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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2005

Sharon's rebirth as 'centrist' overrated

KUALA LUMPUR -- Most of what has been written or said to depict Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's departure from the Likud party is parable to an "earthquake," or the "eruption of a volcano," and has, without a doubt, turned the Israeli political map "topsy-turvy," to borrow Ha'aretz Gideon Samet's...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 29, 2005

IC scheme gets frosty reception

Why the mistrust? I've lived in Japan for almost three years now, and I find the treatment of most foreigners in Japan is, in my opinion, fine. However, the potential damage of chipping, tracking, and who knows what else, will, I'm sure, deter people from traveling here.
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 2005

Seoul not the ally that Washington deserves

WASHINGTON -- During his Asian trip, U.S. President George W. Bush met with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun to highlight the two nations' alliance. The next day Roh's government announced that it was withdrawing a third of its soldiers from Iraq. Never mind.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 26, 2005

Richard Quest

Almost 20 years ago, viewers of the BBC World Service used to watch a British television reporter whose agile, distinctive style excited comment. "Unconventional," some said. "Quirky," said others, "original and mold-breaking."
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2005

Putin, Koizumi bolster economic ties, skip isles

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi agreed Monday to increase security and economic cooperation despite the 60-year territorial row over the four Russian-held islands off northern Hokkaido.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2005

Panel backs allowing women to ascend Imperial throne

A government panel discussing the Imperial succession decided Monday to propose allowing females and their descendants to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2005

Sino-Japanese relations continue to cool

SINGAPORE -- China appears to be in a political and diplomatic quagmire as it contends with a "new" Japan that is described by Chinese observers and analysts as growing increasingly conserva- tive, hawkish and nationalistic. Beijing is alarmed by Japan's so-called return to "normalcy" under the orchestration...
EDITORIALS
Nov 20, 2005

Myanmar goes deep

Capitals have moved before, but rarely so mysteriously. When Myanmar's military government began streaming out of the country's longtime capital city of Yangon on the morning of Nov. 6, headed for a fortified but unfinished compound in jungle-clad mountains 400 km to the north, people scratched their...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2005

Aussies preparing for worst

SYDNEY -- Tough new antiterrorist laws will soon give troops shoot-to-kill authority when patrolling Australian streets in anticipation of a terrorist attack. But the change will come only after the Australian public has agonized over a claimed loss of civil liberties.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2005

Easing beef ban seen as missing chance to let consumers rule

Yoshinoya D&C Co. executives, intent on reviving the restaurant chain's trademark beef-on-rice bowls as quickly as possible, are calling U.S. meatpackers to find out how much beef they can get and at what price.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Nov 10, 2005

Abe suggests he'll still go to Yasukuni in new post

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a front runner to be the next prime minister, hinted Wednesday he will keep visiting the contentious Yasukuni Shrine.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 9, 2005

Valentine's future remains undecided

Based on job offers, Bobby Valentine has just as good a chance to be with the Chiba Lotte Marines next season as he does with the Los Angeles Dodgers or any other club his name has been linked to in recent weeks.
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2005

A rough week for Mr. Bush

Last week was rough for U.S. President George W. Bush. A top official in the White House was indicted, his Supreme Court nominee withdrew her name from consideration, the U.S. military sustained its 2,000th death in Iraq, and opinion polls show a majority of Americans unhappy with their president. While...
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2005

Unacceptable rhetoric from Iran

The statement by Iran's president, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Israel should be "wiped off the map" is unacceptable. Apart from purely moral objections, there are legal issues too: As a member of the United Nations, Iran has agreed never to use force or threaten the use of force against other countries....
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2005

Toward a police-controlled media

There is a strong social trend toward protecting privacy. A milestone will be the enforcement of the Private Information Protection Law beginning in April. But the government is apparently taking advantage of this trend and people's distrust of the media -- due to often sensationalistic crime coverage...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2005

Support for Koizumi Cabinet hits two-year high

Support for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet after Monday's reshuffle climbed to 60.1 percent, 5.6 percentage points higher than the previous survey in mid-October.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 3, 2005

Pushkin delivers the goods

It's no secret what the mainstream art public really like -- soft, flowery Impressionism and cute, colorful Post-impressionism, with, possibly, a smattering of Picassos and Matisses thrown in to add grit. Hold a show with this kind of art, and you'll have to hang the paintings high so that people can...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2005

Gun control loses yet again

LONDON -- Last Sunday in Brazil, a country with the second-highest rate of gun deaths on the planet, almost two-thirds of Brazilians voted against a total ban on the sale of firearms. Explain that.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2005

Nonpartisan panel established to study new war memorial

Senior lawmakers from the ruling coalition and the Democratic Party of Japan on Friday launched a nonpartisan panel to study the feasibility of establishing a new war memorial to bridge the rift between Japan and its neighbors over Yasukuni Shrine.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2005

Ban slams shrine visit, casts doubt on summit

shakes hands with his South Korean counterpart Ban Ki Moon before their meeting in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2005

Arduous birth of democracy

The democratization of a further third of the world's countries during the second half of the 20th century was a remarkable and inspiring achievement. At the start of the 21st century, however, the difficulties inherent in exporting democracy have become starkly apparent.
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2005

A Koizumi promise not worth keeping

HONOLULU -- Last week, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made his fifth visit to Yasukuni Shrine. There was the predictable response from other Asian nations, but it is clear that those protests fall on deaf ears. If the prime minister's determination is plain, so too are the consequences, and they have...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 23, 2005

Best to dig deep and study language from its roots

W hen I was growing up in Los Angeles during the 1950s, the L.A. County Board of Education decided that the children of the city should learn Spanish. While the language was not made compulsory, it was taught to us regularly with the usual visual aids, such as pictures of elephants, giraffes, mountains...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2005

Press curbs infuriate media body

The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association urged the government on Friday to reconsider proposed legislation that would give police the discretion to withhold the identity of crime victims, saying this information is essential for reporting.
COMMENTARY
Oct 22, 2005

How not to manage U.S.-Singapore ties

LOS ANGELES -- Perhaps the last thing that the well-run city-state of Singapore needs is for some outside columnist to defend it. Among the many natural-born rhetorical defenses available on this amazing island is the redoubtable Lee Kuan Yew. Even at 82, the founding prime minister of modern Singapore...
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2005

The squeeze on Syria

The suicide of Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan is a sign of the steadily growing pressure on the Syrian government. Mr. Kanaan's death eliminates a central figure in the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, but it will not end the inquiry, nor is it likely...

Longform

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