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JAPAN
May 23, 2008

If push comes to shove, DPJ won't

Yasuo Fukuda and his Cabinet are sinking, and political analysts say the prime minister's condition is critical. So this would seem like the perfect time for the Democratic Party of Japan to pounce.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2008

Nippon Steel may invest $1.4 billion in Vale mine in Africa

Nippon Steel Corp. wants to invest in Cia. Vale do Rio Doce's $1.4 billion planned coal mine in Mozambique to provide raw materials as costs rise.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 20, 2008

Tachikawa Three claim ruling marks 'crisis for Japan and its democracy'

Prisoners of conscience, communists, antiwar activists, martyrs for Japan's tottering pacifist Constitution: Toshiyuki Obora, Nobuhiro Onishi and Sachimi Takada have been called many things since February 2004, and worse besides.
Reader Mail
May 18, 2008

A little slack for letter-writers

M. Randolph's May 4 letter, "Improve content, including letters," and A. Charles Muller's May 8 letter, "Use fewer letters when quality lags," both agree that my letter-writing is an example of how NOT to write an opinion letter, citing lack of supporting ideas or clear logic. Sticks and stones! Letters...
EDITORIALS
May 18, 2008

Natural disaster relief system

The cyclone in Myanmar and earthquake in China are grim reminders of how neighbors need to help one another. Asian countries have a duty to offer assistance to one another, and to accept it. The refusal of aid by the military junta in Myanmar exposes citizens to more suffering than necessary. In the...
Reader Mail
May 18, 2008

Homelessness in both countries

Regarding the May 13 article "Team Japan faces huge hurdles on road to Homeless World Cup": I applaud The Japan Times for covering the topic of homelessness. It is a serious issue affecting many people in Japan as well as the United States. It is tragic that there exists such biased attitudes toward...
BUSINESS
May 14, 2008

Nissan profit to fall 30% on yen jump, U.S. slump

Nissan Motor Co. on Tuesday forecast a 30 percent decline in profit for the business year to March 2009 due to a stronger yen and weaker demand in the U.S. market.
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2008

Shipload of Chinese arms sheds light on 'noninterference' tack

HONG KONG — Beijing has suffered a severe setback in Africa, where its standing is normally high, at a time when its image is taking a beating in the West, largely as a result of events in Tibet and the journey of the Olympic Torch around the world.
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2008

Neglect of sex education threatens Indians

MADRAS,, India — India is a land of strange contradictions. It is where the "Kama Sutra" was written centuries ago. It is also where some of world's most renowned erotic sculptures are found in sacred Hindu temples. Yet, kissing is frowned upon in cinema, and any form of man-woman intimacy is discouraged...
Reader Mail
May 11, 2008

Constitutional checks necessary

I too agree that we should keep whatever is necessary in Japan's Constitution to keep peace. If the efforts to change it are some kind of ploy by conflicting government parties to acquire and increase power, the results will be all the worse and meaningless. As so often is the case, gestures hide underlying...
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2008

Japan needs a dose of Koizumi's old magic

I wish more people understood Japan better. I wish I understood Japan better.
JAPAN
May 9, 2008

Lawmakers form bipartisan group to back life sentence without parole

With only a year left before the public starts taking part in criminal trials as lay judges, Diet members from the ruling and opposition camps formed a new group Thursday whose aim is to get life sentences without parole into the penal code.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 8, 2008

No more hostile takeover bids for Yahoo in works, Gates says

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday the world's biggest software company has no plan to launch a fresh bid for search engine operator Yahoo Inc. after abandoning its $47.5 billion takeover attempt.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 4, 2008

Hideki Noda: Acting with joy in his soul

Even in today's theater world in Japan, which tends to venerate age, at just 52 Hideki Noda is already a towering, legendary figure.
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Improve content, including letters

I have been a loyal reader of The Japan Times for the 12 years I have been here. This is my first time to write, but I am driven to address two key points. First, I agree with recent letters that the latest changes of format in this paper were ill-advised and poorly thought out. It seems to be following...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 4, 2008

Japan's media plays nursemaid to nation's immature democracy

A major Japanese newspaper publishes an article denouncing the prime minister. Reporters hold a rally to criticize his Cabinet. The government responds by banning sales of the edition of the newspaper that carried the article, indicting its author for violation of the Newspaper Law. Rightwing agitators...
JAPAN
May 3, 2008

China warms to emissions goals

China is expected to express support for Japan's sector-by-sector approach to setting goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Friday.
JAPAN
May 3, 2008

DPJ weighs voting rights for all permanent residents

A group of Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers is drafting a bill that would give foreign nationals with permanent residence status the right to vote in local elections. They plan to gear up after the Golden Week holidays and submit the bill during the current session of the Diet.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2008

New trade deal would boost world economy

PARIS — Governments around the world face weakening economies and soaring food prices. Amid the hand-wringing, an important and immediate step they can take to help would be to agree on a new multilateral trade deal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
May 1, 2008

EC to G8: Match our ambitious carbon goals

The European Commission will push members of the Group of Eight industrialized countries to equal the European Union's commitment to fighting global warming when the G8 summit opens in July in the hot-spring resort of Toyako, Hokkaido, a senior EC official said.
Reader Mail
May 1, 2008

Civil servants made to murder

I could not agree more with the views on the death penalty of Lower House member Shizuka Kamei. In addition to Kamei's point that a government that looks after the well-being of its society has no role in murdering a person, the death penalty also obligates a civil servant to become a murderer in the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2008

Meeting in Moscow

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow over the weekend. Mr. Fukuda tried to establish a good rapport both with Mr. Putin, who will step down soon but is expected to wield power as the next prime minister, and Mr. Medvedev,...
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2008

Woman who cut up husband gets 15 years

A 33-year-old woman was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for killing and dismembering her husband, with the Tokyo District Court finding her liable for the murder despite being in an impaired mental state brought on by years of severe spousal abuse.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2008

Activist offers to halt Games protests for talks

The secretary general of nongovernmental organization Reporters Without Borders said Friday that his group will halt all protests against the Beijing Olympic Games if China agrees to hold talks with Tibetan leaders.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Apr 24, 2008

Kitajima eager for challenge

Kosuke Kitajima prepares for this summer's Beijing Olympics as the reigning Olympic champion in the men's 100- and 200-meter breaststroke races. But instead of considering himself the king of the hill, he will stand on the starting block with the mind-set of a challenger.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2008

Fukuda, EU leaders agree to boost cooperation in climate-change fight

Japan and the European Union agreed Wednesday to step up cooperation in the fight against global warming, calling for a "highly ambitious and binding international approach" to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

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