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COMMENTARY
May 8, 2007

Groom Japan's gifted students

On April 11, the public broadcaster NHK's program "Close-up Gendai (Current Affairs)" took up the issue of the International Science Olympiads (ISOs) for middle- and high-school students. The competition tests knowledge in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, astronomy and other areas...
JAPAN
May 8, 2007

Health ministry, docs were at odds over Tamiflu effects

so that the causal links with it cannot be denied," the doctor said in the opinion. The 2005 case involved a 14-year-old male junior high school student in Aichi Prefecture who jumped to his death from an apartment.
JAPAN
May 5, 2007

Briton bicycles to remind nation about Article 9's ideology of peace

has become just (the) name of a pachinko parlor for many," Ward said, referring to a major pachinko company, claiming the heart of Article 9 has been lost since most of Japanese have no experience of war. Peace is taken for granted in this country, he said. Ward rearranged his road map from Hiroshima...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 1, 2007

What are your reactions to the verdict on rapist Joji Obara?

CULTURE / Books
Apr 29, 2007

The problem with Pan Asianism

PAN-ASIANISM IN MODERN JAPANESE HISTORY: Colonialism, Regionalism and Borders, edited by Sven Saaler and J Victor Koschmann. London: Routledge, 2007, 288 pp., £21.99 (paper) Pan Asianism, the notion of creating a fraternity of Asians, provides insights on how transnational perceptions and policies...
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2007

Improving consumer lifestyle choices key to meeting CO2 goals

Consumer behavior holds the key to Japan's ability to fulfill its commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming, as rising greenhouse gas emissions in the household and transport sectors make it increasingly hard to achieve the nation's goals, said participants in a recent symposium...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2007

United Kingdom divorce in the pipeline?

The political marriage of the Scots and English parliaments was consummated 300 years ago in 1707. In less than a week the Scots may begin filing for divorce. The date of the Scottish parliamentary elections on May 3 could herald the end of three centuries of union. U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair may...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2007

Whole world is weeping

News that a young man with two guns took 32 lives in a coldblooded rampage at a U.S. university has triggered shock and dismay around the world. Revelations about the life of Seung-Hui Cho that emerged after the killings have compounded fears and concerns and raised questions about immigrant dreams and...
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2007

Restoring the military's honor

I was disappointed by two recent moves by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration to whitewash Japan's war responsibility, although I was not really surprised. After all, Abe comes from the most conservative faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, as did his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi....
Reader Mail
Apr 18, 2007

Declining level of knowledge

Regarding Takamitsu Sawa's April 9 article, "Redundant higher education": Sawa's opinion that "At U.S. colleges and universities, many first- and second-year undergraduate students receive a basic education equivalent to the Japanese high school level" is a smug generality and simply not true.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 17, 2007

Stalking: readers respond

Japan Times readers wrote in to express their opinions about the Zeit Gist column headlind "Reported stalking cases likely just tip of iceberg" by Thomasina Larkin published on April 10. Here's what they had to say:
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 16, 2007

Politicians on quest for referendums should be doubted

Proposals establishing the procedure for a referendum on constitutional reform were rushed through parliament last week. While both politics and legal procedures preclude the actual tabling of reform proposals before 2010, the stage is being set with no-holds-barred determination by Prime Minister Shinzo...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Apr 15, 2007

Okabayashi bridges communication gap for HeatDevils on, off court

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with figures in the bj-league -- Japan's first professional basketball circuit -- which is in its second season. Kyoko Okabayashi of the Oita HeatDevils is the subject of this week's profile.
BASEBALL / MLB'S EFFECT ON JAPAN
Apr 14, 2007

NPB players in need of strong union like MLBPA

Last of four-part
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2007

Australia's anti-China pact

Australia does some strange things in its foreign policies. The latest "security" (read "military") tieup with Japan is no exception.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 11, 2007

McAdoo deserves shot as head coach

NEW YORK -- In 1973 American agent Richard Kaner hooked up virtual unknown Dan Peterson to work the sidelines for Virtus Bologna, Italy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2007

'Don of Roppongi' seeks peace in East Asia

It's a rum kind of shop. But then Takeshi Maki -- who, while regarding himself as a member of Japan's silent majority, is nicknamed the Don of Roppongi -- is a rum kind of bloke.
COMMENTARY
Apr 5, 2007

Giving soft power some teeth

LONDON -- "Speak softly and carry a big stick" -- that was the advice of ebullient U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in the early part of the 20th century. It may still have some relevance today.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 1, 2007

Cooking kaiseki and 'eating the seasons'

KAISEKI: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto's Kikunoi Restaurant, by Yoshihiro Murata. Kodansha International Ltd., 2006, 191 pp., 5,500 yen (cloth) Chef Yoshihiro Murata, the third-generation owner-chef of Kikunoi, the celebrated kaiseki (a light "tasting-menu" meal) restaurant, presents a vivid journey...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 1, 2007

Words to win hearts and minds the Japanese way

Over the years, the Japanese language has been called many things: inscrutably ambiguous, frustratingly vague and positively untranslatable.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 30, 2007

Lady Sov looks to scare the heavies at Def Jam

It's not surprising that Lady Sovereign draws comparisons to Eminem. Despite the 21-year-old British MC having a vastly different sound, being a foul-mouthed Caucasian rapper who likes to stir up trouble does bring Slim Shady to mind.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2007

From out of the shadows steps France's 'third man'

WARSAW -- The French presidential election is a great "show" with all the ingredients of a Hollywood blockbuster, including a surprising plot twist: the emergence of a "third man," Francois Bayrou.
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2007

Europe's greatest endeavor

The European Union celebrated its 50th anniversary Sunday. On March 25, 1957, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg signed the Treaties of Rome, creating the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community. The six countries' aspiration to form a common...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 27, 2007

Life in the cloudy Imperial fishbowl

Although the media and insatiable public curiosity can expose the private secrets of superstars, the Imperial family remains largely out of view.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 27, 2007

'Multicultural Japan' remains a pipe dream

In February, education minister Bunmei Ibuki called Japan "an extremely homogenous country." Eighteen months earlier, now Foreign Minister Taro Aso described Japan as having "one nation, one civilization, one language, one culture, and one race." What was notable about these comments is that they were...
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2007

Strengthen U.S. trade ties

Japan is gearing up to conclude more free trade or economic partnership agreements with foreign governments. So far, Japan has been less enthusiastic about FTAs and EPAs than Western countries but is changing its tack due to difficulties expected in the new round of multilateral trade talks under the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2007

After Horie's fall, Nikko case seen smacking of favoritism

Japan has been abuzz with the unusually harsh prison term handed to former Internet mogul Takafumi Horie -- and the slap on the wrist given to scandal-tainted brokerage Nikko Cordial in another high-profile case of accounting fraud that, in monetary terms, was some eight times greater than Horie's firm....
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2007

Does religion do more harm than good?

LONDON -- In an opinion poll published in Britain recently, 82 percent of the people polled said that they thought religion does more harm than good. My first reaction, I must admit, was to think: That's what they would say, isn't it? It's not just that suicide bombers give religion a bad name. In "post-Christian...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 22, 2007

Beck: Too much information for an hombre to handle

Beck talks about his upcoming tour of Japan, a stockpile of songs that grows faster than he is able to record them and a trans-Pacific collaboration that will just have to wait

Longform

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