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EDITORIALS
May 4, 2009

Taiwan gets a U.N. invite

The World Health Organization has invited Taiwan to take part in the May 18-27 meeting of the World Health Assembly, the WHO's governing body, as an observer. The invitation came just after Beijing and Taipei signed agreements April 26 to deepen ties, signaling that relations across the Taiwan Strait...
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2009

World's biggest shock absorber

MUNICH — Since last autumn, Germany has been accused by a number of Anglo-American economists, above all by the 2008 Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, of not doing enough to combat the world economic crisis and of free-riding on other countries' stimulus programs.
EDITORIALS
May 2, 2009

Consider the budget deficits

The Diet has started deliberations on the fiscal 2009 supplementary budget, which, with ¥14 trillion in spending, is a record economic stimulus. The government hopes that the extra budget will help pull the Japanese economy out of the recession. Since the main and supplementary budgets for fiscal 2009...
EDITORIALS
May 2, 2009

Talks in Beijing

Prime Minister Taro Aso met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday. His visit to China came after he made an offering to Yasukuni Shrine, Japan's war shrine. Although the Chinese side took up this sensitive issue, it managed to restrain itself...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
May 2, 2009

Sushi bar spurs good find of a lifetime for Tokyo couple

Kyle Sexton's life in Japan began in a New York sushi restaurant decades ago. It was there the Pennsylvania native developed a sudden obsession with the faraway land. On impulse, he made his way here in 1984 with no job and only $300 in his pocket.
JAPAN
May 2, 2009

Mexican ambassador praises aid, asks public to stay calm

Amid growing concern about the new influenza virus first seen in Mexico, Mexican Ambassador to Japan Miguel Ruiz-Cabanas urged Japan and other nations Friday not to overreact to the situation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 2, 2009

Kyoto tourists not panicked by flu

KYOTO — Concerns about the new flu were on the minds of tourists and local officials in the Kansai region Friday, as the ancient capital of Kyoto braced for the arrival of thousands of tourists from Japan and abroad over the Golden Week holidays.
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2009

'Burn After Reading'

"I know what you represent," sneers John Malkovich, playing an ex- CIA operative confronting one of his blackmailing tormentors in the Coen Brothers' latest, "Burn After Reading" — "you represent the entire idiocy of today!"
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 1, 2009

Two more treats along the waterfront

Good things so often come in threes. Between the waterfront and Bashamichi Station are a couple of other Yokohama eateries that are well worth discovering.
CULTURE / Art
May 1, 2009

Collecting the lost pieces of a soul

"My life is not simple," says a beaming Yishay Garbasz while flashing a cute V-sign pose for my camera. As a child of Nazi Holocaust survivors, Garbasz has endured a life seeped in trauma, so the blissful persona on show seems incongruous at best. But for the 38-year-old Berlin-based British- Israeli...
BUSINESS
May 1, 2009

Softbank sinks to ¥15 billion loss on recession, Internet service

Softbank Corp., the nation's third-biggest mobile carrier, said Thursday that it sank into a loss in the January-March quarter due to one-time costs, including the launch of a superfast Internet service.
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2009

'Goemon'

Big, original, visionary films are rare in today's Japanese film industry, which overwhelmingly prefers sure bets developed from hit manga, anime, TV dramas, novels and other media properties.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2009

'Bangkok Dangerous'

Why are 21st-century cinema assassins so jaded? Even James Bond (and let's face it, he does rub out people for money) isn't exactly full of pep, carrying around, as he does, a lot of emotional baggage and seeming always to be stifling a sigh.
Reader Mail
Apr 30, 2009

Vote-buying is the problem

Regarding the April 22 article "A violent warning for Thailand's urban elites": I would like the author to do more research on the opinion of the rich and the poor, the urbanites and the rural residents. The problem is not that the elites are looking down on the poor but that the poor and politically...
Reader Mail
Apr 30, 2009

Put seat belts in school buses

Almost every kindergarten with its own buses puts a lot of effort into decorating them, but not too much into safety. My 5-year-old twins are attending a Japanese kindergarten and have to take a bus that has no seat belts. In response to our requests that seat belts be installed on the bus, the kindergarten...
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2009

A respite for the DPJ

Mr. Takashi Kawamura, a former Democratic Party of Japan member of the Lower House who gave up his seat to run in Sunday's Nagoya mayoral election, trounced a candidate supported by the prefectural chapters of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 29, 2009

Is sumo truly the Japanese national sport?

For the 140 or so years non-Japanese have known of the existence of sumo, many have referred to it as Japan's national sport. But are they correct about the status of this ancient form of wrestling found only in these islands, misinformed entirely, or just partly right?
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 29, 2009

From dust-gathering tapes to the digital age

Walkman brand still standing: Sony's latest additions to the once-venerable Walkman brand, the NW-X1050 and NW-X1060 (released last week), base their appeal on a wide range of features for watching video and playing music. Each of the pair sports a 3-inch OLED touch-screen display, which has a 432×240-pixel...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 28, 2009

Berlitz blitz against union bogs down

After the second court hearing on April 20 in Berlitz Japan's lawsuit against unionized teachers, the legal fight seems bogged down in a form of trench warfare.

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