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EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 2010

A disappointing departure

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigned Wednesday, nine months after bringing historic change to Japanese politics by ending more than five decades of almost uninterrupted Liberal Democratic Party rule.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2010

U.S. pressure on base said didn't help matters

OSAKA — Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's sudden resignation Wednesday ended nine months of tense relations with the United States, which was wary of the new government from the beginning for its determination to seek a less U.S.-centric foreign policy.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Jun 3, 2010

Resignation deepens unease about country's direction

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's surprise announcement that he is stepping down before the July Upper House election is likely to deepen uncertainty about Japan's politics and raise more concerns about its still fragile economic recovery, economists and analysts said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2010

Hatoyama quits as prime minister

Ending a turbulent eight months in office, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Wednesday he will step down to take the blame for his Cabinet's plunging approval rate, brought on by funds scandals and the row over relocating a U.S. base in Okinawa.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2010

Hatoyama finds SDP joining his foes

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's administration found itself in an increasingly tight spot Monday after the Social Democratic Party bolted from the ruling bloc and then turned around and signaled it would side with a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2010

U.S. teen preps for Spelling Bee finals

Sonia Ann Schlesinger, winner of the first spelling bee in Japan, will be shooting for the top when the three-day National Spelling Bee in Washington gets under way Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 1, 2010

Gunma city does battle with beards

I would like to draw readers' attention to the outstanding work of the municipal government of Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture. After receiving complaints that citizens find bearded men unpleasant, Isesaki — just as all levels of Japanese government often do — took decisive action to address an important...
JAPAN
May 29, 2010

Hatoyama to woo Wen for united front against North

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will arrive Sunday on a three-day visit to Tokyo for talks with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who will try to persuade the Chinese leader to form a united front against North Korea, diplomats and analysts say.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
May 29, 2010

Hatoyama's tenure in doubt as poll looms

With the Futenma debacle just the latest of the Democratic Party of Japan's broken pledges, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is increasingly being seen as a liability as his party faces July's Upper House election.
JAPAN
May 28, 2010

Innovate or perish: new Keidanren chief

Hiromasa Yonekura, newly appointed chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), says he wants to compile a Japanese version of landmark U.S. industrial competitiveness reports that should strongly appeal to the public.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2010

Liberating NASA from the risks to people

NEW YORK — People first landed on the Moon while I was a teenager. Decades later, space travel was still reserved for a small corps of astronauts and cosmonauts, and wealthy space tourists — six so far. The space business was the preserve of a few governments, plus large cost-plus contractors who...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 25, 2010

What are your thoughts on the U.K.'s new coalition government?

Gareth Pughe, 56EditorIt is either doomed to failure and there will be another election within the year, or it will break the mold for British politics, and that would be a good thing.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 24, 2010

If China's amazing growth seems illusory, maybe it is

Not many people in Japan are convinced that China has truly become an economic giant even though Beijing has released impressive statistics on the country's economic growth, accumulation of foreign exchange reserves, rising automobile sales and aggregate stock market value.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 23, 2010

What's a rogue gusher when you never had a cherry tree anyway?

Fingerpointing, dear reader, has been elevated to an art. Halliburton is pointing the finger at BP. Transocean is also pointing the finger at BP. And BP, not to be outdone, is pointing fingers at both Halliburton and Transocean.
CULTURE / Books
May 23, 2010

An epic slog through history

This doorstopper of a book focuses on American and Soviet rivalry in post-World War II Asia while providing an overview of dramatic developments in 14 nations across Asia over the past century or so. This is an ambitious agenda, one that proves too much for the author and, one might add, any weary reader...
JAPAN
May 19, 2010

NPOs' social roles still in stage of infancy

When he set up a nonprofit organization 35 years ago to sell organic vegetables, Kazuyoshi Fujita never expected his pursuit would grow into a big business.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2010

Instead of folding, EU leaders raise the stakes

BERKELEY, Calif. — The last few weeks have been the most amazing — and important — period of the euro's 11-year existence. First came the Greek crisis, followed by the Greek bailout. When the crisis spread to Portugal and Spain, there was the $1 trillion rescue. Finally, there were unprecedented...
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2010

Middle East needs truly secular governance

BEPPU, Oita Pref. — The march for secularism held on April 26 in Lebanon focused attention on the country and the region's conflicts and battle of values. Thousands of Lebanese from various social backgrounds — Shiite, Sunni, Maronite and more — took to the streets and marched to the national parliament...
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2010

Diet session in home stretch

Only a month remains before the current Diet session ends (June 16). Although the Diet passed the fiscal 2010 budget March 24 in the fifth-fastest time of the postwar era, deliberations on other important bills have stalled.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 17, 2010

Political hazards follow the dissing of bureaucrats

Nearly eight months have passed since the Democratic Party of Japan came to power on a slogan of shifting decision-making power and processes from bureaucrats to elected politicians with a view to reducing or eliminating excessive reliance on bureaucrats. As a result of this shift, three distinctly different...
EDITORIALS
May 16, 2010

What is next for Nigeria?

The transition of power since the death of Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has been swift and efficient. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, sworn in a day after the president's passing, declared a week of mourning for his predecessor. It is unclear if Mr. Jonathan will seek to win the office in...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 16, 2010

Sense of complacency links Japan to Greek crisis

There's nothing like a good financial meltdown to straighten out your priorities. When it happened in Greece more than a month ago, the Japanese press went over to see whether or not the country's situation had anything to teach Japan. After all, Japan's public debt is much worse than Greece's. In fact,...
JAPAN
May 15, 2010

LDP policy platform targets economy, DPJ

The Liberal Democratic Party revealed a draft Friday of its platform for the summer Upper House election, promising economic recovery and growth while vowing to end the mistakes of the Democratic Party of Japan-led government.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 15, 2010

Fatalist follows music to find his niche in life

Life can veer abruptly, in mere seconds, from the way it was to the way it is. Occasionally, change occurs so gradually that metamorphosis is under way before you can even detect the unfamiliar wind.
COMMENTARY
May 14, 2010

Escape to electoral reform

LONDON — There has not been a coalition government in Britain since World War II, but people may have to get used to them. The May 6 election left both major parties — the Conservatives and Labour — short of a majority, and put history's also-rans, the Liberal Democratic Party, in the position...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 11, 2010

Japan zines: Never mind the bloggers

Koenji is a nice, quiet place in the suburbs, but venturing along its Kitanaka Street one weekend last March, you could not have missed the commotion coming out of Shirouto no Ran No. 12. Crammed inside this small rental space, dozens of people were poring over, discussing and exchanging piles upon piles...

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