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ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 22, 2009

Our mantra of continuous growth has left us on ecological brink

If print media are any indication, change is in the air. Readers are sourcing news in new ways, and newspaper sales are declining as a result.
Reader Mail
Mar 19, 2009

Legal or not, discrimination exists

In his March 12 letter, "Illegal under the Constitution," Lance Braman had much to say regarding the fact that racial discrimination was illegal under the Japanese Constitution, contrary to what Debito Arudou wrote in his March 3 article, "Of toadies, vultures and zombie debates."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2009

Bourbons of global finance

Today's International Monetary Fund (and, to a lesser degree, the World Bank) recall Talleyrand's description of France's Bourbon kings: having learned nothing and forgotten nothing. At a time when rich countries like the United States are running deficits of 12 percent of GDP because of the global financial...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 17, 2009

Canucks abroad fret over new curbs on citizenship

Citizenship can mean the difference between "belonging" and being just a visitor. Some people endure years of waiting in line and filing applications in a bid to change citizenship; others, by virtue of their birthplace and familial ties, begin their lives with the opportunity to be citizens of two or...
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2009

Help for human rights

Human Rights Watch, the second-largest rights organization in the world, will set up an office in Tokyo in April. The organization, founded in 1978, does just what its name suggests — gives attention to violations of the basic rights of all humans. HRW will come to Tokyo not to investigate abuses inside...
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2009

Calderon couple to exit in April; daughter to stay

A Filipino couple who lost their long fight against a deportation order have decided to leave their 13-year-old Japan-born daughter behind when they return to the Philippines in April, their lawyer said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2009

DPJ seeks new rules on donations

Amid the political fundraising scandal involving the arrest of party President Ichiro Ozawa's chief secretary, Democratic Party of Japan executives are calling for a rule barring companies that bid on public works projects from donating to political parties.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2009

Aso slams North launch plan but wary of sanctions

Prime Minister Taro Aso on Friday condemned North Korea's plan to send up a rocket that will cross Japan, but stopped short of calling on the United Nations to impose further sanctions on the country.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Mar 12, 2009

Nihon Rikagaku President Yasuhiro Oyama

Yasuhiro Oyama, 76, is the president of Nihon Rikagaku Industry, known not only for being the first chalk-maker to launch dustless chalk in Japan, but for the employees who make its products: 54 out of the company's 74 employees are mentally challenged, with 60 percent of them having an IQ lower than...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 11, 2009

Nakasone predicts major changes in politics

Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who still exerts much influence in Japanese politics at the age of 90, hailed Ichiro Ozawa in an interview toward the end of last year as "having gained dignity, insight and stature during the past year" as the man qualified to lead his Democratic Party of Japan...
COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 2009

Warming up for the bottom line on climate

SINGAPORE — Researchers from around the world meet in Denmark this week to discuss the latest scientific findings on climate change, following recent warnings that the severity of global warming this century will be much worse than previously expected and that changes to the climate will be difficult...
Reader Mail
Mar 8, 2009

An attitude that spells disaster

Roger Pulvers' comment about America's failure to reflect on its interventionist blunders in his March 1 Counterpoint article ("Obama please note: Those who fail to master the past are guilty, too") gets right to the point. I have heard it many times myself from the mouth of Americans: They agree that...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 8, 2009

Gay rights in Japan blurred on TV

When Sean Penn won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk two weeks ago, he used his acceptance speech to rail against supporters of California's Proposition 8, which last November repealed a State Supreme Court ruling extending marriage rights to same-sex...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 8, 2009

Japanese directors in detail

Reviewed by Mark Schilling What used to be an obscure publishing niche — filmographies in English of Japanese filmmakers — is now a task to which a small army — OK, platoon — of volunteers is now dedicated on Wikipedia, the Internet Movie Database and elsewhere on the Web.
Reader Mail
Mar 8, 2009

Student individuality gone to seed

The Feb. 5 opinion-page article "Why can't Japanese kids get into Harvard?" explains why it is more difficult for Japanese people to get accepted at Harvard University than for Korean people. The article says it is partially because of culture and partially because of education.
BUSINESS
Mar 5, 2009

Cash handout a waste, many voters say

Cash back from the government?
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2009

DPJ's way out is to pick new boss

The Tuesday arrest of Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa's chief secretary was an unexpected blow for the largest opposition party but observers say the damage can still be contained ahead of a general election later this year — if Ozawa quits his post.
EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 2009

'New' ASEAN, old problems

Last weekend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held its first summit since its new charter went into effect. The charter has been heralded as inaugurating a new era for the organization, which formed in the 1960s to fend off the threat of communism but has since evolved into an all-inclusive...
EDITORIALS
Mar 4, 2009

Middle course to stronger ties

Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone visited China last week and met with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, and other Chinese leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao and State Councilor Dai Bingguo. The meetings did not any produce major agreements, but Mr. Nakasone and Mr. Yang managed to agree in general...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2009

Clinton's mistake on tour was to skip India

SYDNEY — There was excitement throughout Asia last month when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton chose the continent for her maiden international voyage in her capacity as America's top diplomat, bypassing the more traditional choices of Europe or the Middle East.
Reader Mail
Feb 26, 2009

Problem with new ID system

Regarding the Feb. 18 article "Justice Ministry looking to take over foreigner ID cards": It seems that neither The Japan Times nor other English-language newspapers can agree on whether changes to the new zairyu (residence) cards would have to be reported to the Immigration Bureau or to the Justice...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2009

Communists looking better lately

The Japanese Communist Party, although still a minor factor in either house of the Diet, is gaining popularity among voters as its membership grows again and as an increasing number of people watch the Web sites of party chairman Kazuo Shii. This worries other political parties, since a general election...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Feb 24, 2009

The half, bi or double debate

Following are some of the responses The Japan Times received on the issues raised in Kristy Kosaka's Jan. 27 Zeit Gist article headlined ""Half, bi or double: one family's trouble":
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2009

Success of Kosovo is Europe's responsibility

PRAGUE — On Feb. 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence and has so far been recognized by more than 50 countries representing close to 60 percent of the world's economic power. Interethnic violence — which many feared — has largely been avoided and the mass exodus of Serbs that some also predicted...
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2009

Japan may get a say in U.S. Afghan policy

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Japan is likely to participate in the United States' review of its strategy in Afghanistan, sources close to Japanese-U.S. relations said Saturday.

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