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CULTURE / Books
Apr 11, 2010

Culture suffocated by consumerism: eyewitness tales of Tibetan women

The basic facts about Tibet are well documented. Once the Chinese were firmly in control, land seizures, interrogations, struggle sessions, torture and the pulverizing of Buddhist images were conducted with a degree of fury only possible at the hands of religious or political zealots. Over 95 percent...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 11, 2010

Public works project has DPJ in a dam mess

Japan has 30,000 rivers, of which 113 are considered major. Japan also has half a million dams of various shapes, sizes and functions, and close to 3,000 of them were built for greater public purposes such as power generation, flood control and water supply.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2010

Health care, access to doctors at heart of Kyoto governor's race

KYOTO — Health care and the availability of doctors in remote areas are key issues in Sunday's Kyoto gubernatorial election, pitting two-term Gov. Keiji Yamada against newcomer Yusuke Mon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 9, 2010

'Roppongi Crossing' may be better when crowded

At the opening press conference for "Roppongi Crossing 2010," the U.S-based French artist Jules de Balincourt said that he was impressed how the exhibition revealed to him that the contemporary art being produced in Japan could just as easily have been created anywhere in the world — that trends in...
COMMENTARY
Apr 8, 2010

Reverse Japan's insularity

Nine of the top 10 countries sending students to study at Harvard University, where I attended graduate school, have more students studying at the university now than 10 years ago. The only exception is Japan, where the number of students has declined. A decline in Japanese presence was also pointed...
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 6, 2010

Japan, U.N. share blind spot on 'migrants'

On March 23, I gave a speech to Jorge Bustamante, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, for NGO FRANCA regarding racial discrimination in Japan. Text follows:
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2010

The unknown promise of Internet freedom

MELBOURNE, Australia — Google has withdrawn from China, arguing that it is no longer willing to design its search engine to block information that the Chinese government does not wish its citizens to have. In liberal democracies around the world, this decision has generally been greeted with enthusiasm....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 3, 2010

Patience a virtue in miso making

If miso is part of your daily routine, "you're having a decent life," says Tony Flenley, Japan's only British miso maker. Flenley, who runs a 105-year-old miso company in Osaka, believes the time taken to prepare and eat the soup shows the right priorities have triumphed over a fast food lifestyle.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2010

'Old' diplomacy needed now more than ever

FLORENCE, Italy — There is much talk in the air — especially in Britain and the United States — about reinventing diplomacy for the 21st century. Both U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the British Tories' leader, David Cameron, have spoken recently of a new synthesis of defense, diplomacy...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2010

India's budget boldly exempts toy balloons from excise duty

HONG KONG — Which country is growing at close to 8 percent a year but has the potential for double digit-growth, is already in the world's top 10 industrial powers but should be in the top three or four, has the best demographic profile of almost all developing countries but faces immense social and...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2010

'Chimerica' hits the skids

LONDON — The idea of "Chimerica" was always too good to be true, but the rapidity with which Sino-U.S. ties have unraveled over the past few months has even surprised those who were cynical about Barack Obama's overtures to China to begin with.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 28, 2010

Words of wisdom from beyond the grave of Japan's secret pacts

A drama currently being played out on the stage of national politics in Japan may well mark a turning point in the country's postwar history.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 28, 2010

Death of Yeats end of Irish literary revival, says Pound, Noh enthusiast

June 5, 1939
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 27, 2010

Henry conflicted as match with Arsenal looms

LONDON — Jack Charlton, the former England World Cup winner and Republic of Ireland manager, always maintained that "in football, money buys your loyalty."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2010

Nationality is no way to select IMF leader

BERKELEY, Calif. — The International Monetary Fund, many say, has had a good crisis. As recently as three years ago, many observers thought that the Fund had outlived its usefulness and should be closed down. Since then, it has intervened in Hungary, Latvia, Iceland and Ukraine, among other crisis-stricken...
BUSINESS / U.K. JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Mar 26, 2010

Voter behavior holds key to political system change

Six months have passed since the Democratic Party of Japan ousted the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party from power. But whether there will be a fundamental change to the nation's political system will depend not just on the lawmakers but on the behavior of voters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 26, 2010

'Konchu Tantei Yoshida Yoshimi (Insect Detective yoshimi yoshida)'

A lot of kids go through a bug phase, when dragonflies, fireflies and butterflies seem absolutely fascinating. But the Japanese carry bug love to heights unknown to the underage ant farmers of my native Ohio, a love that puzzled me when I first came here, since about the only bugs I normally encountered...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 26, 2010

The colorful visions of a perpetual tourist

Beneath a hazy moon, a party is in full swing at a mountainside terrace overlooking the endless twinkling lights of a city that may or may not be Los Angeles.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2010

Record fiscal '10 budget enacted

The ruling bloc enacted the fiscal 2010 budget Wednesday, clearing the way to reflect the Democratic Party of Japan's campaign vows while cranking out an unprecedented ¥44.3 trillion in new bonds.
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2010

From hope to disenchantment

Just six months have passed since the Sept. 16 inauguration of the Hatoyama administration. In his first policy speech, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pledged to do his utmost to build a nation truly based on the sovereignty of the people, and to "change the history" of the nation. There was a tangible...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2010

A crisis of understanding

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Few economists predicted the current economic crisis, and there is little agreement among them about its ultimate causes. So, not surprisingly, economists are not in a good position to forecast how quickly it will end, either.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2010

Rudd stakes job on health care

SYDNEY — It's a big gamble, but Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is ready to take it. He will go into an election on the strength of his stance on, of all things, health care.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Mar 16, 2010

Political hopeful eyes tax law changes

Citizens of the United States living overseas of working age are required to file a U.S. Internal Revenue Service tax form every year, and if they have incomes, may have to pay U.S. income taxes, on top of any levies they also face in their place of residence.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 14, 2010

Untamed past taken by the tail

Jid Lee, now a professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University, begins this memoir with the tale of the killing of her great-great-great-great- great-great grandmother by a tiger. A Buddhist monk predicted the death, saying it would bring rewards to her descendants. Her "sacrifice" is the touchstone...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2010

Non-English schools hope for aid

Private international high schools where English is not the language of instruction are hoping they will be eligible for planned annual subsidies of ¥120,000 per student, according to school officials.

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