Search - 2002

 
 
COMMENTARY
Jul 2, 2008

Puzzle awaits G8 delegates

Spare a thought for the puzzle that will meet foreign delegations to the Group of Eight Summit in Hokkaido on July 7. On the one hand they will find a nation that organizes itself with clockwork perfection. Indeed, the summit organization will almost certainly be over-perfection, with every detail scripted...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jul 2, 2008

The right way to reconstruct rivers

It's the end of June and, after three weeks of travel, I'm back at my desk in Kurohime up here in the beautiful hills of Nagano Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jul 1, 2008

July forecast: rough, with ID checks mainly in the north

I have suggested before (Zeit Gist, Dec. 18, 2007) that Japan shouldn't host major international events. Unfettered police power and insufficient media scrutiny create a virtual police state, inconveniencing everyone.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2008

Family raps government for backing off on abductions

Relatives of a person kidnapped by North Korea 30 years ago criticized the government Sunday for "a lack of enthusiasm" in trying to resolve the abduction issue.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2008

Pretoria's duty to Zimbabwe

Morgan Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the presidential runoff scheduled for Friday secured for Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe a Pyrrhic victory.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jun 27, 2008

Qualifying round shows talent gap narrowing in Asia

Japan national team manager Takeshi Okada will be aware his seat at Friday's World Cup final Asian qualifying round draw in Kuala Lumpur has not come easy, but he will not be the only man in the room irked by such thoughts.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 24, 2008

Tamada hoping for lucky break in front of goal

Japan striker Keiji Tamada says he is due a little luck in front of goal and is hoping Takeshi Okada sticks by him for the final round of Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2008

More people dying alone

Many elderly people die alone these days. The breakup of the extended family structure amid the march of urbanization as well as, possibly, the accompanying economic decline in rural areas may be responsible for weakening human bonds. To discuss the issue of dying alone, four government bodies — the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 24, 2008

Australian architect makes homes that coexist with their surroundings

In 2006 it was the Australia-Japan Year of Exchange. This year, it would seem, is the Australia-Roppongi Year of Exchange. Not only is a huge exhibition of the late Aboriginal artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye being held in Roppongi at the National Art Center until July 28, but Gallery Ma, the specialist...
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2008

Manufacturer confidence at four-year low

Confidence among manufacturers for the April-June quarter fell the most in at least four years because of surging commodity costs and waning demand for cars and electronics, a government survey showed Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2008

Reducing disaster-related deaths

The 2008 government white paper on disaster prevention points out that communities' capability to cope with disasters is in decline mainly because of the aging population and a drop in the number of people who work as community-based volunteer firefighters. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, in his October...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Jun 22, 2008

Suguri turns to Morozov in attempt to regain form

In an effort to reignite her career, five-time Japan national champion Fumie Suguri has joined forces with coach Nikolai Morozov, the man who led Shizuka Arakawa to the gold medal at the 2006 Olympic Games and Miki Ando to the 2007 world championship.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2008

Burden of subsidies grows

SINGAPORE — As the price of oil has surged ever higher in recent weeks, Asian countries that subsidize energy prices have been hit hard. India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Taiwan have been forced to raise fuel prices by cutting their subsidies, despite concerns about stoking inflation,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2008

A North Korean about-face

North Korea has promised to begin a "reinvestigation" of the fate of Japanese nationals abducted by its agents and to hand over the four remaining members of the nine leftists who hijacked a Japan Airlines jet to Pyongyang in 1970 along with two wives of the leftists.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jun 17, 2008

Idling drivers

Dear Alice,
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Jun 15, 2008

Space modules for the space-challenged

According to the latest Japanese government statistics (from 2003), the average Tokyo apartment that is home to a four-person family allows them a measly 36.5 sq. meters to live in. That's just a bit more than a large shipping container.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2008

Japan brings North back to bargaining table

In-mid April, a senior Foreign Ministry official in charge of Asian affairs looked confident. Although bilateral talks with North Korea had been suspended for more than half a year, the official predicted Pyongyang would have no choice but to come back to the bargaining table to discuss the abduction...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2008

Pyongyang to reopen abduction probe

Pyongyang has promised to reopen its investigation into the missing Japanese its spies abducted, and Tokyo will partially lift economic sanctions in response.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan