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CULTURE / Books
Oct 4, 2009

Positive take on Japan's supposed dark age

THE EDO INHERITANCE, by Tokugawa Tsunenari. I-House Press, 2009, 200 pp., ¥2,500 (hardcover) The Edo Period (1603-1868) is frequently regarded as a dark, repressive age, when Japan was held in an iron grip by a military government that had closed its borders to the outside world. "The Edo Inheritance"...
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2009

Consider using mix of languages

Regarding Yukari T.'s Sept. 24 letter, "Holes in six years of English": It's good that the number of foreign students in Japan is increasing every year. Those who learn the Japanese language are the future bridges to a truly international community — provided they get the right opportunities in Japan....
COMMENTARY
Oct 1, 2009

Washington should not forget its Asian allies

The United States has scaled back plans to deploy a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. While that decision reflects a new assessment of the Iranian threat to Europe, most attention is being paid to its impact on relations with Russia. But the decision has equally important implications for Asia,...
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2009

Personal criticism goes too far

I may agree or disagree with Brahma Chellaney's Sept. 19 article, "Colombo risks squandering Sri Lanka's hard-won peace." He is a well-known Indian intellectual to whom even the government turns for professional advice.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2009

LDP picks Tanigaki to lead comeback

The Liberal Democratic Party elected former Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki as its president Monday, giving him the task of guiding back into power a party still stinging from its recent electoral thrashing.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 27, 2009

Denied bear necessities of life

About a week ago, while browsing the Internet, I came across a headline at the BBC Web site that made me pause: "Bear injures 9 at bus terminal." The first thought that crossed my mind was, "Why was a bear waiting for a bus?"
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 27, 2009

Traders squeal at bike lane

You'd think that with four lanes going each way, the section of National Route 14 running by Kameido Station in eastern Tokyo would be a perfect place to add a bike lane. Who wouldn't agree to sacrifice just one of eight car lanes if it got bikes off the pavement and thus reduced accidents with pedestrians?...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 27, 2009

Captains of industry must stop playing the blame game — now

While visiting India earlier this month I had a revelation.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2009

JAL president asks for public fund injection

Japan Airlines Corp. President Haruka Nishimatsu on Thursday asked transport minister Seiji Maehara for a capital injection of public funds to keep the troubled carrier flying.
Reader Mail
Sep 24, 2009

Main cause of Japan's stagnation

There are many things wrong with Guy Sorman's Sept. 18 article, "Japan's harmonious drift." Let me pick some of them apart. First is the notion that "working less" is the main cause of Japan's economic stagnation. If that were the cause, I'd presume the French economy should have deteriorated even further...
Reader Mail
Sep 24, 2009

Holes in six years of English

The Sept. 20 editorial titled "More foreign students than ever" struck a chord with me. I am Japanese and know what you are talking about firsthand. The editorial states that more foreign students in Japan will benefit the Japanese people, and I agree. Since the Meiji Era, the English education system...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 22, 2009

Small group making waves

About two months before the Aug. 30 election, a small group of political leaders made big news by forming a new group. Though it consists of only half a dozen politicians at the local level, Shucho Rengo (the Local Leaders Federation) grabbed headlines nationwide and created concern among senior Diet...
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2009

Pardon Mr. Chen to help Taiwan

The conviction and sentencing of former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian is a troubling development. The life sentence handed down to Mr. Chen is certain to deepen the fissures in an already deeply divided and volatile society. He has appealed the sentence.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 18, 2009

Okada plays cards close to vest

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada gave mixed signals Thursday on how far he will push Washington on the thorny issues of base relocation and Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 15, 2009

Community groups provide lifelines in many ways

If you spot a festival or sporting event taking place in your neighborhood, chances are it was organized by the local neighborhood association.
LIFE
Sep 13, 2009

Winning was the easy part for Hatoyama's DPJ

After generations of rule, the Liberal Democratic Party was trounced by the Democratic Party of Japan in last month's Lower House elections. Jeff Kingston weighs what went wrong, what went right — and what now for a nation whose voters are sick of 'politics as usual'?
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2009

Shattered LDP must pick up the pieces

The collapse of the Liberal Democratic Party empire has cast a dark shadow over party headquarters in Tokyo's Nagata-cho, the political heartland. Stunned by its devastating defeat in the Aug. 30 Lower House election, the LDP lies in pieces.
EDITORIALS
Sep 11, 2009

Impetus for a low-carbon world

Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, head of the Democratic Party of Japan and the prime minister-in-waiting, has announced that Japan will seek a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. This is an ambitious target that could put Japan on the path to a low-carbon society. It could also give...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2009

Women lack confidence, ambition for Diet: experts

Although last month's election brought an unprecedented number of women into the Lower House, female lawmakers both at home and abroad are still subject to double standards and lack the ambition to take the stage in national politics, experts said at a recent symposium.
Reader Mail
Sep 10, 2009

Hardly a Western phenomenon

Regarding Dipak Basu's Aug. 27 letter, "Who represents the Western spirit?": I am amused to see that Basu naively assumes that imperialism is a Western phenomenon. In his references to imperialism, there is no mention of modern-day Tibet, the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, the Japanese colonial...
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2009

DPJ, two allies agree to form coalition

Leaders of the Democratic Party of Japan and two minor parties agreed Wednesday to form a coalition government, laying the groundwork for the launch of the new administration on Sept. 16.
EDITORIALS
Sep 9, 2009

Shape of DPJ rule emerging

Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama, the prime minister-in-waiting, has moved to fill key party posts and the next Cabinet with political heavyweights. He wants his party as a unit, rather than individual politicians, to play the leading role in developing policy, thus taking the initiative...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2009

The return of Franco-German leadership

PARIS — Regardless of who wins September's parliamentary election in Germany, the time has come once again for a major Franco-German initiative.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 6, 2009

Japanese public housing: It's not just for poor people any more

Public housing in Japan might be associated with the boxy kodan apartments, but they've have come a long way. Question is, have they come far enough?
Reader Mail
Sep 6, 2009

Fluent Japanese does not compute

Debito Arudou's Sept. 1 article, "Mr. James, gaijin clown," was written in a balanced and professional manner, and clearly showed that, even in 2009, Japan and Japanese corporations are still more than willing to stereotype non-Japanese as buffoons.
Reader Mail
Sep 6, 2009

Americans, too, rap globalization

I have to say that the argument that Japan's prime minister-to-be made about the evils of globalization make sense to me. I agree that globalization pushes economic values at the expense of family, fraternity and local control. I can understand why Yukio Hatoyama would say this. I do not believe that...

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