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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2010

Europe neglects a strategic asset, Ukraine

KIEV — The world's center of gravity is heading eastward so fast that we Europeans can almost feel the ground moving beneath our feet. Because almost all major actors on the international stage are redefining their roles in response to this tectonic shift, Europe must do the same. So it is right that...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2010

Medical care shoppers bet on diagnosis, benign bugs

HONG KONG — The reception area is welcoming, open and airy with tropical green trees and plants. The rooms have sofas, tables and chairs, well-chosen paintings, as well as the bed. Menus are prepared by international chefs who compete for the privilege of being chosen for a month at a time. But you...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Sep 14, 2010

Is racism coloring debate on Japanese whaling?

Following is a selection of readers' responses to the Aug. 17 Zeit Gist columns headlined "Racist undercurrents taint whaling rhetoric" by Dougal McNeill and "Appeals to culture, tradition ignore the historical facts" by Chris Burgess:
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 12, 2010

Aging through the ages

"If only, when one heard That Old Age was coming One could bolt the door Answer 'not at home' And refuse to meet him!" (Anonymous, "Kokinshu" Imperial poetry anthology, 10th century)
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 5, 2010

What Japan must do now to survive the coming U.S. conflagration

It is no secret that the tectonic plates of the American empire are slipping dramatically, though the vast majority of Americans are blissfully unaware or in denial of what may soon occur.
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 4, 2010

Hara encourages Japan to impress Zaccheroni

YOKOHAMA — National team caretaker Hiromi Hara has urged his players to seize their chance to impress incoming manager Alberto Zaccheroni in Saturday's friendly against Paraguay.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 4, 2010

Despite new contract, many down on Capello

LONDON — When you earn £6 million a year for managing a football club, you should have a smile on your face and a spring in your step.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2010

Downside of a yen haven

HONG KONG — Is the world economy about to enter the second part of a double dip, or is it merely bumping along the extended bottom of what will eventually be a U-shaped recovery, or is it a long L with no real upturn in sight? Or is there no clear pattern of who's up and who's down?
COMMENTARY
Aug 21, 2010

China's cautionary tale

Will the 21st century belong to China? For a while, perhaps — but only in the sense that it was said to belong to Japan in the 1980s. Looking back now, that seems ridiculous, but at the time best-selling books were predicting that Americans, not to mention the rest of the planet, would be reduced to...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 15, 2010

Does cost of peace consign the Japanese to frailty or strength?

A series of articles in the Aug. 1 edition of The Big Issue Japan, a biweekly magazine sold by homeless people, is addressed "to adults who have never known war." Few major powers, past or present, can equal Japan in that regard. Sixty-five years of peace in a bellicose world have turned war in this...
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2010

Budget cutters target JET

Every year for the past two decades, legions of young Americans have descended on Japan to teach English. This government-sponsored charm offensive was launched to counter anti-Japan sentiment in the United States and has since grown into one of the country's most successful displays of soft power.
COMMENTARY
Aug 2, 2010

Go past Koizumi's reforms to restore the Meiji spirit

LONDON — "Japan has lost its place in world, no longer serious economic power."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Aug 1, 2010

Lee Ufan: Korean at the forefront of Japan's modern art

For the last several years, Benesse Art Site on the island of Naoshima in the Seto Inland Sea has featured prominently in rankings of Japan's best tourist destinations.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 29, 2010

Steady Japan works balancing act

With co-hosting in 2002 still fresh in the memory, Japan's bid to stage the World Cup for a second time in 2022 was always going to be a hard sell.
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2010

Don't underestimate ASEM

One of the less-noticed initiatives in the world is the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), designed to foster closer cooperation between the old economic giants of Europe and the new economic powers of Asia — the two diverse but culturally rich continents that together represent half of the world's GDP and...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2010

African women getting a kick out of soccer

NAIROBI — When I was born, 25 years ago, it would have been rare — even taboo — to find African women discussing soccer. But that is what my girlfriends and I now do.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2010

Why is it OK to cheat in professional soccer?

MELBOURNE — Shortly before half-time in the World Cup elimination match between England and Germany on Sunday, English midfielder Frank Lampard had a shot at goal that struck the crossbar and bounced down onto the ground, clearly over the goal line. German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer grabbed the ball and...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 26, 2010

Best to avoid penalty shootout against Germany

LONDON — During the first week of the World Cup finals a German reporter asked Wayne Rooney whether he was worried by the possibility of meeting his country in the second round.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2010

G20 faces test as major players retrench

BRUSSELS — Two Group of 20 meetings this month — first in Busan, South Korea, for finance ministers, and next in Toronto for heads of government, mark the moment when the major players in the world economy shift gear from budgetary stimulus to retrenchment. Not everyone agrees.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 15, 2010

Social change architect starts young

At first glance, it is hard to guess that such a soft-spoken, refined, slim gentleman with a serene smile is an energetic and charismatic leader who has given financial and mental support to more than 2,000 "social entrepreneurs" around the world. But once Bill Drayton starts talking, you can immediately...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jun 10, 2010

Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani

Toru Iwatani, 55, is the designer of Pac-Man, the classic video game that virtually kick-started the world market for the video-gaming industry. Released by Namco in Tokyo on May 22, 1980, Pac-Man made history as the first video game that appealed to both genders and to all age groups. Idea-man Iwatani,...
COMMENTARY
May 31, 2010

Internet leveling the news field

SEATTLE — The debate is no longer confined to a few academics in distant universities. It is now a mainstream topic of discussion: How will the news of the future be distributed?
SOCCER / World cup
May 26, 2010

Okada denies he offered to resign

National team manager Takeshi Okada insists he did not offer to resign in the immediate aftermath of Japan's 2-0 defeat to South Korea on Monday night.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 22, 2010

Betrayal of Triesman an absolute disgrace

LONDON — Imagine having dinner with a friend you trusted. You talk freely about your marriage . . . maybe your job . . . perhaps discussing a future business deal.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 9, 2010

To realize its cultural potential, Japan must celebrate its strengths

Europe received a cultural shock of major proportions during the last quarter of the 19th century. The exquisite shikisai kankaku (sense of color), the startling spatial and compositional elements and the sublime craftsmanship of the Japanese arts took the continent by storm. Many well-known collectors...
Japan Times
LIFE
May 9, 2010

Children of Japan

Childhood. We all know it, we've all been through it, we've all lost it. Memory retains traces of it. We recall facts, incidents, fragments — but not what it felt like to be a child. Childish feelings are nameable to the adult, but not recoverable. They are on the other side of an impassable boundary...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji