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JAPAN
Dec 13, 2008

Ruling parties force antiterrorism, bank funding bills through Diet

Steamrolling the opposition camp, the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition forced passage of a special antiterrorism bill and a bank recapitalization bill Friday by overriding the Upper House with a second vote.
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2008

Ending the use of cluster bombs

About 100 countries, including Japan, signed a treaty Dec. 3 in Oslo to ban cluster bombs. It goes into effect about six months after 30 countries have ratified it. Japan should start the ratification procedure as soon as possible.
COMMENTARY
Dec 12, 2008

Obama and the vets: caring for a generation

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — When Eric K. Shinseki, the first four-star U.S. Army general of Japanese- American ethnicity, was still his service branch's chief of staff, he became a symbol of doubt about official competence in pursuit of the Iraq war.
COMMENTARY
Dec 10, 2008

Don't allow terrorists to win

The horrific attacks in Mumbai have raised a number of serious questions for the Indian authorities. Why was there no forewarning? Were those responsible for gathering and interpreting intelligence negligent or did they lack adequate resources? Why was the counterterrorist response apparently so slow...
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2008

Aso losing grip on power as LDP faces crisis over budget problems

Prime Minister Taro Aso signaled last week his readiness to depart from austere fiscal policies ardently defended by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his successors.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2008

Sweden shows how to sell anti-protectionism

STOCKHOLM — The looming global recession has brought government intervention to save failing companies to the forefront of economic policy. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently warned U.S. President-elect Barack Obama against bailing out America's automakers, arguing that global competition...
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2008

Tamogami says views shared in Diet, SDF

Ousted Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami stuck to his revisionist historical views Monday, saying his justification of Japan's wartime acts is shared by many lawmakers and Self-Defense Forces personnel.
Reader Mail
Nov 30, 2008

Government should fear the people

Regarding Darryl McGarry's Nov. 23 letter, "Anachronistic arms 'freedom'": I certainly respect McGarry's right to his opinion, especially since I strongly believe in freedom of speech. In the United States, this particular right is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. I also believe...
Reader Mail
Nov 30, 2008

Japan's obvious homogeneity

I have always read Hugh Cortazzi's articles in The Japan Times with great interest and admiration. However, I think he might have gone too far in his Nov. 26 opinion, "Common sense versus PC." He starts by saying: "Presumably the recent remarks of former infrastructure minister Nariaki Nakayama about...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 30, 2008

Shades of the BBC in NHK's own 'The Office'

Two months ago I heard about a comedy sketch that appeared last May on the American show "Saturday Night Live." Actor Steve Carrell was the host and he and the cast of regulars did a parody of his own show, "The Office," an American version of the famous British sitcom about white-collar workers. SNL...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2008

Building a curative response to sea banditry

KUALA LUMPUR — Although the conditions for piracy and terrorism to thrive are similar, their objectives are different. The motivation for piracy is old-fashioned greed while terrorists are predominantly driven by political and religious ideology. Moreover, pirates usually want to grab their booty and...
COMMENTARY
Nov 25, 2008

West Coast appreciates destiny with Asia

LOS ANGELES — Serious intellectual narrowing can happen to even the brightest folk once nested down on the U.S. East Coast. They become preoccupied (almost neurotically, almost provincially) with the problems of the past — especially with the Middle East and Europe — and lose sight of the new problems...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Nov 25, 2008

Ruth Hetcamp

Ruth Hetcamp, 75, is the founder of Tokyo Inochi-no-Denwa (Lifeline), Japan's first telephone counseling service. Ruth moved to Japan from Germany in 1960 to offer face-to-face counseling to working girls in Tokyo's red-light districts. In time, she recognized the potential of a confidential, anonymous...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 22, 2008

Even with best players out, Capello's England continues to impress

LONDON — The theory that international friendlies are a waste of time was blown out of the water by the score line from Berlin: Germany 1, England 2.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2008

Aso to be LDP 'funeral director' for delaying poll?

Taro Aso was so confident that he would call a quick election after becoming prime minister in September that he postponed moving into the official residence.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Nov 19, 2008

Japan must beware at scene of biggest nightmare

The "Agony of Doha" — where Japan conceded a last-minute goal to Iraq to miss out on qualification for the 1994 World Cup — is indelibly burned on Japanese soccer's consciousness.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2008

Establishing 'equality' as a basic human right

LONDON — Following weeks of financial and economic turmoil, public debate has finally turned to the horrific potential human ramifications of the collapse of the global financial system.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Nov 16, 2008

Google reveals trends in Japan

The Japanese are more interested in iTunes than in ring-tones, ramen rather than sushi, the economy more than sex, and dogs win out over cats (but only just). That's what Google Trends, the keyword-tracking tool launched in Japan last month, would have us believe.
Reader Mail
Nov 16, 2008

Consequences for Indians

It was a pleasant surprise to see two distinct articles about India on the Nov. 5 opinion page, although, sadly, both carry negative news about current problems and political games.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2008

Takenaka urges corporate reforms

Global leaders looking to revive economic growth should complement monetary and fiscal steps with corporate and market reforms, former economy minister Heizo Takenaka said in the Financial Times.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 14, 2008

Japanese women in the wine world

"A man's approach to drinking is totally different from a woman's: Men think about color, what grapes were used, compare the taste and consider its place of origin. Women think about what kind of food a wine will go well with, where we might like to drink it, the kind of company it'd be good to drink...
Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2008

Sad repetition of argument

It is sad to see again an attempt to justify what the Imperial Japanese Army did before 1945. The most difficult aspect of the essay written by former Air Self-Defense Force chief Toshio Tamogami is that his view is uchimuki (inward-looking) -- only from the Japanese side. Japanese must think of the...
Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2008

Removal of general justified

Andreas Kolb claims in his Nov. 9 letter, "Clear-cut violation of rights," that even if Gen. Tamogami opinion's is stupid and violates the simplest historical facts, he still has a right to it. Government officials -- as opposed to private citizens or elected representatives -- occupy their posts on...
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2008

Afghanistan and Pakistan: Can terrorism be eradicated?

One of the most difficult problems facing U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, when he takes office next January, is how to deal with the terrorist threat from inside Afghanistan and Pakistan.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2008

Tamogami ups nationalist rhetoric

Ousted Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami appeared Tuesday before the Diet and defended his contentious justification of Japan's wartime past and upped the ante by calling for the Constitution to be amended to unfetter the military and allow the nation to engage in collective...
JAPAN / Q&A
Nov 11, 2008

Tamogami — history again retold

Ousted Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami's war essay justifying Japan's aggression in China and colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula has stirred controversy both at home and abroad. More is in store as he is set to give unsworn testimony Tuesday in the Upper House.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Nov 9, 2008

From heroes to zero, and lasting scars

Nov. 12 marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), commonly known as the Tokyo Trial, which in terms of judicial procedures is now widely regarded as having been fundamentally flawed and biased against the defendants.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2008

New ASDF chief Hokazono sorry for Tamogami's 'damaging' essay

The nationalist essay that proved the undoing of Air Self-Defense Force chief Gen. Toshio Tamogami was "inappropriate" and "damaged public trust" in the ASDF, his successor, Gen. Kenichiro Hokazono, said Friday in Tokyo.

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