Search - 2005

 
 
BASKETBALL
Jun 2, 2007

Planells prepared for life in Okinawa with Golden Kings

The NBA Finals is about to begin in a few days. The Spurs' Tim "The Big Fundamental" Duncan will be shooting for his fourth championship ring. His legacy is already set. He is one of the greatest big men to ever play the game.
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2007

More help for abused children

The Diet has unanimously passed a bill to revise the law against child abuse. On the strength of a court-issued writ, staffers of children's welfare centers will be empowered to forcibly investigate households where abuse is suspected. It is hoped that the revised law, due to go into effect in April...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2007

Little chance to limit Russian arms sales

NEW YORK — Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has launched a comprehensive program to restructure its defense industry, which has shrunk dramatically since the Soviet era. This process has achieved some progress, but fundamental structural problems persist that lead Russia to export large quantities...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2007

Daiei savior aims to make TSE No. 1

Atsushi Saito spearheaded the rehabilitation of supermarket chain Daiei Inc. and 40 other ailing companies until March as president of the Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan, the government-backed bailout agency that disbanded in March.
JAPAN / Q&A
Jun 1, 2007

Poll-wary ruling bloc gropes to fix pension fiasco

The government is facing a crisis over its handling of the creaky public pension system, in part because the Social Insurance Agency scrambled the data on 50 million premium payments during a bungled shift to computerization in the 1980s. Since it cannot identify who made the payments, many pensioners...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jun 1, 2007

On the lamb in Amsterdam

The band plays. And they rock. They've got two guitarists — that's not new. And two drummers, which is pretty cool.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 1, 2007

Amerie "Because I Love It"

Amerie's "1 Thing" was the great summer single of 2005, an infectious hiccup of abandon that took the stuttery beat of Beyonce's hit "Crazy in Love" to its logical freaked-out end. Both songs were produced and co-written by Rich Harrison, who oversaw Amerie's first two albums.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2007

Despite economic recovery, suicide rate remains high

The hanging death of the farm minister this week grimly underscored the country's stubbornly high suicide rate — and the government's struggle to discourage large numbers of Japanese from killing themselves.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 31, 2007

Photography now

The borderline between photojournalism and travel photography is hard to define.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 29, 2007

'Amakudari' too entrenched to curb?

The Diet began deliberating a bill this month aimed at curbing "amakudari," the practice of giving retiring top bureaucrats lucrative jobs in private-sector firms and quasi-government entities in the business sectors they oversee.
JAPAN
May 29, 2007

Embattled farm minister kills himself at residence

Farm minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka, embroiled in a political funds scandal, committed suicide Monday at his residence in Tokyo's Akasaka district.
COMMENTARY
May 29, 2007

World's 'best' health care fatally flawed

NEW YORK — One of the most contentious issues of the U.S. presidential campaign will be how to fix what many agree is a malfunctioning health-care system. Adding fuel to the fire is a recent study detailing the shortcomings of the U.S. health-care system compared with those of Australia, Canada, Germany,...
BUSINESS
May 29, 2007

Food prices rise as more crops go into producing biofuels

The increasing demand for biofuel, which is derived from biomass — usually plants — has taken a bite out of supplies of crops and other farm products worldwide. The redirection of crops from mouths to fuel tanks is reflected in the rise of prices of ordinary food items in Japan.
EDITORIALS
May 28, 2007

Strategic Economic Dialogue stumbles

The increasingly shrill dialogue between the United States and China over economic issues should sound familiar to many Japanese. A swelling U.S. trade deficit with China has led to demands by Washington for the revaluation of the Chinese currency, threats of trade sanctions from Congress, and angry...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 27, 2007

'Containment' time warp sours hopes that Yeltsin spawned

Nearly 60 years ago, in July 1947, American diplomat George Kennan published what was to become the single most influential article in modern American diplomatic history.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 26, 2007

Treatment of Liverpool fans result of actions back home

LONDON — The police baton-charged "blameless" fans who could not gain entry to the stadium despite having valid tickets, while many inside the ground were allowed in with forgeries.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami