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COMMENTARY
Dec 15, 2009

Business challenge for Europe after Lisbon

CINDERFORD, England — The much-delayed final ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and the appointment of former Belgium Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as president of the European Union and Britain's Cathy Ashton as de facto foreign minister, means that the EU will increasingly take center stage on...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 15, 2009

Protecting biodiversity to be key '10 goal

The United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity to promote conservation and sustainable biodiversity. In October, Japan will host the 10th U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, an event held every two years.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2009

Shinjiro Koizumi leads first of LDP's 'tours with lawmakers'

curry" and talk with Koizumi. Since winning his father's seat in the Kanagawa No. 11 district in the House of Representatives election in late August, Koizumi has been popular, particularly among young people.
Reader Mail
Dec 13, 2009

Swiss vote was not anti-Muslim

In his Dec. 6 article, "The Swiss and Iranian agents of provocation," Gwynne Dyer commits at least two mistakes — sadly so for one claiming to be an expert in international politics: (1) He compares the referendum in which the Swiss people took responsibility to voice their opinion with the actions...
Reader Mail
Dec 13, 2009

Helpful 'ambassador' appreciated

Regarding the Nov. 15 article "Opening a 'window' to Japan": It's refreshing to see that Japan has such helpful personnel as Yuka Tsujimura at the Narita Airport Tourist Information Center. Especially in a recession, when people travel less, it is more important that the first impression be pleasant...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 13, 2009

The colorful lure of carp in Japan

Two milestones were achieved at this year's All-Japan Show for Nishikigoi, or ornamental carp, which was held last month in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2009

Wresting the press from pampered hacks

HONG KONG — Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, was adamant that a free press is the most precious of all freedoms because it opens up or expands other freedoms. He famously wrote that given the choice of a government without a free press or a free press without a government,...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 13, 2009

Stone cold serenity

JAPANESE STONE GARDENS, by Stephen Mansfield. Tuttle, 2009, 160 pp., $24.95 (hardcover) Reviewed by Anna Kunnecke This book carries the qualities of a stone garden within its very pages. It is disciplined, serene, deep . . . and dry. I will admit to briefly fantasizing about a mad monk hopping across...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 13, 2009

Tribute to mystery author Seicho Matsumoto; antique appraisal; and winter ghost stories

The hundredth anniversary of the birth of mystery author Seicho Matsumoto, who wrote the original story on which the current movie hit "Zero no Shoten" is based, continues to be celebrated on the small screen this week with a new version of his classic tale "Chuo Ryusa" (Central Quicksand; TBS, Mon.,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 13, 2009

Where myth meets the present

On the edge of town, by a bridge over a stream amid fields of rice stubble, there is a roughly hewn stone Buddha. The path to it is well worn, and though someone has left an offering of the last of the season's quinces at the base of the statue, today there's no one else around and only the sound of...
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2009

Emperor will meet China's Xi Tuesday

Emperor Akihito will meet Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, waiving a customary rule that he be notified a month in advance of such visits, the Imperial Household Agency said.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2009

Keio University president wants education funding untouched

resort to emergency short-term measures to address the critical employment situation, The question is how to create jobs," he said. Employment springs from production, Seike said, stressing that no business hires for charity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2009

Tax cuts benefit domestic carmakers: U.S. firms

Japan's version of the Cash for Clunkers program intended to spur auto sales discriminates against imported vehicles, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC said.
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2009

The child allowance

An allowance for each child up to the third grade at middle school is a main promise in the Democratic Party of Japan's election manifesto. The party plans to make the monthly ¥26,000 allowance a permanent measure. The Hatoyama administration plans to give half the amount, or ¥13,000, in fiscal 2010,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 11, 2009

A decade when Japan's cinema stood up to Hollywood menace

When I started reviewing Japanese films for The Japan Times in 1989, many of the people making and distributing them were convinced that the Hollywood juggernaut was slowly crushing them. How could they hope to compete against superior Hollywood technology and vastly larger Hollywood budgets?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 11, 2009

In praise of films that refuse to follow formulas

After jostling through a metal detector, having my bag searched and my mobile confiscated by stern-faced blue meanies, I slump in my cinema seat, enduring head-exploding levels of volume from the coming attractions, and unwanted infrared scrutiny from guards patrolling for video-heads looking for their...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 10, 2009

A streetcar named beer

For truly recession-style bonenkai, salary workers are hopping aboard Arakawa-sen's Forget-the-year Beer Special. Next stop, Hangover Hill.
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2009

The climate in Copenhagen

The U.N. Climate Change Conference is under way in Copenhagen with more than 15,000 participants, including delegates from 192 countries, attending. Its original goal was to conclude a new treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol and to set a global framework to curb greenhouse gas emissions between 2013...
Reader Mail
Dec 10, 2009

Paying the price for an evil war

Regarding the Dec. 7 article "Okada's inconclusive visit irks Okinawans": I am not American and don't much like America, but the Okinawan people are paying the price for an evil war that their country started and they defended. I don't care how they feel and hope the American military bases stay in Okinawa...

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