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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 25, 2011

Family restaurants falling from flavor

Family-style restaurants are feeling the squeeze as diners increasingly opt for meals more on the cheap, such as under-¥300 "gyudon" bowls of beef on rice and "bento" boxed lunches below ¥500.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2011

Opposition sees red over Yosano

Prime Minister Naoto Kan kicked off the year by sacking his right-hand man, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, and appointing a one-time critic of him in Kaoru Yosano to the Cabinet, reaching out to the opposition to gain support for the fiscal 2011 budget.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 21, 2011

A shot of Ardbeg in temple grounds

There's a faint scent of incense as you crawl through a knee-high door into a pebble-filled corridor that leads into a white igloo-like space, just big enough to fit three people. "This is my meditation room," says Akiyoshi Taniguchi, the curator who is introducing Kurenboh, a tiny modern gallery located...
Reader Mail
Jan 20, 2011

No inducement to return islands

Regarding the Jan. 14 Kyodo article "Territory settlement 'impossible' now": This is a very sad situation, especially for those Japanese wishing to return to the place of their birth. If you look at any of the media sites for Russian television, the point of view of the Russian populace is that the "Northern...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2011

Global economy: five steps forward in 2011

MILAN — The worst of the financial/economic crisis seems to be over. Asset markets performed reasonably well in 2010. Growth in the United States and parts of Europe returned. Private-sector deleveraging continued, but was counterbalanced by rising public-sector deficits and debt. And emerging-market...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 19, 2011

Nets still hoping to land Anthony in trade

NEW YORK — The Nets' game plan to suit up Carmelo Anthony against the Jazz on Wednesday night — dubbed "An Evening of Russian Culture Night" — cannot succeed unless Mikhail Prokhorov, who will be in attendance, met with the Nuggets' fast-fading franchise player days beforehand to alleviate concerns...
Reader Mail
Jan 16, 2011

Improve teacher training at home

Regarding the Jan. 8 Kyodo article "Language teachers to go to U.S. for exchanges": I was surprised to hear about these people-to-people programs, because I had learned last year that a similar program would be discontinued because of the lack of followup on its effects.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jan 15, 2011

Analysts doubt new picks' clout

Despite Prime Minister Naoto Kan's pledge to create the "best lineup to overcome the crisis," political pundits were skeptical that replacing Yoshito Sengoku with Yukio Edano as chief Cabinet secretary and taking on outsider Kaoru Yosano will help his team solve the ruling party's biggest problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2011

Global coordination task falls to French schmoozer

HONG KONG — Pity French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and be careful what you wish for. Sarkozy has taken over as the president of the once-cozy Group of Eight developed economic powers as well as the Group of 20 countries, which combines the club of old economic powers with the up and coming new ones....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Jan 14, 2011

Quality is key at Chilean organic winery

When two representatives from Chilean winery Emiliana came to town in October, it coincided with fantastic news. Images of the rescue of the last miner who'd been trapped underground since the Aug. 5 Copiapo mining accident were played out over the giant screens in front of Tokyo Station and, in a nearby...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 14, 2011

'The Social Network' wins friends among film critics

The Japanese tagline for "The Social Network" translates as "Genius, backstabber, dangerous guy, billionaire." Probably not the kind of sentiment a website trying to connect friends wants to be associated with. However, for a film — it's damn sexy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2011

The chaotic birth of South Sudan

MADRID — The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that was reached in 2005 between mostly Christian southern Sudan and the country's Muslim North ended one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern times. Lasting 22 years, the war left more than 2 million dead. Now the CPA is facing its most vital test:...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2011

Middle East peace, not process

RAMALLAH — The United States should stop pushing for the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Doing so might be the best way to achieve peace — a paradox that reflects the huge gap between a peace process and achieving genuine peace.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jan 11, 2011

Dual citizens, tokenism, Futenma, the case against rants: responses

A right to dual citizenship Re: "Japan loses, rest of the world gains from 'one citizenship fits all' policy" by Glenn Newman (Hotline to Nagatacho, Dec. 9):
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2011

A plea to the prince for a practical way to Harmony

HONG KONG — Many years ago, on my second day working in London, I was invited to take tea with Prince Charles in Buckingham Palace. About half a dozen journalists met the young prince who was about to embark on his royal duties but who clearly hadn't a clue about how the rest of the world lived and...
COMMENTARY
Jan 9, 2011

A unifying method to Kim Jong Il's 'genius'

LOS ANGELES — You have to be dumber than a brick to believe that the North Korea problem can be solved by anything other than diplomacy and negotiation. Even the Macho Man of South Korea seems to have been hit with a bout of annoying but inescapable reason.
EDITORIALS
Jan 5, 2011

'Predictable' verdict in Moscow

Mr. Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a difficult man to like. He is a Russian tycoon, a multibillionaire who got rich during the fire sale of Russian national assets during the kleptocratic years of the Yeltsin era. But being unlikable does not make him a criminal, and neither does daring to challenge Russian...
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2011

Sea Shepherd hurt hunt, Japan urged audit: cables

OSAKA — Japan admitted to the United States that actions by the activist group Sea Shepherd had curtailed its annual whale hunt but opposed Washington's efforts to have it politically engage fellow whaling nation Iceland to reduce its catch, WikiLeaks cables revealed Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2011

The true nature of faith in a globalized age

LONDON — The number of people proclaiming their faith worldwide is growing. This is clearly so in the Islamic world. Whereas Europe's birthrate is stagnant, the Arab population is set to double in the coming decades, and the population will rise in many Asian Muslim-majority countries.
Reader Mail
Dec 30, 2010

Let abductor-moms have their say

Regarding the Dec. 23 AP article "U.S. may up child custody pressure": While I fully agree with the rights of a child to live with both parents, I have a few questions for the author of this article. How can a non-U.S. parent become an outlaw and an abductor just because she does not obey a U.S. court...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2010

Piyasvasti battles Thai Airways' beasts

COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2010

Death should be different

Death is different from any other punishment. As the U.S. Supreme Court has observed, death "differs more from life imprisonment than a 100-year sentence differs from one of only a year or two." In America, this recognition justifies a wide array of special procedural protections for capital defendants....
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 26, 2010

Who are the oldies to fault young people's various social skills?

Haragei is a word you don't hear very much anymore. Literally "belly art," haragei refers to the variety of persuasive communication that is done not with words but with the silent force of personality. Think of being stared down by a man sitting like a pot-bellied stove in front of you. But to be a...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2010

U.S. may up child custody pressure

NEW YORK — Japan and India are among America's key allies. Yet to scores of embittered parents across the U.S., they are outlaw states when it comes to the wrenching phenomenon of "international child abduction."

Longform

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