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BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 1, 2008

WTO should remember global equals multilateral, not bilateral refereeing

When the Doha Round of trade negotiations broke down some weeks ago, no one was particularly surprised. Nor did anyone seem to care all that much.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 2008

All you need to know about Japan's politics

GOVERNING JAPAN: Divided Politics in a Resurgent Economy, by J.A.A. Stockwin. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2008, 298 pp., £19.99 (paper) Arthur Stockwin, who was until recently Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford, is the leading British expert on Japanese politics....
Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2008

What does the government mean?

The news that the Japanese government is making "every conceivable effort" to eliminate racial discrimination makes me wonder -- as a foreigner who has lived in Japan for more than six years -- what the word "conceivable" means.
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Aug 31, 2008

Toyota flies toward the future

Toyota aims to take us on a magic- carpet ride in mobility in about two years with its new vehicle called the Winglet. The device is the latest addition to the company's range of "partner robots" — concept vehicles whose purpose is to explore future forms of personal transportation. Toyota believes...
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2008

Overcoming economic drag

One year after the subprime mortgage crisis surfaced in the United States, it is still impacting the global economy. Soaring prices of oil and other natural resources are also affecting it. The Japanese economy appears to have entered a period of contraction. Policymakers of major economies face the...
Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2008

Making do when GDPs level off

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CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 2008

Spain to China: Letters of a lasting friendship

AUSTIN COATES: Souvenirs and Letters, by Ramon Rodamilans. London: Athena Press, 2007, 140 pp, £5.99 (paper) The Spanish author of this memoir recognizes early on just how much his subject, the British writer and historian Austin Coates (1922-97), like Coates' Vietnamese companion, "came from south-east...
Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2008

Responsibility for 'doing right'

Douglas Robb, in his Aug. 10 letter, "Japan has a responsibility," presents the credentials of one who, at first glance, appears to have come to terms with the evils of nuclear weapons. He speaks sympathetically of the residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and in admiration of their denunciation of these...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 31, 2008

Can poetry in translation ever be as poetic in its new language?

A friend who was visiting recently from Germany posed me a difficult question: How can poetry be translated?
TENNIS
Aug 30, 2008

Nishikori moves to 3rd round

NEW YORK — Kei Nishikori will have quite a story to tell when he goes home.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2008

Housing starts rise at last but caution persists

Housing starts rose for the first time since June 2007, government data showed Friday in a sign that the world's second-largest economy is recovering from the building slump driven by a change in construction regulations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2008

Bands gather under Hokkaido's rising sun

"Go for it, guys!" the staff on the wristband checkpoint shout as people file past. "Have a good time!" As the day wears on, they grow more enthusiastic. High-fives are exchanged, with the more ebullient customers even getting a hug.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2008

51 poisonous snakes found in bite victim's Tokyo condo

A Tokyo man was arrested Wednesday after police found as many as 51 poisonous snakes, including cobras with extremely powerful venom, in his condominium near JR Harajuku Station in Shibuya Ward.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 28, 2008

Abe allows Reds to draw but Nagoya regains top

Yuki Abe salvaged a point for Urawa Reds with a goal deep into injury time to give his side an unlikely 1-1 draw with Tokyo Verdy on Wednesday.
Reader Mail
Aug 28, 2008

Rise of China has just begun

Watching China win the largest number of gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, outdistancing the heretofore dominant United States, gave me a pleasure, as a fellow Asian, that I haven't had in decades. In modern history, China underwent all sorts of humiliations and miseries. Now, under able leadership,...
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2008

India cuts red tape to clear way for Japanese investment

It is not too late for Japanese businesses to enter the fast-growing Indian market in light of deregulation of foreign investment, according to a leading Indian lawyer and investment consultant.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 27, 2008

Exploring Antarctica for key climate clues

The steamy hot days of summer make it very tempting to imagine an escape to the snow and ice of Antarctica, though few of us will ever have that chance. Shin Sugiyama, 39, a glaciologist at Hokkaido University, is one of the exceptions.
LIFE / Language
Aug 26, 2008

Today we itadaku, for tomorrow we die

The Bible (in both testaments!) commands us to "eat, drink and be merry," but I think the wise individuals who thought up this pithy phrase meant it as a warning. To them there was more to life than endless imbibing and gluttony, though I can think of only one other thing.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2008

Mr. Biden makes the ticket

After a two-month search, Sen. Barack Obama has picked Mr. Joseph Biden, a senator from Delaware, as his running mate. The selection of Mr. Biden balances a ticket that was short on foreign-policy experience and lacked experience in Washington. On the downside, it undermines Mr. Obama's claim to be a...
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2008

Low interest rates will alleviate economic slump: Shirakawa

The country's low interest rates will help the economy avoid slipping into a "deep" slump, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 25, 2008

Chinese 'oldies' who raised the bar for caring

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — In the obsessive media heat of these youth-oriented Beijing Olympics, a once-famous Chinese political figure has died at the ripe young age of 87, and goes to the grave almost internationally unnoticed.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji