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BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 22, 2010

Expansion should bring more NBA veterans to play in Japan

NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter has been quoted as saying he's "99 percent sure" a lockout will take place after the collective bargain agreement expires on June 30.
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Dec 14, 2010

Markets offer a taste of Christmas cheer

Let's raise a glass of eggnog to the authentic yuletide cheer of imported European-style Christmas markets.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 14, 2010

Splits, rumors of splits, and the hole if Kan splits

With its rate of approval dwindling fast, the administration of Prime Minister Naoto Kan has fallen into a "lame-duck" status, and the resultant "political vacuum" is likely to linger on for some time to come, as there is no clear prospect as to what kind of political landscape will emerge in the event...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 14, 2010

Bigger not necessarily better for eikaiwa

As an eikaiwa owner and operator in Osaka, it was refreshing to read Mr. Richard Smart's views in his article "Small schools offer hope amid eikaiwa slump" (Zeit Gist, Nov. 2).
COMMENTARY
Dec 9, 2010

Tree studies link climate change to calamity

SINGAPORE — Extreme weather, from heat waves and drought to snowstorms and floods, is nothing new. The big question is what are the causes. Are they natural or man-made, or a combination of both?
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2010

Euro crisis reaches midlife

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Now that the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have committed 67.5 billion euro to rescue Ireland's troubled banks, is the euro zone's debt crisis finally nearing a conclusion?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 7, 2010

Abuse rife within trainee system, say NGOs

In October 1999, 19 Chinese trainees came to the Takefu city office pleading for help. In their first year in Japan as interns, the women had been promised ¥50,000 a month, but scraped by on ¥10,000. The next year, as technical trainees, they should have received ¥115,000 a month. After health insurance,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 6, 2010

Frankly, says the diplomat

LONDON — There is not much in the latest batch of Wikileaks that should come as a surprise to most well-informed people. It is surely common knowledge that the present Russian government has close connections with Mafia-style criminals. No one could have been surprised by reports of the concerns of...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Dec 5, 2010

Valentine says NPB needs major reform

The posting system is far from perfect, but is there a better solution?
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 5, 2010

Kawachi has backers, detractors

Knowing that the Japan Basketball Association (JBA) had no interest in establishing a legitimate professional league several years ago and that he would face fierce resistance from the sport's old boy network, Toshimitsu Kawachi took a courageous step and formed a rival circuit, which included a pair...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 3, 2010

Modern design aesthetics enhance traditional Kyoto

Gray corridors, strip lighting, scratched desks and bland canteens: Schools are not generally renowned for the finesse of their decor.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 3, 2010

LAZYgunsBRISKY get rough on 'Childhood'

"The worst thing about our band is that if one of us says something another one doesn't agree with, she'll come right out with it, straight to the other's face. We get into fights quickly," says bass player Azu. Drummer Moe chimes in: "Yeah, we really don't put up with any nonsense. If we're hungry,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 30, 2010

Beijing flubs art of ambiguity in Nobel affair

HONG KONG — The value of ambiguity in international diplomacy has long been recognized and widely practiced by such proponents as Henry Kissinger and by Chinese leaders.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Nov 30, 2010

High praise for piazzas; Japan not so clean, friendly

A must for societal well-being I read your article on public space ("Plans for public space need public's input," Hotline to Nagatacho, Oct. 26), and I couldn't agree more.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2010

Kan, Hasina agree to bolster Bangladeshi ties

Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina agreed Monday in Tokyo to strengthen bilateral ties for the peace and prosperity of the international community and South Asia.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2010

More work needed to fix global financial system

Despite the default risks being raised by the sovereign debt crisis, European unification as a political project will remain intact, and the euro will continue to make sense as a single regional currency in an era when financial markets and global trade are interconnected, a senior European economist...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 28, 2010

NPB looks to trim deficit by having third All-Star Game

You no doubt saw the news item whereby the Nippon Professional Baseball authorities are asking the Japanese players union to have a third All-Star game in 2011, in order to blot a portion of its reported ¥60 million of red ink. Two All-Star games are scheduled so far next season: at Nagoya Dome July...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2010

Dangerous myth of the hero entrepreneur

NEW YORK — Earlier this month, I sat on a panel in Monte Carlo, a hot spot of the establishment, discussing the question, "Why can't Europe be more like the U.S.?" The formal name of the panel was "Silicon Envy: Will Europe ever build the next new media giant?"
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2010

SDF dispatch may up Senkaku ante

Japan may further damage already frayed relations with China if it moves the Self-Defense Forces closer to a group of islets claimed by both nations, says Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University's Tokyo campus.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2010

U.S. forecast from November

STANFORD, Calif. — November's midterm elections were a sharp rebuke to the vast expansion of government spending, deficits and debt in the United States. Elected in the midst of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008, President Barack Obama and the Democratic leadership of Congress seemed surprised...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 21, 2010

Icon's advice on Japan's plight may not be everyone's cup of tea

One of the immutable principles of cosmology states that wherever you are in the universe, everything appears to be streaming away from you. This certainly seems to be the case with Japan.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 21, 2010

'Evacuate' to whole new worlds

In the foyers of theaters in Tokyo's new "happening" hub of Ikebukuro — where the provocative Festival/Tokyo (F/T) drama event is running through November — odd exchanges can often be overheard.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2010

Yanagida prospects looking grimmer

Pressure mounted Friday on Justice Minister Minoru Yanagida to resign over his remarks scoffing at his Diet duties, as members of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan-led administration gradually distanced themselves from him and the opposition camp pledged to slap him with censure motions.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 20, 2010

Everyone chime in . . .

Classes start early on our island — 6 a.m. every day, even on Sundays. At least that's what any teacher visiting for the first time would think. This is because there is a "chime" that sounds over the island's PA system at 6 a.m., which lets islanders know that it is time to wake up. The chime happens...

Longform

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