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson's career can be described simply: He was a writer who wrote best when loaded. Sure, you say, but tell me which great American writer wasn't a raging alcoholic. F. Scott Fitzgerald? Jack Kerouac? Ernest Hemingway? William "There is no such thing as a bad whiskey" Faulkner?...
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2011

'Rational' decline in population

After reading Michael Hoffman's Jan. 30 Timeout article, "The decline and fall of Japan and its sex drive," I'm not sure that I entirely agree with the opinion that Japanese are disinterested in sex. I think they are avoiding the possibility of what could happen if they have sex without having the fiscal...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2011

The growth bargain in Asian consumption

LONDON — U.S. President Barack Obama caught the imagination of the world when he talked recently of a new "Sputnik moment." He outlined a bold plan for improving education, infrastructure and technology, and vividly compared the resolve required to put a man on the moon to the determination needed...
Reader Mail
Feb 6, 2011

Better ways of restricting manga

The Jan. 26 Kyodo article "Adult manga artist prepares to fight City Hall" mentions that a creator of adult manga was preparing to argue with the Tokyo vice governor about the recent toughening of restrictions on the sale of comic books and animation containing "extreme depictions of sexual acts." Adult...
Reader Mail
Feb 6, 2011

A thought for Lindsay Ann Hawker

Regarding Alex Martin's Jan. 26 article, "Ichihashi book details life on run" (about the book written by Tatsuya Ichihashi, the accused killer of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker): Family members of Hawker are said to feel "disgusted" and "hurt" about the book being published before Ichihashi's trial. I agree...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 5, 2011

The comic life of expats in Japan

Tales of expat life in Japan all too often get blown out of proportion and quickly become picaresque adventures that little resemble real life.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 1, 2011

Naturalized Japanese: foreigners no more

In Dec. 28's Japan Times, Charles Lewis wrote a respectful Zeit Gist column asking three fellow wise men (sumo wrestler Konishiki, musicologist Peter Barakan and Diet member Marutei Tsurunen) about their successful lives as "foreigners" in Japan. Despite their combined century of experience here, the...
Reader Mail
Jan 30, 2011

'Gender equality' not universal

James Hicks' Jan. 20 letter, "Speak out for 'universal' standards," implies that gender equality is a universal, fundamental and ethical standard, and that it is the duty of everyone to speak out about it in Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2011

Opposition issues Ozawa terms

Senior opposition lawmakers demanded Thursday that Ichiro Ozawa testify under oath in the Diet over his alleged involvement in falsifying political funding reports.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2011

Preschool, day care integration plan eases

The Democratic of Japan-led government backed off a bit Monday from a push to integrate the operations of day care facilities with kindergartens and instead offered them financial incentives to merge.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?