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Reader Mail
Mar 20, 2008

Candidates won't keep promises

Regarding Takeru Toki's March 16 letter, "Plea for better judgment this time": As a conservative Republican who has always been active in politics and who never voted for George W. Bush for either his first or second term as president, I wonder how "judgment" comes into play when the U.S. Supreme Court...
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2008

DPJ set to snub latest pick for BOJ chief

The Democratic Party of Japan said Tuesday evening that it will reject the government's latest nominee to replace Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui, virtually ensuring the post of central bank chief will go unfilled when Fukui's five-year term ends Wednesday.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 16, 2008

Hope for Burmese reconciliation

PERFECT HOSTAGE: Aung San Suu Kyi and the Generals, by Justin Wintle. London: Arrow Books, 2007, 464 pp., £8.95 (paper) In January, Aung San Suu Kyi, 62, voiced her growing frustration with the lack of progress in "national reconciliation" talks with the ruling military junta, the State Peace and Development...
COMMENTARY
Mar 12, 2008

Still stalled in the Middle East

LONDON — "Twenty-four hours a day of rolling news to fill," lamented the senior producer of an all-news radio station recently, "and only two hours of actual news to fill it." But his problem is minor compared to that of people condemned to cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where there is now...
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2008

Jury still out on Fukui's legacy

What thoughts were going through Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's mind on the last day of the BOJ Policy Board meeting Friday — the final one before his term ends March 19 — is anyone's guess.
Reader Mail
Mar 6, 2008

True heart of land development

I have to agree with Kevin Rafferty's opinion in his Feb. 28 article, "Why's Japan grown so ugly?" The myth of the Japanese love for nature is supported by the continuing degradation of the rural and coastal landscape. Rafferty refers to Alex Kerr's lament, but the reasons for this degradation is the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2008

Warm reception may not await iPhone in Japan

Unlike much of the rest of the world, Japan is unlikely to embrace the iPhone, Apple Inc.'s Internet-enabled multimedia mobile phone, said Nahoko Mitsuyama, a telecom analyst at Gartner Japan who attended the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, in February.
Reader Mail
Mar 2, 2008

False hope for Myanmar opposition

Regarding David I. Steinberg's Feb. 27 article, " 'Rambo' movie sends the wrong message": I fully agree with professor Steinberg, but I don't think the next president of the United States will be as hawkish and greedy as George W. Bush.
Reader Mail
Feb 28, 2008

Inspiration for a working man

Regarding Judit Kawaguchi's Feb. 19 article, "Words to live by": I was greatly moved by this seemingly insignificant report of an individual's quest for reasoning and affirmation. I am a Canadian living close to Yokohama as an English teacher (unfortunately), questioning my own self-worth and trying...
COMMENTARY
Feb 25, 2008

Fuel to the fire in Okinawa

On Feb. 10 a very divisive mayoral election in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, ended in victory for the candidate who supports the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. The election results delighted the Japanese government.
EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2008

Down to one DVD format

Toshiba Corp. has decided to exit the HD DVD business, ending its war with a group led by Sony and Matsushita over the next-generation DVD market. The group has been pushing the Blu-ray format. The decision is a bitter one for Toshiba but will benefit consumers, who no longer need worry about which format...
Reader Mail
Feb 24, 2008

Punished for the acts of a few

Regarding the Feb. 21 letter "Americans shouldn't be surprised": Seriously, does the writer really believe that Korea wouldn't have teamed up with China, the Philippines and other Far East countries to attack Japan to serve revenge for their perceived abuse by the Japanese in past wars?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 23, 2008

Of manju, fish burgers and pachinko in the town of Obama

The more I live in Japan (quite a few years now) the more I realize the only difference between the Italians and the Japanese is the way we eat raw fish.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Feb 19, 2008

Takahiko Nakayama

JUDIT KAWAGUCHI For more than six years, Takahiko Nakayama has been cleaning windows on thousands of buildings in Tokyo. With every climb his fascination with architecture grew until he finally decided that he was ready to do more than just wipe the facades: He wanted to design them himself. Nakayama,...
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2008

Mills agree to 65% iron ore price surge

Japanese Steelmakers led by Nippon Steel Corp. agreed Monday to a 65 percent increase in annual iron ore prices, a steel company official said, setting a global benchmark for prices of the raw material used in steelmaking.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 17, 2008

In Japan, there's a 'quiet revolution' afoot

First of two parts
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2008

Election of new Iwakuni mayor may speed U.S. realignment

IWAKUNI, Yamaguchi Pref. — Sunday's mayoral election, in which Yoshihiko Fukuda, a former Diet member, narrowly defeated former Mayor Katsusuke Ihara, is expected to ease tensions between Tokyo and Iwakuni over the planned relocation of U.S. military aircraft to a base here.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2008

Nukaga, Xie agree food scare shouldn't hurt ties

Japan and China have agreed to cooperate on clarifying the cause of the recent contamination of "gyoza" dumplings and that such incidents should not hurt Sino-Japanese relations, Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said Sunday.
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2008

It's called justice, not revenge

Regarding Henri Huysegoms Feb. 7 letter, "No place for official revenge" (about the execution of three condemned convicts in December): I agree with Huysegoms that life must be valued and that there was no death penalty in Japan during the Heian Period (eighth through 12th century).
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 9, 2008

Capello has work cut out for him to rebuild England squad

LONDON — New manager, same old England. Or Englantalia.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2008

Breaking the monopoly on econ theory

WASHINGTON — For 25 years, the so-called Washington Consensus — comprising measures aimed at expanding the role of markets and constraining the role of the state — has dominated economic development policy. As John Williamson, who coined the term, put it in 2002, these measures "are motherhood...
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2008

Overriding vote passes '07 extra budget

The Lower House on Wednesday overrode the Upper House's rejection of a ¥1.78 trillion supplementary budget for fiscal 2007 and rammed it through the Diet, the first such move pertaining to an extra budget in 15 years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CHINA SYMPOSIUM
Feb 7, 2008

Playing by U.S. rules compels China to change and adapt

Contrary to the stereotype that China is "playing a different game" in its bid to outcompete developed economies, it has achieved rapid growth by integrating with the global supply chain on the terms set by major powers — in particular the United States.
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2008

Money wasted on road projects

Shimane Prefecture assemblyman Yuzo Sasaki's comments in the Feb. 2 article "Gas levy vital for maintaining rural roads" really struck a nerve. He said "those roads are not unnecessary" and "there are still many roads that need to be built."
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2008

No place for official 'revenge'

Following the approval of the execution of three condemned convicts in December, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama announced that he authorized the three executions that took place Feb. 1. Many of those who agree with those hangings cite their sympathy with the feelings of the families of crime victims...

Longform

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