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JAPAN
Dec 12, 2009

Japan under fire for laying low in Copenhagen

COPENHAGEN — Japan needs to step up and take a more prominent and visible leadership role at the U.N. climate talks or the conference could end in failure, Japanese and foreign nongovernmental organizations said Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 5, 2009

Tom-san, the big man in kids' soccer

So who is the most famous soccer coach in Japan? Well, it could be Japan team coach Takeshi Okada or maybe Gamba Osaka's Akira Nishino. On the other hand, it may be someone many adults have never heard of: Tom-san.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 2, 2009

Signing Iverson would be mistake for Philly

NEW YORK — Other than generating some desperately (the operative word) needed excitement among the missing masses and possibly selling enough tickets for the remainder of the 76ers' 5-11 season to rationalize investing in a pro-rated $1.3 million veteran minimum contract, I can't visualize anything...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Dec 1, 2009

A level playing field for immigrants

For the first time in Japan's postwar history, we have a viable opposition party in power — one that might stick around long enough to make some new policies stick. In my last column for 2009, let me suggest how the Democratic Party of Japan could make life easier for Japan's residents, regardless...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Nov 25, 2009

Hallods puts definition on its screen; Maxell turns volume up

Screen saver: Putting genuine high definition in portable-media players is a bit like trying to craft the perfect diamond. If you pull off the act it looks brilliant, but the difference between it and the normal article is nearly impossible for laypeople to actually see. Despite doubts over whether the...
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 2009

Overhaul the privacy law

The intentions behind the Personal Information Protection Law, which went into effect in April 2005, are good, but it has contributed to a tendency for organizations to withhold benign information that has significantly useful social value. Ms. Mizuho Fukushima, state minister in charge of consumer affairs,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2009

Two smart guys trying to figure it all out

LOS ANGELES — The two looked over the precipice and gasped at the steepness of the drop. They looked down at a desert of dashed hopes and old skeletons, scraping the bottom of the canyon.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 22, 2009

Ozawa's sermon hardly befitted the spirit of the mount he chose

On Nov. 10, Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, dropped a bombshell in a speech he made atop one of Japan's most sacred mountains, Mount Koya, in Wakayama Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 13, 2009

No longer going straight to video

In addition to exhibition and workshop components, the recently opened International Festival for Arts and Media Yokohama 2009 (also known as CREAM) features a monthlong screening program of international feature-length and short films as well as prize-winning submissions to the CREAM Competition, which...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Q&A
Nov 11, 2009

Never a dull moment when U.S. presidents come calling

U.S. President Barack Obama will make his first Japan visit Friday and exchange views with the new Democratic Party of Japan administration of Yukio Hatoyama on global concerns.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Nov 11, 2009

Sony-Ericsson phone ups its appeal; Bluedot treats the ladies

Going mobile: Sony, in the guise of its partnership with Swedish maker Ericsson, is combining the much-touted Android phone platform from Google with its traditional feature-rich offerings in the form of the Xperia X10. Sporting a larger than normal 4-inch, TFT-capacitive touch screen, the candybar-style...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 7, 2009

United clash gives Drogba chance to prove player-of-year credentials

LONDON — The prospect of Didier Drogba even being considered as the Footballer of the Year last season would have brought ridicule. The members of the Football Writers' Association have to judge the player who "by precept and example" they believe deserves the award and the Chelsea striker is on course...
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2009

Still wrestling with Europe

Some things seem to go on forever. For half a century the British have been wrestling with the question of their relations with the rest of continental Europe and the struggle continues unabated and still unsolved.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 1, 2009

Foundations take a new shape

THE CHANGING JAPANESE FAMILY, edited by Marcus Rebick and Ayumi Takenaka. Routledge, 2009, 224 pp., £20 (paperback) The notion of family in Japan conjures up images of stability that are increasingly out of step with emerging realities. Certainly, compared to most other advanced industrialized nations,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 30, 2009

m-flo's Verbal spreads the love

"It's like a meteorite flow" says Verbal of his group's name. "I spelled it 'mediarite' because I thought we would hit with a big impact in the media and surprise the unsuspecting masses with some good music. I think it worked better than I anticipated."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 27, 2009

Immigration showing signs of ninjo

Last month, I was asked to take part in a public panel discussion on the recently released Harrison Ford blockbuster "Crossing Over." In the film, Ford plays an L.A. Immigration and Customs officer with a conscience, increasingly disturbed by the human consequences of his job.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 20, 2009

Signing Hague treaty no cure-all for parental abduction scourge

The recent arrest of Christopher Savoie for attempting to "kidnap" his two children in Fukuoka has brought much-needed international media attention to one of Japan's dirty secrets — its status as the developed world's leading destination for international parental child abduction.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 18, 2009

Professor, schoolgirl share victim status in grope case

Last April, the Supreme Court reversed a Tokyo High Court decision that found Masahiro Nakura, a professor of medicine at the Self-Defense Forces University, guilty of being a chikan (groper) after he was charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old high school girl on the Odakyu train line in 2006....
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2009

The man with no name

Article 61 of the Juvenile Law prohibits the dissemination of information that identifies a minor in a family court decision. The aim is to spare the minor publicity that might hinder his or her rehabilitation.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 11, 2009

Japan's top 100 most common family names

BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 9, 2009

Kings GM Kimura recalls title run in new book

A positive symbol of the bj-league's growth is contained in a new 240-page book written by Tatsuro Kimura, the Ryukyu Golden Kings' general manager and president.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2009

Murdoch: Japan newspapers will have to charge for online content

KYOTO — Japanese newspapers are eventually going to have to charge users to read general news stories online, media mogul Rupert Murdoch said Sunday at a conference here of scientists and engineers.
Reader Mail
Sep 27, 2009

Short shrift to suicide prevention

Regarding the Sept. 20 article "Now suicide has become a political issue, how will Japan address it?": It is refreshing to see an article on suicide in Japan focus on the fact that it takes political will for any nation to bring about any significant lowering of its suicide rate.
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2009

Muzzling the top bureaucrats

The Hatoyama administration has told government ministries and agencies to stop, in principle, the holding of news conferences by administrative vice ministers, the top-ranking bureaucrats of government ministries. The thinking behind the decision is that Cabinet ministers are the top leaders of government...
Reader Mail
Sep 20, 2009

False promise of more intelligence

It has been commented on before that the personal computer revolution did not herald the dawn of a great Information Age so much as a new Dark Age. I mean, more information is being lost faster than ever before in history with the push of the DELETE button, aggravated by the ease of pushing it. In addition...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2009

NPO's used suits give young job seekers hope

A decent suit is one thing you'll definitely need if you intend to find a job, but many people are discovering they can't even afford this basic tool.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear