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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2010

Obama takes the broad approach to security

MADRID — Time and again in our Nation's history, Americans have risen to meet — and to shape — moments of transition. This must be one of those moments.
COMMENTARY
Jun 24, 2010

First Belgium, then the EU?

Bart de Wever, the Flemish politician who promises the "evolutionary evaporation" of Belgium, is now the political kingmaker in Brussels. The bureaucrats and politicians of the European Union, who also hang out in Brussels, will therefore have a ringside seat for the dismantling of the Belgian state....
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2010

Consumption tax hot topic in first debate

Leaders of the ruling and opposition camps engaged in their first televised debate Tuesday ahead of the July 11 Upper House election, offering different takes on the crucial but politically unpopular topic of raising the consumption tax.
COMMENTARY
Jun 23, 2010

America's China policy flop

Success breeds confidence, and rapid success spawns arrogance. That, in a nutshell, is the China problem facing Asian states and the West. But no country faces a bigger dilemma on China than the United States because the present American policy simply isn't advancing its objectives.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2010

The beautiful game has an ugly blemish

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The quality of refereeing at the World Cup had been a source of relief until June 18, when referee Koman Coulibaly of Mali disallowed a perfectly legitimate goal by the United States that would have given it an all-important win over Slovenia. Worse still, Coulibaly never had to...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 20, 2010

Government policy of cash gifts to journalists rolls on

In late April, about a month before Naoto Kan took over as prime minister from Yukio Hatoyama, a hand-written note was taped to the intercom outside Kan's home in the Kichijoji district of Tokyo. It read, "No press meetings," and was signed "Kan," but it wasn't written by the current Democratic Party...
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 19, 2010

Aichi industry groups unsure which way to vote

Vote-gathering moves by industry groups are likely to draw much attention in the July House of Councilors election as it is widely said "gaining the organizational support is the key" to winning the vote.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2010

DPJ, LDP platforms test tax hike waters

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the opposition camp unofficially began campaigning Thursday for the July 11 Upper House election, by releasing their platforms, and both sides seemed to be dancing around a tax hike.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 18, 2010

Lack of funds fail to stop Tokyo's young theater brigade

As a promising playwright, director and actor, 31-year-old Junichi Hirota highlights a cruel fact running through Japan's theater world — namely that once technicians such as lighting engineers, sound people and set-builders are paid from box-office profits, there's often little or nothing left for...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jun 15, 2010

U.S. military presence on Okinawa continues to be a hot topic

Race-based disparities "Futenma is undermining Japanese democracy" (Just Be Cause, May 1) by Debito Arudou:
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 14, 2010

Can 'Citizen Kan' take Japan's voters to the promised land?

The Bible tells us that "those who sow in tears sing as they reap" (Psalm 126).
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 13, 2010

Time was when the future of English is simply real ba-a-a-a-d, or not

So I like OMG Im so not going there no matter what the Quadrangle says it will do Vlad and I are running Alaska from Tea Party headquarters in Cheney and I can see the whole world from my living room Again the TPA (Tea Party of Alaska) government refuses to kowtow [pronounced cow toe] to American imperialism...
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2010

Kamei resigns over postal reform bill

New Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government had its first casualty Friday as financial services minister Shizuka Kamei stepped down in protest because the Diet session won't be extended to act on his controversial pet bill to scale back the postal system privatization.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2010

China's modern art that grieves for the old

The art on display in "From the 11th Chinese National Art Exhibition 2009: Contemporary Fine Art from China" at the Nara Prefectural Museum of Art is of a different species than the headline-grabbing pieces that have propelled Chinese art into a much sought-after commodity frequently at the forefront...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2010

Can Kan revive Japan?

HONG KONG — Naoto Kan, Japan's new prime minister, pledged to make the country's sickly economy his first priority and to pull Japan from its "quagmire of an ever- bulging debt." But that is easier said than done. It is not merely a question of when to stop the government stimulus and where to put...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2010

New prime minister's lineup

New Prime Minister Naoto Kan has announced the lineup of the Democratic Party of Japan's party leadership and the Cabinet. The lineup clearly shows his thinking: Give a fresh image to the party and Cabinet and win back people's trust by diluting the influence of former DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 2010

It'd be wise to think about Japan

HONG KONG — U.S. President Barack Obama has so many things on his plate — including a spreading oil spill that threatens America's fisheries and wildlife, Democratic Party prospects in the midterm elections, the jobless recovery, repercussions of the financial crisis, relentless war in Afghanistan,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 8, 2010

What do you think of the decision to move the U.S. Futenma base to Henoko in the north of Okinawa?

COMMENTARY
Jun 6, 2010

Another political circus act flops in Tokyo

LOS ANGELES — The prime minister of Japan has just resigned. Big deal.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2010

All things have finally come to veteran who waited

New Prime Minister Naoto Kan never hid his ambition to one day take up the post and empower ordinary citizens by ousting the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2010

Voters hope new chief is a better fit

Voters were mixed Friday on whether Naoto Kan would be a better fit than his Democratic Party of Japan predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, as the nation's leader.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2010

Voters mixed over sudden resignation

Voters interviewed Wednesday by The Japan Times on the streets of Tokyo and Osaka had mixed reactions about the resignation of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, speculating the ruling Democratic Party of Japan was growing deeply worried about next month's Upper House election.

Longform

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