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ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 26, 2011

Readers offer 3/11 insights, valuable resources

As Japan has struggled with the physical and emotional challenges of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami of March 11, and the ongoing nuclear crisis that resulted, I have written three Our Planet Earth columns related to those events: one on Japan's response (March 27); one on alternative...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2011

DPJ tacks on 70 days to avert Diet recess

The Diet session was extended by 70 days Wednesday, giving Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Democratic Party of Japan some breathing room as they try to enact several key bills by the end of August.
COMMENTARY
Jun 22, 2011

Kissinger analysis key to understanding China

It is very tempting to proclaim "On China" as the most important new nonfiction book of 2011. But that it may well be.
COMMENTARY
Jun 20, 2011

South China Sea is not Shangri-La

As China's power becomes ever more obvious, especially to neighbors in Asia, Chinese leaders are finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile soothing words with assertive actions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2011

Japan should consider the personal touch in its policy toward Middle East uprisings

Various internal and external factors have prompted Japan to keep its involvement profile in the Middle East as low as possible for the past four decades.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2011

Economy hits political faults

Naoto Kan's departure as Japan's prime minister looks to be as messy and wretched as his uncomfortable time in the job.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2011

Europe wields influence in the Arab Spring

Until now, and with few exceptions, the West has nurtured two distinct communities of foreign-policy specialists: the development community and the democratic community.
JAPAN / Q&A
Jun 12, 2011

Track record of coalition plans not always grand

Amid the chaos breaking out in Nagata-cho since Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced his intention to resign, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan is once again seeking to form a grand coalition with its long-time conservative foe, the Liberal Democratic Party.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 10, 2011

Toyama dumps coach again; Ishizaki eyes Europe

The Toyama Grouses' predictable blueprint — one that's failed repeatedly — contained the following decision on Wednesday:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 10, 2011

'X-Men: First Class'

After watching a movie such as "X-Men: First Class," you really don't want to sit down at some steel gray desk and write about it. Turning aerial somersaults while telepathically transmitting brilliant sentences into your laptop sounds more the thing to do.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2011

Goldman Sachs: Japan stocks to beat Asian peers

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says most investors are betting Japanese stocks will outperform their Asian peers as a weaker yen and the prospect of policy stimulus in the wake of the March earthquake and tsunami boost confidence.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2011

Kan wins Pyrrhic victory: analysts

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's weakened political clout has further deepened widespread concern over the country's apparent inability to contain its swelling national debt and deliver urgently needed funding to the disaster-hit areas, economists said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2011

Pakistan again turns toward China

Large events sometimes have unintended strategic consequences, as the killing of Osama bin Laden in a compound in Abbottabad, a military-dominated town near Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, shows.
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2011

Changing Japan's system to handle the 'unexpected'

Faced with an unprecedented crisis that was triggered by the combined disasters of the recent earthquake and tsunami, Japan is continuing to struggle with the radiation leak and sealing of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 28, 2011

CL final certain to be memorable

Over the last two weeks Sir Alex Ferguson has watched a rerun of the 2009 Champions League final five or six times. Manchester United began the stronger in Rome but after Samuel Eto'o gave Barcelona the lead in the 10th minute, the Reds lost their impetus, rhythm and thrust.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 27, 2011

'The Adjustment Bureau'

The Adjustment Bureau" is the latest Philip K. Dick adaptation to be brought to the big screen, and it's more faithful to the spirit of the author than most. Dick was always trying to lace grand metaphysical themes into the pulpy genre requirements of sci-fi, and "The Adjustment Bureau" is no different....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 27, 2011

'My Back Page'

The Japanese student-protest movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s had much in common with its American counterpart, from its massive street demonstrations to its taste in music (The Beatles and Bob Dylan) and movies (anything with Dustin Hoffman or Jack Nicholson).
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2011

India's stirring middle class

India is on the move, with millions climbing into middle class status and a growing pool of super-rich billionaires. Yet it also has more poor, hungry and illiterate people than any other country in the world; access to safe water and sanitation remains a pipedream for most people and disease is endemic;...
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2011

Disorganized dreams of Egyptian democrats

The Internet is an extraordinarily powerful tool. It has changed how we do business, how we do politics, and even how we change our leaders — at least some of the time. But the ease with which we now communicate, the efficiencies we take for granted, can give us a false sense of how easy it is to follow...
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2011

France stages judicial revolution as citizens challenge legislation

A new and important acronym has entered the French political lexicon: QPC, which stands for the rather austere-sounding "Priority preliminary ruling on the question of constitutionality."
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2011

India's show of strategic autonomy flouts Washington's 'investment' in building ties

Finally, the Indian government seems to have convinced its domestic detractors that it is indeed "nonaligned" and that its foreign policy is not being crafted in Washington.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 22, 2011

Nuclear policy was once sold by Japan's media

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's decision to ask Chubu Electric Power Co. to shut the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture met with mixed reactions. The residents of nearby Omaezaki are concerned since the facility employs about 2,800 people, but Chubu's subsequent announcement that it would...
EDITORIALS
May 18, 2011

U.S. envoy gives up

Mr. George Mitchell, the special U.S. envoy for Middle East peace, has thrown in the towel. Of course, neither Mr. Mitchell nor the U.S. government would characterize his resignation last week as giving up, but there is no mistaking his frustration with the peace process.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 17, 2011

Designers still show collections after Japan Fashion Week cancels

Four days after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake on March 11, Japan Fashion Week, scheduled to take place March 18-25, was unceremoniously canceled with an announcement on its official website. It sent a small wave of panic through the industry as it became increasingly unclear how the fashion season...
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2011

Was killing him a mistake?

"He lived a hero, he died a martyr. . .if they killed one Osama, a thousand others will be born," says a comment on a Facebook group called "We are all Osama bin Laden." The group formed one hour after U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement of the al-Qaida leader's death. The group already has around...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 16, 2011

Rebuilding Japan gives many a new pride and purpose

Once, I dated a guy who preferred being in Japan to being abroad, who held that we were citizens of a glorious and beautiful nation and the desire for foreign experiences was one of the deplorable legacies of the Meiji Restoration (1868), which was when Japan officially opened her doors to the rest of...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years