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COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2006

Warming to carbon rations

LONDON -- Here's the plan. Everybody in the country will get the same allowance for how much carbon dioxide they can emit each year, and every time they buy some product that involves carbon dioxide emissions -- filling their car, paying their utility bills, buying an airline ticket -- carbon points...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 17, 2006

Economic power struggles in Asia

JAPAN IN A DYNAMIC ASIA: Coping With the New Security Challenges, edited by Yoichiro Sato and Satu Limaye. Lexington Books, 2006, 271 pp., 2006 (paper). Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he will pursue a more assertive foreign policy. That won't be easy, report the authors of this comprehensive survey...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2006

Japan can't stop the tide of people: UNHCR chief

As more people migrate worldwide, Japan will not be able to stop immigration, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, saying he was concerned with Japan's restrictive refugee acceptance program and treatment of asylum-seekers.
EDITORIALS
Dec 7, 2006

Syria in the middle

It has become increasingly clear that Syria plays a pivotal role in Middle East politics. It has influence over -- some say control of -- Lebanese politics, and its support for insurgents -- "freedom fighters" is Damascus' preferred term -- elsewhere in the region makes it a key interlocutor when trying...
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2006

National security council

A special panel last week started discussions on setting up a Japanese version of the National Security Council of the United States. The White House-style organization is a pet idea of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In his first policy speech before the Diet, Mr. Abe expressed his resolve to "strengthen...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2006

Odd choice of enemies, allies

LONDON -- You have to admire his timing. Just before Russian President Vladimir Putin left for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) annual meeting in Hanoi this month, he sent out a strong warning to the world leaders he expected to meet there.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 20, 2006

How Japan can avoid hostage situations in a globalized economy

When international tensions mount, foreign currency-denominated external credit and debt can become tools of diplomacy. If a country is a huge net creditor, its overseas assets can be taken hostage.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 30, 2006

Erosions of a shaky moral high ground

NEW YORK -- To choose the most bewildering action of George W. Bush since he became U.S. president in 2001 is tough. Is it starting a war without cause? Is it creating a dubious court and prosecuting a man for mass killings while committing even greater mass killings? Or is it concocting legislation...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2006

America's double standard fuels crises

LONDON -- The U.S. government's double standard in dealing with the intensifying nuclear crisis in North Korea further strengthens the argument that President George W. Bush's colonial designs are either exasperated by the vulnerability of his foes or deterred by their lethal preparedness.
BUSINESS
Oct 14, 2006

JAL takes on communication woes in struggle to win back customers

How does a company recover from a sullied reputation?
COMMENTARY
Oct 9, 2006

Easier way to emissions cuts

Generally speaking, innovation is driven by constraints and shortages. When Japan faced the first international oil crisis in 1973, it looked like the end of the world for the nation, since it depended on imports for 99 percent of its oil. However, Japan survived the oil crunch and used it as a springboard...
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2006

Gist of North Korea sanctions

Following is a breakdown of the financial sanctions imposed by Japan on North Korea on Tuesday:
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2006

Tokyo cuts North's cash supply

Japan on Tuesday dealt another blow to North Korea, imposing financial sanctions under a U.N. Security Council resolution that urges countries to prevent the transfer of funds for Pyongyang's weapons program.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 19, 2006

End of the Lion

The mythmaker Jim Frederick TIME Magazine The most difficult aspect of reporting on Koizumi was confronting the fixed, immutable and monolithic "Koizumi Myth." What started as a campaign plank -- "Koizumi is a reformer and a rebel who is destroying the LDP and reinvigorating Japan" -- somehow became...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2006

Japan loath to discuss incestuous abuse

Although incestuous abuse of a female child by her own father takes place frequently in Japan, the Japanese media refuse to critically discuss it, regarding it mostly as a plain taboo. Meanwhile, the Japanese legislature and the judiciary collusively dismiss this crime against humanity, thereby encouraging...
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2006

Tokyo beats Fukuoka in bid to host '16 Games

congratulates Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara after the JOC announced Wednesday that the capital, and not Fukuoka, will be the nation's candidate city to vie to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
Japan Times
LIFE / DISABILITY IN JAPAN
Aug 27, 2006

Is 'disability' still a dirty word in Japan?

Mainstream society is slowly, but slowly, opening up to the physically ormentally impaired, as officialdom appears happy with a 'steady' approach
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 20, 2006

Notes on Yasukuni and a week that will live in infamy

Following his historic visit to Yasukuni Shrine last Tuesday on the 61st anniversary of Japan's surrender, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi spoke to the media. As usual, his comments had the bland quality of safely scripted pronouncements, but at one point he paused significantly: "I prayed for those...
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2006

GDP grows at lower than expected 0.2% in quarter

Japan's economy is on the road to a sane recovery at a slower than expected 0.8 percent annualized rate seen in the April-June period, the Cabinet Office said Friday.
BASKETBALL
Aug 11, 2006

Japan faces Senegal in tuneup

Months of grueling training now come down to this: The Japan National Team wraps up its FIBA World Championship preparations with an exhibition game Sunday against Senegal.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2006

Tanigaki pitches 8% sales tax by '11

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Thursday the 5 percent consumption tax should be raised to 8 percent by fiscal 2011.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2006

Japanese pops lag at quality time with kids

Japanese fathers spend an average of 3.1 hours per weekday with their children, placing second from the bottom in a six-country international comparison, according to a report by the National Women's Education Center.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2006

Carcinogen benzene in DHC drinks

Cancer-causing benzene has been found in amounts in excess of an international standard in a soft drink sold by cosmetics retailer DHC Corp., the health ministry said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2006

Collective punishment is hardly a policy

NEW YORK -- Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip and of Lebanon's southern border is exacting a heavy price on the civilian population in those regions. Isra- el's actions are worsening a humanitarian situation that was already critical, particularly as far as children's health and the quality of their...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 16, 2006

Up close . . . and virtually personal

When the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan characters fell in love via the virtual world of Web chat in the 1998 movie "You've Got Mail," it seemed a classic case of something that could only happen in the movies, not in the real world.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2006

Tokyo snubs Pyongyang threat over sanctions

Japan rejected North Korea's demand Friday to drop new economic sanctions over the North's Wednesday missile launches, ignoring Pyongyang's threat of "stronger measures" and "devastating consequences" unless it reversed its decision.

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