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EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 2008

Japan's salary gap

White Day was celebrated March 14, but along with giving cookies and chocolates, men might have done better to give women the one-third of their salaries they are missing. According to new data, Japanese women are paid 33 percent less than men. A recent report on average salary gaps from the International...
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2008

Litmus test for Mr. Hu

Around the time when anti-Chinese protests took place in Tibet's regional capital Lhasa last week, Mr. Hu Jintao, who calls for establishment of a harmonious society in China, was re-elected president of the country at a session of the National People's Congress in Beijing. How he will handle Tibetan...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 18, 2008

Scales of justice: Legal system looks for right balance of lawyers

Judicial reform is having a quick and dramatic impact on the legal profession, not least on the number of lawyers. In March 2002, the government decided to increase the number of those who pass the bar exam to 3,000 a year by 2010. Only 1,000 were passed in 1999.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2008

The North's smaller missiles

SINGAPORE — The U.S. military intelligence community is worried that North Korea is developing the skills and techniques needed to fit a nuclear warhead to a ballistic missile.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2008

Yen's rally to continue as BOJ intervention unlikely

For the first time in more than a decade, foreign-exchange traders are confident the Bank of Japan won't intervene in the currency market, paving the way for the yen to extend its biggest rally since 2000.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2008

Robots in all walks of life? Matter of time

At the Meiji University lab in a Tokyo suburb, engineering students are wiring a rubbery robot face to simulate six basic expressions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise and disgust.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 29, 2008

Pfizer diverting drug development away from Japan

Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drugmaker, is diverting drug studies and tests from Japan as part of an industry push to avoid this nation's regulatory delays and higher costs.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 21, 2008

Final eight participants join defending champion Japan in '09 WBC field

The field for the next edition of the World Baseball Classic has been set.
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2008

Economic downturn won't affect BOJ's gradual rate hike policy

Bank of Japan Policy Board members said in their Jan. 21-22 meeting that they shouldn't be influenced too much by the risk of slower economic growth and faster inflation in the short term, signaling their goal of gradual interest-rate increases remains intact.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2007

Budget rise eyed for '08 seen as reform retreat

The Finance Ministry proposed Thursday raising the fiscal 2008 budget to ¥83.06 trillion in what may signal a retreat from the government's pursuit of fiscal reform.
COMMENTARY
Dec 15, 2007

Can Kim do the right thing?

HONG KONG — The six-party talks hosted by China on North Korea's nuclear-weapons program have reached a critical stage, and signs are that while the disabling of the nuclear reactor at Yongbyon is going well, the overall denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula may be in jeopardy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 12, 2007

Kyoto NGO works to boost Afghan women's lot, literacy

This is the first in a series on how contributions to The Japan Times Readers' Fund last year — the 52nd since the campaign started — are being put to use. Readers donated ¥1,191,888 in 2006, which has gone to six groups helping needy people across Asia.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 2, 2007

Japanese media reaches for the stars in restaurant coverage

The first Michelin Guide to Tokyo's best restaurants has sold extremely well since going on sale Nov. 22, which isn't surprising given the huge amount of press it has received. The media love it when a foreign entity pays close attention to Japanese culture, and in this case it's culture you can eat,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2007

Stateside view of Australia's landslide

LOS ANGELES — In a parliamentary system of government, there are no guarantees. You can be in one day and out the next.
COMMENTARY
Nov 20, 2007

Robbed of childhood, bereft of a future

NEW YORK — Looking at photographs of Iraqi children maimed by the war makes the conflict unforgettable. Reflecting on the causes that led to that war makes it unforgivable. New information is steadily coming out on the effects of the war on children, and how it has affected not only their health but...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2007

New Rumsfeld of Europe

PRAGUE — Russia's Duma elections this December are almost certain to cement the power of forces loyal to Vladimir Putin. That outcome is likely to confirm Russia's emergence as the most divisive issue in the European Union since former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld split the continent into...
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2007

New wine in old bottles

Seasons change in Japan in two ways, according to nature and according to marketing. This last week started the season for Beaujolais Nouveau, the freshly harvested wine that has become an annual worldwide phenomenon. Marketing and traditional values, the two major forces on Japanese consumer behavior,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 11, 2007

Cambodia's jungle treasure still stuns the senses

These days any number of people will delight in ruefully declaring how such and such a place has been ruined — overrun by tourists and commercialism — and, as if to rub salt into the wound, they'll tell you that if you'd only visited it when they first did, you too could have savored Paradise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2007

Number of displaced Iraqis is soaring

American officials report that the number of sectarian and other killings in Iraq has declined since the onset of the military "surge" that began earlier this year. But while the number of killings may, indeed, have fallen, does that mean Iraq is really safer?

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