Search - u_times

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2013

The irresponsible part of the debt-growth row

Stanford economist calls rival economist Paul Krugman's notion that the U.S. can wait 10 to 15 years to start dealing with deficits and debt 'beyond irresponsible.'
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
May 26, 2013

U.S. drone program 'tough to dismantle'

The White House is ready to hand U.S. drone operations back to the military from the CIA, but counterterrorism officials are convinced the Pentagon hasn't improved enough yet.
Reader Mail
May 26, 2013

Language debate goes nowhere

I assume that one purpose of publishing The Washington Post article titled "English-language education proposal has French up in arms" on The Japan Times' front page May 20 was to stimulate the ongoing debate about English education in Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 25, 2013

DoCoMo counting on R&D to stay ahead

NTT DoCoMo Inc., despite being Japan's biggest mobile phone carrier, has been struggling against tough smartphone competition from KDDI Corp. and Softbank Corp., which is leading in that area.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 24, 2013

Miyazaki's departure means 21 teams again next season

Another offseason of major change is already in full swing. As a wizened comic might blurt out, "There no end to the chaos."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 24, 2013

Shizuoka theater festival courts the avant-garde

Claude Regy says the team at the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) threw him the "best birthday party ever" when he arrived in Japan just days after the actual May 1 occasion.
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2013

No heroes in AP news leak

Whoever provided the initial leak to the Associated Press in April 2012 not only broke the law but caused the abrupt end to a secret, joint U.S./Saudi/British operation in Yemen that offered valuable intelligence against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
Reader Mail
May 23, 2013

Inventors of human rights?

Jennifer Kim, in her letter of May 16, seems to be doing a bit of an Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto special. She appears to be suggesting that the mass murder of heretics [Cathars] was necessary at the time. She seems to take the apparent wrongness of their teaching — which supposedly took the anti-life...
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
May 21, 2013

Abe continues to be steadying force for Giants

The Yomiuri Giants have won the last 37 times Shinnosuke Abe has homered at Tokyo Dome.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
May 19, 2013

Hibiya Park illuminations, Japan’s first mosque, ‘Vigorous’ Mount Fuji stymies relocation, minister resigns over war-guilt denial

Tokyo city has withdrawn the illuminations at Hibiya which it made for the benefit of the admirers of the park's azaleas.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
May 19, 2013

Dwarf bamboo's no pushover whatever the season

An unseasonably cold spring wind blasts in from the north shaking all before it. Oak trunks tremble; mast-like young white birches sway alarmingly and ineffectively rattle their branches at it.
Reader Mail
May 19, 2013

Nonsecular take on a rebellion

Regarding the Washington Post article by Jackson Diehl, which ran in The Japan Times on May 8 under the headline "Putin's hand in radicalizing a secular rebellion": The writer would appear to have little knowledge of Chechnya or Russia; nor does he seem to understand the meaning of the word "secularism."...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 18, 2013

Taking care of an aging smartphone — until the end

I thought I had bought a smartphone, but I ended up with a dumb phone instead. It's probably my fault for not asking for documentation showing it had passed an IQ test.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 18, 2013

Niigata, Yokohama evenly matched in Final Four clash

One victory separated the Eastern Conference regular-season champion Niigata Albirex BB and the second-place Yokohama B-Corsairs in the standings. That one game is indicative of the talent, roster depth, experience and quality coaching for both teams.
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
May 17, 2013

Cousin hoping strong season paves way back to NBA

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Marcus Cousin of the Kyoto Hannaryz is the subject of this week's profile.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 17, 2013

'Bill Cunningham New York'

Bill Cunningham is one of the long-revered icons of The New York Times: If you are incredibly lucky, you may catch a glimpse of his blue-jacketed figure walking through the doors of the Times building on Eighth Avenue, camera bag slung around his shoulder, his jaunty step belying his 84 years.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013

Sincerely clueless in Tokyo

The thing that struck me about Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose's Muslim-slurring remarks (May 1 front-page article "Inose apologizes for slurring Muslims") is his apparent clueless obliviousness.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 15, 2013

Stern in tough spot regarding Kings

They have called David Stern "King David" around the NBA at times, though quietly when he was nearby.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2013

Misplaced pride in conspicuous consumption

Wouldn't you laugh at someone who paid more than 200 times as much as you did for a watch, and ended up with an inferior product? Some lawmakers don't get it.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2013

U.S. defense cuts: An ax is needed, not a scalpel

The fact the U.S. government devotes too much to Social Security is no argument for spending too much on the military. The defense budget could use a meat-ax.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
May 14, 2013

Police, media must consider plight of those caught in linguistic dragnet

A national media exerts a powerful influence over the lives of members of its society. For example, rumors or untruths disseminated through print or broadcast can destroy livelihoods and leave reputations in ruins.
SOCCER / J. League
May 13, 2013

J. League's opening game stirs memories 20 years on

Players involved in the J. League's first-ever game share their recollections of the beginning of a new era for Japanese soccer.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 12, 2013

'Beauty' as beheld in Japan through the ages

In July 2006, Shinzo Abe published a book titled 'Utsukushii Kuni e' ('Toward a Beautiful Country'), but what does he mean by 'beautiful country'?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 12, 2013

Will Mount Fuji celebrate World Heritage status by blowing its top?

On May 1, Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs announced it had received notification that Mount Fuji had been recommended for World Heritage status by the UNESCO-affiliated International Council on Monuments and Sites. Formal approval is expected at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Cambodia next month.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2013

Obama's Guantanamo hunger strike problem

When the military doctors force-feed Guantanamo Bay detainee Fayiz al-Kandari with a tube shoved into his stomach there are three stages to the pain.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 10, 2013

Ideas to trump names on TEDxTokyo stage

TEDxTokyo is set to kick off its fifth annual event on May 11 at Hikarie Hall in Shibuya Ward, featuring a bevy of talented speakers, among whom are many you've likely never heard of.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
May 9, 2013

Political novice takes on entrenched parties in landmark polls

Winning a grass-roots political campaign in Pakistan or anywhere else depends on having committed, hardworking volunteers. Iftikhar Ali Mashwani, an aspiring provincial lawmaker, has come to realize that his supporters are neither.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 9, 2013

Fukushima activist fights fear and discrimination based on radiation

Sachiko Banba aches for children in Fukushima Prefecture, who worry whether they can lead a normal life.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan