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JAPAN
May 16, 2009

Lack of fireworks as DPJ rivals' debate ends in a tie

Yukio Hatoyama and Katsuya Okada, the two candidates in the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election Saturday, both stuck to the party line in a public debate in which the only way they seemed to differentiate themselves from each other was in their choice of ties.
JAPAN
May 16, 2009

Bill would allow organ harvesting from children with parental OK

As pressure mounts to revise the controversial organ transplant law, lawmakers across party lines submitted a fresh bill Friday to the Diet on top of the three bills that are already being deliberated.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2009

Truths about malpractice

Doctors have been acquitted in one malpractice trial after another. In August 2008 an obstetrician in Fukushima Prefecture was found innocent in the death of a woman from blood loss during a Caesarean operation. In November that year a Kyorin University doctor who did not realize a cotton-candy stick...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 15, 2009

Deerhunter

Bradford Cox, frontman for Atlanta, Georgia's, self-styled "ambient punks" Deerhunter, tends to attract attention.
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
May 15, 2009

Toshimitsu Baba Exhibition

Base Gallery, Tokoyo
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 15, 2009

'State of Play'

There's a scene in "State of Play" where an unkempt, hard-nosed veteran reporter (Russell Crowe) — you know, the type who drink their whiskey straight, out of a paper cup — meets his new colleague, a younger, perkier journalist (Rachel McAdams) who bangs out gossipy blogs for their newspaper's digital...
JAPAN
May 15, 2009

Ozawa to still play key role, rivals vow

Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama and deputy chief Katsuya Okada, the two candidates running in Saturday's DPJ presidential race, said Thursday resigning President Ichiro Ozawa will still serve in a key post.
Reader Mail
May 14, 2009

Fulfillment despite eccentricity

Regarding Michael Hoffman's April 26 article, "Nagai Kafu: a literary loner": Kafu at the time was basically eccentric. Many people frown on this trait, yet each one of us has our share of eccentricities. They are what make each of us unique. I truly admire men and women whom many may view as self-absorbed,...
COMMENTARY
May 14, 2009

Military insiders threaten Pakistan's nuclear assets

DELHI — Without naming the United States as his source, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said recently: "We have been assured that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are in safe hands as of now. And I have no reason to disbelieve the assurance."
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2009

Obama's question for Netanyahu

RAMALLAH, West Bank — As the summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaches, most of the discussion has focused on whether the newly elected Israeli leader will finally say that he backs a two-state solution.
Reader Mail
May 14, 2009

Business of keeping us safe

Professor Yoshi Tsurumi's criticism of President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Taro Aso for not prosecuting or apologizing for "war crimes" (May 3 article, "U.S. imitating Japan's denial of responsibility") strikes me as one of the the more convoluted and, frankly, ludicrous opinion pieces I have encountered. ...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 14, 2009

Female execs take up challenge

In a country where business executive ranks still find few women, some 360 female corporate presidents gathered Tuesday night in Tokyo, vowing to become the driving force lifting the country out of its worst downturn in decades.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
May 14, 2009

Actor/talent agent Eido Sumiyoshi

Eighty-four-year-old Eido Sumiyoshi — aka Eddie Mohandas Sabnani, Eddie Arab, and Eddie Staire — is an actor and the founder of E-promotion, one of Japan's first talent agencies specializing in foreign models and actors. The son of an Indian businessman and a Japanese interpreter, Eddie was raised...
BUSINESS
May 13, 2009

JAL posts ¥63.2 billion annual loss in spite of deep cost cuts

Japan Airlines Corp. careened deep into the red last business year and forecast another annual loss even as it slashes costs this year by half a billion dollars.
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2009

Booster shot for big companies

As the special measures law for corporate revitalization was revised, the government has started a scheme to inject capital into large companies suffering from the current economic downturn. The Development Bank of Japan will provide funds if companies meet certain conditions.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 12, 2009

Between a rock and a hard place

The islands of Okinawa offer subtropical resorts, original delicacies and a distinct culture.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 11, 2009

Ozawa weighs next move

The attention of many political observers appears to be focused on when and how, rather than if, Ichiro Ozawa will step down as the leader of the No. 1 opposition Democratic Party of Japan before the next general election due to take place no later than September.
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2009

New health-pension card

A panel of the health and welfare ministry has written a basic plan to introduce a social security card, an IC card that will integrate the functions of the pension booklet, health insurance card and nursing care insurance card. The ministry hopes to introduce the card in fiscal 2011, with demonstration...
JAPAN
May 11, 2009

Kawasaki woman cleared of swine flu

KAWASAKI (Kyodo) A Kawasaki woman in her 30s who was suspected of having swine flu instead has a seasonal flu, city officials said Sunday.
Reader Mail
May 10, 2009

Compassionate priorities misplaced

Isn't it interesting how selective liberals are in their condemnation of pain and cruelty? Their compassion for the "victims" of the Bush-Cheney interrogation practices — only three people were waterboarded — is interesting in light of their absolute silence on abortion. The interrogation techniques...
Reader Mail
May 10, 2009

Washing with soap has benefits

For all the talk about preventing the spread of influenza, Japan has not learned the lessons of SARS. The other day, after taking a train, I went to the washroom in a JR station. As always, there was no soap. Telling people to wash their hands won't do much good until soap is in common use.
Reader Mail
May 10, 2009

Obama should not visit Hiroshima

Regarding Hiroshi Noro's April 26 letter, "Coexisting or co-perishing": While I fully agree with the writer that world leaders should take all necessary steps to ban nuclear weapons to save Earth, I do not believe that U.S. President Barack Obama should visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the leader of the...
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2009

Petty torture rules played on sense of duty

PARIS — The top-secret memorandums released by the Obama administration concerning torture practices in CIA prisons shed new light on a fundamental question: How is it that people acting in the name of the United States government could so easily accept the idea of torturing detainees in their charge?...
Reader Mail
May 10, 2009

Spare us the tabloid shots, please

When did The Japan Times become a tabloid rag? On the morning of May 2, I turned over my copy of the paper to see a shocking, quarter-page photo titled "QUEEN'S DAY KILLINGS" on the front page. In it you can clearly see three victims being tossed through the air by a speeding car. Luckily my elementary...
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2009

The audacity of optimism in the Middle East

SINGAPORE — The world will be enveloped in a heavy cloud of gloom and doom this year. Economies will sputter, governments will fall and companies will fail. But the biggest danger of all is a sense of hopelessness. Preventing this requires resolving some large and apparently intractable problem. Closing...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 10, 2009

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in Tokyo worth a visit

One of the items on my "bucket list" is a trip to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Nope, despite being from the East Coast, I have never been there but hope to make the trek to (what I hear is) the picturesque village in upstate New York.
Reader Mail
May 10, 2009

Torture necessary in some cases

The April 27 editorial "We don't torture" made me feel sick. Especially disgusting was the sentence "Torture is always wrong." Sure, it would be wrong to torture a petty thief, but one must not forget that the free, democratic countries have been, and will be, fighting a war against fanatic terrorists...

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