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JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 12, 2010

Japan's mighty whale mountain

It's enough to make members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society choke on their tofu burgers. Stocks of frozen whale meat in Japan have reached 4,000 tons — that's 4 million kg.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 12, 2010

Could public polls sway DPJ vote?

According to major media opinion polls, if the choice of who will lead the country was up to the populace, Prime Minister Naoto Kan would retain his position against fellow Democratic Party of Japan member Ichiro Ozawa's challenge to the party presidency and the premiership.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2010

Kan, Ozawa draw flak for fiddling while Rome burns

As Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa battle toward their showdown Tuesday, observers are criticizing them for creating a political void in the ruling party at a time when Japan is struggling to rekindle the economy and address other pressing issues.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2010

LDP's Koike, Ishihara get top posts

The Liberal Democratic Party installed new executives Thursday, introducing a fresh lineup to help LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki prepare for the fall Diet session.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 7, 2010

Tokyo: Who are you rooting for in the Democratic Party of Japan's leadership election?

Aya YokoiMother, 33(Japanese)I want (Prime Minister Naoto) Kan to win the election. I don't think it's good for the DPJ to change leader so often. (Ichiro) Ozawa is a symbol of the typical Liberal Democratic Party politician, but Kan seems to be a different breed.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2010

Battle for Turkey's constitution

ISTANBUL — On Sept. 12, Turks will vote on a set of constitutional amendments proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power for eight years. Since the vote falls on the 30th anniversary of the 1980 military coup, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is portraying...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 4, 2010

Ozawa milks challenger role

The battle between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa comes at a time when Japan is struggling with a slumping economy, strong yen and numerous other issues requiring prompt attention.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2010

Kingpin win would delay charges

Now that Ichiro Ozawa has made it official and will run for president of the Democratic Party of Japan, a key question is whether he can be indicted over his alleged financial illegalities should he win and become prime minister.
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2010

Vote of no confidence in Australia

There is little for Australian politicians to be proud of as they contemplate the results of last month's parliamentary elections. The vote was almost perfectly divided, resulting in the first hung Parliament since 1940. At this point, the two major parties are courting the four independents to see who...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 22, 2010

Forbidden romance in Saigon

United by wars against the United States, yet divided by the economic results and effects of those wars, Vietnam and Japan are the real subjects of Aska Mochizuki's Knopf Kodansha Prize-winning novel "Spinning Tropics."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ASIA SEMINARS
Aug 19, 2010

Strikes at Japanese affiliates show lack of understanding the Chinese

Japanese companies need to have a better understanding of the rapidly changing popular sentiments in China and improve communication with workers at their affiliated plants in the country, veteran journalists from local Chinese newspapers said at a recent seminar in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ASIA SEMINARS
Aug 19, 2010

Growing Asia should still engage U.S.

The post-crisis geoeconomic trend threatens to create a division between Asia and the United States as Asian economies led by China continue to grow strong while the U.S. becomes more domestically focused, said Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2010

It's wrong to backpedal on nonnuclear principles

The prime minister's advisory panel on national security has recommended a reconsideration of Japan's adherence to the so-called three nonnuclear principles. The panel specifically urged that the third principle, the prohibition on the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan (which forbids not only...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2010

U.K.-India relationship in transformation

LONDON — By any measure, British Prime Minister David Cameron's recent visit to India has turned out to be a transformative one. In one stroke, he has redefined the parameters of the Indo-British partnership for the 21st century.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 17, 2010

Who would get your vote in Saturday's federal election?

Luke RiganoHigh school teacher, 33(Adelaide)I'd like to vote Labor but I'm disillusioned with their environmental policy. I'd like to see more investment in renewable energy. And I strongly disagree with their Internet filtering policy.
EDITORIALS
Aug 16, 2010

A mixed verdict in Rwanda

Rwanda's Paul Kagame has won a second term as president. Having ruled the war-torn country since 1994, and claiming — quite rightfully — to have ushered in a period of peace after civil war and genocide, he had been expected to win another election. But beneath the calm that prevails in Rwanda is...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 15, 2010

Plumbing the depths of a suicide obsession

When Kenzaburo Oe, winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize in literature, chose to become a writer rather than a teacher or literary scholar, his mentor at Tokyo University told him that it would be necessary for him to continue his studies on his own.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 15, 2010

Opposite ends in poll scrabble wildly for Aussie middle ground

This is the winter of a discontented electorate in Australia. Less than a week before Aug. 21's general election, the voters are deeply disgruntled and proving decidedly hard to please, while the main parties appear to be heading for a close finish.
COMMENTARY
Aug 13, 2010

The rule of law wins a few against the wicked after all

LONDON — Naomi Campbell may be dimwitted and self-centered, and the poor schmuck she gave the diamonds to 13 years ago is in deep trouble even though he never tried to turn them into cash, but she certainly is useful. If she hadn't been forced to testify, nine out of 10 people wouldn't even know who...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2010

Aussie election going from bizarre to farcical

SYDNEY — The most bizarre election in Australia's history staggers into farce as voters go to the ballot boxes in what promises to be a knife-edge decision between a divided government party and an angry opposition.
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 2010

Nagano election gives DPJ respite

The victory of a candidate backed by the Democratic Party of Japan in the gubernatorial election in Nagano Prefecture on Sunday must have come as relief to Prime Minister Naoto Kan and the leadership of the DPJ, because it represents the DPJ's first major local election victory since the July 11 Upper...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2010

IMF barks at China over currency, account surplus

HONG KONG — The report by the International Monetary Fund on China published the week before last got less attention than it deserved, yet it is worth looking at what the IMF said.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 8, 2010

Discerning Japan's future journey through the prisms of its past

LAST IN A THREE-PART SERIES — T he French revolution in 1789 revolutionized more things than one. It changed the very definition of the word "revolution," which until then — as can be guessed from the literal meaning of its root words, "to turn back again" — meant to revert to something that existed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2010

'No One Knows About Persian Cats'

Persian cats may be the next cool thing, but don't be misled: We're not talking about the feline kind.

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