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JAPAN
Feb 14, 2009

U.N. climate chief calls for big CO 2 cuts

Japan needs to move beyond simply showing leadership and come up with ambitious targets on cutting its carbon gas emissions, U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2009

Cure-all to elude G7 meet

Gathering for the first time since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in January, finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven industrialized economies meeting in Rome Friday are expected to focus on the new administration's proposals for dealing with the global financial crisis....
Reader Mail
Feb 12, 2009

Any foreign tongue gets short shrift

I agree with many of the comments made by Gregory Clark in his Feb. 5 article "What's wrong with the way English is taught in Japan." Based on my own teaching experiences, lack of motivation on the part of students and teachers is a driving force for poor English-language ability. That said, I've also...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 11, 2009

Breaking the U.S.-Japan jinx

Prime Minister Taro Aso seems eager to meet the new president of the United States, Barack Obama, as the initial step toward accomplishing something big in the field of diplomacy, and in an effort to put the brakes on the downward spiral of his popularity at home.
BUSINESS / CLIMATE CHANGE SYMPOSIUM
Feb 10, 2009

Rethinking a global post-Kyoto solution

New ways of thinking on climate change are needed if the world is to create a workable post-Kyoto Protocol framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, European scholars told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Feb 10, 2009

Talking around and about art

Trying to understand contemporary art is difficult in the best of times. It is sometimes abstract, obscure or just plain odd. The question of how to enjoy an exhibit is made all the harder to answer if you're in Tokyo and your artistic attachments aren't matched by your Japanese language skills. Japan...
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

U.S.-centric view of engagement

Regarding the Feb. 5 article "Why can't Japanese kids get into Harvard?": I agree that the Japanese education system holds back many students with talent, particularly in terms of creativity and in the pursuit of anything outside the normal curriculum. But to suggest that only an education from an Ivy...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 8, 2009

World Baseball Classic's controversial 13th-inning rule problematic

The Steering Committee of World Baseball Classic, Inc., has approved a controversial rule to help break a potential tie in a long extra-inning game during next month's WBC tournament, and it does not sit well with at least one Italian fan.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 8, 2009

In an 'Era of Decline,' let's look to youth to quell 'panic of the mind'

"We are living in extremely hard times. . . . I have been reading news- papers for 60 years, and I can't recall any era when the local news pages have appalled me more."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 8, 2009

In an 'Era of Decline,' let's look to youth to quell 'panic of the mind'

"We are living in extremely hard times. . . . I have been reading news- papers for 60 years, and I can't recall any era when the local news pages have appalled me more."
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2009

Opening gestures show Obama's optimism

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Saying the right thing is not quite the same, to be sure, as doing the right thing, especially when you're the president of the United States. But it is much better than saying the wrong thing and then actually going on to do the wrong thing. We don't have to go back very far...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2009

Chance to lift social equity in Latin America

WASHINGTON — In 2009, Latin America will move from a period of expansion to one of adjustment. Because of the global financial crisis, growth will slow down, unemployment rates will rise, and poverty will increase. And there will be fewer public resources to face enlarged social needs.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2009

Oceania presses Fiji leader for free election this year

SYDNEY — An Australian newspaper has fired an editorial salvo at the military government of the Republic of the Fiji Islands while reminding the world of what happens when a country tramples on media freedom.
Reader Mail
Feb 1, 2009

The gantlet to language exchange

I don't really agree with the contents of (Thomas Dillon's) Jan. 24 article, "The language game — here's what not to do." Although language exchange is a poor substitute for a real language school — unless of course you exchange with a real teacher — it is, and should be, a wonderful addition to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2009

Who says an art work must exist?

Like precious gems, Aiko Miyanaga's crystalline sculptures reflect light and shine with a brilliance that beguiles the viewer. But while diamonds are forever, Miyanaga's carefully crafted forms are not long for this world. In fact, some of her pieces are gone before her exhibitions even come to a close....
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2009

Right to protect one's business

I don't agree with Gregory Clark's Jan. 15 article, "Antiforeigner discrimination is a right for Japanese people," but I think it was the Otaru, Hokkaido, bathhouse owner's right to use all means to protect his business — even by putting up a sign that excluded all foreigners from the bathhouse. A...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2009

North Korean crisis heating up

SINGAPORE — Will North Korea be the Obama administration's first Asian crisis? Pyongyang has recently been cranking up its bellicose rhetoric, declaring that it would maintain its "status as a nuclear weapons state" and "smash" South Korea's government in an "all-out confrontation" for tying aid to...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jan 27, 2009

'Marathon' ritual must change

Recently, my son ran an 800-meter "marathon" at his local elementary school. He received a congratulatory "certificate of achievement" noting his participation and the fact he placed 79th. He has come to dread this annual ritual. It is damaging his fragile self-esteem and emerging identity by blatantly...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 27, 2009

Half, bi or double? One family's trouble

It may not matter for inanimate objects, incapable of altering their own sweet smell, but for humans a name becomes part of our identity. My voice rises slightly as I warm to my argument: It may not be a tangible part of a person, like a hand or foot, but what others call us — and how we name ourselves...
Reader Mail
Jan 25, 2009

Teachers ready to use English

Regarding the Jan. 12 editorial "English taught in English" and Willie Taylor's Jan. 11 letter, "Education methods don't work": While I laud Taylor's efforts in espousing some (non-Japanese) views of Japanese teaching practices, I can't agree with either his or The Japan Times' view that Japanese teachers...
Reader Mail
Jan 22, 2009

Insulting depiction of foreigners

What a load of hot air! I have lived in Japan for over 10 years and have greatly enjoyed the (bathhouses) and many other benefits of living in a safe modern society. Gregory Clark However, it is also a racist and xenophobic society and to paint non-Japanese as having an allergy against discrimination...
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2009

China plays maritime chess

The start of Chinese patrols in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden is intended to extend China's naval role and presence far from its shores while demonstrating, under United Nations rules of engagement, a capability to conduct complex operations in distant waters.
Reader Mail
Jan 18, 2009

Risky shakeup for students

Regarding the Dec. 23 article "English classes face a shakeup": I disagree that high school English classes should be taught primarily in English (from 2013). Some students who are not good at English won't understand what's going on and may misunderstand what teachers say.
Reader Mail
Jan 18, 2009

Lackluster TV serves a purpose

In his Jan. 11 letter, "Digital won't make it better," Simon Foston is correct to state that the switch to digital TV won't improve Japanese TV standards. It's not meant to; it is merely a new higher-quality means to transmit the same old garbage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2009

Che Guevara revived for a movie revolution

As the Cuban revolution celebrates its 50th anniversary, it's hard to recall the enmity that led the United States to threaten and embargo its small neighbor for all these decades. Oh, right, Cuba is a communist regime, so we can't trade with them, just like, uh, China?
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jan 13, 2009

Digital 'big switch' is big con

Visit any electronics shop and you cannot escape reminders that in July 2011, Japan will end analog TV broadcasts and switch over to digital. After that time, existing analog TV sets will require adapters, but over the next 2 1/2 years most people are expected to discard their set for a digital model....

Longform

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