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/ Sarah Furuya Coaching
Jun 18, 2009

Ship inspections could be a recipe for conflict

KUALA LUMPUR — In response to North Korea's latest nuclear weapons test, the U.N. Security Council has passed a resolution (1874) that expands and tightens the sanctions specified in its earlier resolution (1718), passed in response to North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006. But it goes a step further...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2009

Eco-points credited with sales boost

People are snatching up hybrid cars, solar panels and energy-efficient TVs, wooed by government incentives designed to battle a recession while conserving energy.
Reader Mail
Jun 14, 2009

LTTE surely fit the definition

While I agree broadly with Gregory Clark's assertion (June 11) that the "terrorist" label is applied too broadly by the West, the particular example of the Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka is a puzzling choice indeed. The LTTE, at the peak of its activities, specialized in the indiscriminate bombing of targets...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 14, 2009

Is a national 'Manga Museum' at last set to get off the ground?

When it was announced in April that ¥11.7 billion had been set aside in 2009's supplementary budget to create a new National Center for Media Arts (NCMA) — a museum for manga, anime, video games and technology art — the news was greeted in the same way that most cultural-policy issues are in Japan....
Reader Mail
Jun 11, 2009

Taiwan's Chinese characteristics

In her June 4 letter, "Careful whom you call 'Chinese,'" June Dreyer contradicted the claim in my May 27 article, "Cross-strait gap narrows," that most Taiwanese think Chinese, speak Chinese and are Chinese like any other Chinese people.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2009

Laws, legal terms get official translation

Japanese businesses might operate on a global scale, but foreign firms often run into a wall — the language barrier — when trying to understand the ins and outs of this nation's legal system.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Jun 9, 2009

Golf group puts spontaneous socializing back into game

Most Japanese golfers would probably agree with Tor Dahlstrom, a Norwegian diplomat and longtime Japan resident, when he says that "golf is a social game." They might disagree, however, on the way that golf is social.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2009

Akihabara split on whether to reopen pedestrian strip

A year after a man went on a murderous vehicle and stabbing rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara district, business owners and local residents still traumatized by the attack are split over whether to again close off one of the area's main streets to cars on Sundays and holidays.
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2009

Feasible anti-emission goal

In July 2008 the Japanese government adopted a target for 2050 of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 60 to 80 percent from 2005 levels. At the same time, a special panel was created to deliberate midterm reduction goals (through 2020).
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2009

Keeping the faith in globalization

CHICAGO — As governments do more to try to coax the world economy out of recession, the danger of protectionism is becoming more real. It is emerging in ways that were unforeseen by those who founded our existing global institutions.
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2009

Unreasonably light sentence

Regarding the June 4 AP article "Ozeki Kaio says harsh treatment is integral": I am an avid fan of sumo and have been watching the televised bashos for almost 10 years now, five of them while in Japan. I have great liking and respect for sumo veteran Kaio, basically because of the way he conducts himself...
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2009

Extended Diet wrangling

The Lower House on Tuesday extended the current Diet session by 55 days through July 28. Prime Minister Taro Aso had decided on the extension and got the consent of Mr. Akihiro Ota, leader of Komeito, the Liberal Democratic Party's junior coalition partner.
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2009

The path with North Korea

What is North Korea up to? Is it trying to undermine the six-party talks in order to force Washington to deal with Pyongyang directly, as some experts claim? Or, as others maintain with equal certainty, is it sending a signal that it is not interested in talks at all, given current domestic political...
Reader Mail
Jun 4, 2009

It's hard to please everyone

Cynthia Seton writes in her May 28 letter, "Different take on universities," that Japanese national universities are often notorious for treating non-Japanese quite differently. I agree to a large extent. I worked as a low-paid post-doctorate fellow at a prefectural — not national — university for...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2009

Aso wants 55-day legislative extension

Prime Minister Taro Aso said Monday he wants the current Diet session, which is set to close Wednesday, extended by 55 days until the end of July to secure enough time to pass bills related to the ¥14 trillion extra budget for fiscal 2009.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2009

Ban on Internet drug sales blasted

Kazuyuki Sasada has been using the Internet for years to buy medicine because it is difficult for him to go around to different stores to get the drugs he needs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2009

Squeeze Pyongyang gently

HONG KONG — North Korea demonstrated last week that it knows how to blow an atomic-bomb-size hole through the hot air and pretensions of the so-called rulers of the world. U.S. President Barack Obama was exposed as the outraged huffer and puffer in chief against North Korea's nuclear test, but he was...
Reader Mail
May 31, 2009

Necessary evil in dangerous times

The May 15 AP article "Britain overzealous in terrorism arrests" was critical of the fact that Britons of South Asian descent are more likely to be detained in antiterrorism raids than any other ethnic groups. I agree that this is unfortunate and discriminatory, but it is nevertheless necessary.
Reader Mail
May 31, 2009

A notion that feeds hypocrisy

Regarding Paul de Vries' May 26 article, "Expat life in Japan: the good, the bad and the meaningful": It's rather interesting that de Vries, instead of realizing the errors of his ways, continues to defend his ideal of "group accountability."
EDITORIALS
May 30, 2009

Pyongyang strutting

The provocations and rhetoric from North Korea are escalating. On Monday, the same day it carried out its second nuclear test, it fired two short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan. The next day it launched three more short-range missiles. There is a report that it has restarted reprocessing nuclear...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 30, 2009

A look at the outside and the in

"Honne and tatemae" are terms that many feel are linchpinned to the Japanese psyche.
JAPAN
May 26, 2009

More sanctions seen as ineffective

Japan joined the international community in condemning North Korea's nuclear test Monday, but some experts questioned whether imposing further sanctions will help get the reclusive state to drop its nuclear program.
EDITORIALS
May 25, 2009

A first encounter goes well

In retrospect, the first meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was destined to succeed. It was assumed that the two men were deeply divided on two key issues: Israel's relations with the Palestinian Authority, in particular Mr. Netanyahu's opposition...
COMMENTARY
May 24, 2009

An offer Pyongyang can't refuse

Past U.S.-North Korea negotiations on nuclear issues can be roughly classified into two types.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
May 22, 2009

A purist at work behind the bar

"A bar is no place for a woman. The important characters are always men."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 21, 2009

Economy shrinks at record-setting pace

Gross domestic product plunged at a record annual pace of 15.2 percent in the three months to March as exports collapsed and businesses cut production, the government said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2009

The way forward in Afghanistan

So far, 157 British troops have died in Afghanistan and many more have been injured. These are significant and worrying losses. How long will British public opinion accept these losses when it is not clear whether the war in Afghanistan can be won?

Longform

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