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COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2008

Inflation caused by Ukraine's peg to dollar

KIEV — Inflation in Ukraine is skyrocketing. By March, it reached 26 percent per year and continues to rise. Although prices are increasing around the world, Ukraine's is extreme, twice as much as in neighboring Russia. Amazingly, instead of dampening inflation, Ukraine's central bank is stoking it....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 2008

Westernized subjects for a distinct Japanese style

The history of modern Japanese art has a hierarchy of narratives. As in the West, at the top is the story of the avant-garde. This is a tale of trail-blazing artists taking trips to foreign locales, usually Paris, and bringing back radical foreign styles in their suitcases.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 2008

An aura of controversy in the chase for the new

Ever since 1917, when Marcel Duchamp submitted a urinal to the Society of Independent Artists' exhibition, arguing that it was art, anything has become acceptable. Artist Chris Burden shot himself in the arm in a Los Angeles gallery in 1971; Piero Manzoni canned what was allegedly his own feces and sold...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 6, 2008

As parent firm posts record profits, Berlitz teachers strike back

Question: How do you get to be on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires? You might inherit your wealth, take risks and get lucky, or work for it. For Soichiro Fukutake, owner of Berlitz's parent company Benesse, it's a case of "all the above."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2008

Open-minded schools adopt innovative approaches

As our society continues to urbanize, it is becoming increasingly difficult for children to be children. Long gone are the days when they were free to get muddy without being told off by adults, or to run about without the threat of speeding cars. In the concrete jungle in which more kids grow up these...
JAPAN
May 4, 2008

Hu summit overshadowed by risk

Next Tuesday's five-day visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao would have been one of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's finest moments. But now the summit appears to be a high-risk event fraught with diplomatic danger.
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

What rice riots in the Philippines?

The April 29 editorial "Hunger in a world of plenty" states that there have been food riots in the Philippines as a result of the rising price of rice. I am writing to inform you that this is factually incorrect because, while the rising price of rice and other commodities remains a challenge for many...
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Naming and shaming doesn't help

Regarding the April 26 editorial "Unwise testing in education": If the purpose of the recently administered nationwide tests is to assess instructional effectiveness, which is reflected in student learning, then Japan is following the wrong strategy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 4, 2008

Hundreds flock to see 'Yasukuni'

A Tokyo movie theater on Saturday became the first in the nation to screen the controversial documentary "Yasukuni," drawing hundreds of viewers throughout the day despite drizzling rain.
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Nuclear attack would be disastrous

Asked what she would do if Iran carried out a nuclear attack on Israel, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton replied: "If I'm president, we (would) attack Iran. . . . We would be able to totally obliterate them."
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
May 3, 2008

Some Japanese referees just don't get it

The referee is never the most popular person on a soccer pitch, but the man in charge of Tuesday's J. League clash between Oita Trinita and FC Tokyo certainly didn't do himself any favors.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 3, 2008

English clubs continue to flex muscles in Europe

LONDON — England's national team may not be traveling anywhere in Europe this summer, but the two best teams in the Premier League will meet in an English derby in the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21.
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.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 3, 2008

To Gaijin Hell you'll go!

In Christian-predominant Western society, even if you don't grow up in a religious household, you have likely grown up hearing the common threat "You're going to go to hell if you do that!" For example, if you try to play a trick on your neighbor, your mother might say, "You'll go to hell for that!"...
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 2, 2008

Canadian ambassador brings a lifelong love of Japan to his post

Joseph Caron, Canada's ambassador to Japan since 2005, remembers his first day here — a Saturday in late August 1975. He stayed at the Hotel New Otani and visited Ginza, Nihonbashi and Omote-sando.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2008

'Suna Dokei'

Japanese films based on manga (Japanese comics) are so common now that if I were a young Japanese writer ambitious for a big movie payday, I'd skip the scriptwriting classes and learn how to draw.
CULTURE / Art
May 1, 2008

Chicks on Speed: Art Rules Kyoto 2008

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
JAPAN
May 1, 2008

Gas tax bill is rammed through Diet

If you forgot to fill up your gas tank last night, you're out of luck.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight