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JAPAN
Jun 16, 2007

Author Inose agrees to become Ishihara's deputy

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara announced Friday that writer Naoki Inose has agreed to serve as a vice governor for the capital.
Reader Mail
Jun 13, 2007

Warped sense of heroic action

I was disturbed to read the May 27 Associated Press article under the headline "Alabama boy kills monstrous wild hog after 3-hour chase." An 11-year-old boy is presented as a young hero for his achievement in finally shooting a wild boar point-blank in the head with a high-powered pistol.
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2007

Crime and punishment

The Upper House is discussing bills that will allow crime victims and their family members to sit with prosecutors and question defendants and witnesses in trials for serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, kidnapping and confinement. If the accused are found guilty, crime victims and their...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2007

Mock trial provides look at judicial system's future

Second of two parts
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2007

Vanity in spinning a legacy

LONDON — Leaders of the summit countries have been changing. Gerhard Schroeder, the German Social Democratic chancellor of Germany, was the first to go. His replacement, Angela Merkel, is a Christian Democrat but leading a coalition with the Social Democrats.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jun 8, 2007

Mavericks of the Southern Rhône

By any measure, the Perrins are an unusual family, making an unusual wine in an unusual region of France. They've been at the forefront of protecting the quality of French wine, yet they maintain a maverick touch. And after five generations, the owners of Château Beaucastel in the Rhône Valley are...
Reader Mail
Jun 6, 2007

Statue out of place for years

Regarding Gwynne Dyer's May 24 article, "Baltic cyberwar nothing but a squabble": As an Estonian historian and writer with works published in 22 countries, I suggest that Dyer research his theme better before writing about it. Both my grandfathers, Estonian senior officers, were murdered in Russian camps,...
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2007

Australia mulls missile defense cooperation with Japan, U.S.

Australia is studying whether to participate in a joint missile defense system with Japan and the United States, partly as a bulwark against regional threats such as nuclear-armed North Korea, its defense minister said Tuesday.
Reader Mail
Jun 6, 2007

Study in Japan is good enough

Regarding the May 20 editorial, "Don't be shy about study abroad": I am skeptical of the opinion that studying abroad will assure Japan of a bright future. As the editorial suggests, it is quite common to get involved with foreign cultures in Japan nowadays. However, Japanese students' inwardness is...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2007

A 'socially accepted' act of child abuse

Last October the Supreme Court of Japan unanimously dismissed a young woman's final appeal of an Osaka High Court ruling that had found no illegality in her father's self-admitted act of suddenly touching her breast for a few seconds to "measure her sexual growth" when she was 11 years old.
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2007

Improving Japan-Russia ties

The Japan-Russia Forum, an arena for intellectual dialogue between Japan and Russia, recently met for the first time in 2 1/2 years.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2007

Education reform proposals draw praise, criticism

Recommendations by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's advisory panel on education reform has drawn praise from some quarters, but other experts are questioning whether the proposals will be effective in improving the quality of public education.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 3, 2007

Oishi Seinosuke: the trial and its outcome

THE LIFE OF SEINOSUKE: Dr. Oishi and the High Treason Incident, by Joseph Cronin. Kyoto: White Tiger Press, 2007, 128 pp., with photographs and drawings, 1,800 yen (paper) The High Treason Incident (Taigyaku Jiken) was an anarchist plot to assassinate the Meiji emperor, one that led to the 1910 mass...
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2007

Free Aung San Suu Kyi

To no one's surprise, the military junta that runs Myanmar (also known as Burma) has extended the house arrest of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi for another year. The continued detention of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate is proof of that government's contempt for international opinion, fundamental human rights...
SUMO
May 29, 2007

Hakuho wrestles his way into the history books

The 2007 Natsu Basho is over, and it will only ever be remembered for one thing: the 15-0 unbeaten zensho yusho winning record of Mongolian ozeki Hakuho that etched his name forever in the annals of Japanese sporting and cultural history.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2007

A prodigal divides Australia

SYDNEY — The prodigal son has returned from exile in Cuba. After five years of bitter controversy, David Hicks, Australia's gift to world terrorism, is back in hometown Adelaide, South Australia, safely locked away but still dividing a nation's conscience.
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2007

More compelling than common sense

The following statement appeared in an article on the opinion page of The Japan Times in July 2003: "The main result of the U.S. action (in Iraq) will probably be to turn a nation free from al-Qaida links into yet another hotbed of anti-U.S. 'terrorism,' and to push one of the few secular Middle Eastern...
EDITORIALS
May 26, 2007

Stepping up realignment of forces

The Diet has enacted a law to facilitate the largest-ever realignment of U.S. forces stationed in Japan. The law, supported by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito and opposed by the Democratic Party of Japan and three other opposition parties, reflects Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's determination to...
COMMENTARY
May 25, 2007

Fears of new 'Nixon shock'

HONOLULU — The U.S.-Japan relationship is on solid ground and growing stronger by the day. As a result of their recent Camp David summit, U.S. President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo have become each other's new best friend — perhaps not as close (yet) as Bush's ties with...
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2007

A private affair, or not?

PRAGUE — Can a public figure have a private life? Recent events in three countries have highlighted the importance of this question.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 16, 2007

Documentary traces 'ritual' of Japan election campaign

In Japan, candidates who run for office generally don't rise naturally from the grass roots. Many are molded into politicians by extremely organized election campaigns.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2007

Constitution paid for in blood

Sixty years after Japan's Constitution was promulgated, so many Japanese people, including the prime minister, seem to have no knowledge about how our compatriots felt when the war came to an end.
SUMO
May 15, 2007

Sumo and an American woman's search for Hinkaku

The summer basho is underway and I, an American woman who has never been to Japan, am so excited.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 15, 2007

Citizen-journalism Web sites struggle to attract reporters

Most people would probably consider park benches an unusual target for journalistic scrutiny, but Yumiko Hayakawa was determined to get to the bottom of the matter. She interviewed over 100 people, spoke to park officials, gave out a questionnaire and took photos in parks around Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2007

Qualified sense of fair play

The high-school baseball spring and summer tournaments at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture are national events. People love the games because of the young players' clean image and spirit of fair play. But findings by the Japan High School Baseball Federation show that most participating high schools...
BASEBALL / MLB
May 10, 2007

Nothing black and white about Bonds debate

The kid who caught home run No. 714 off the bat of Barry Bonds a year ago scurried out of Oakland's stadium with his valuable souvenir without bothering to see what Bonds might want to offer for it.
JAPAN
May 9, 2007

Abe made offering to Yasukuni Shrine instead of visiting

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chose not to visit Yasukuni Shrine last month during its spring festival but did make a 50,000 yen private offering, a Yasukuni spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?