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Japan Times
CULTURE
Jan 3, 2008

Hot tickets: Art

Twilight of the Turbulent Gods Long known for photographs in which he transforms himself into Western culture's feminine icons — from Mona Lisa to Marilyn Monroe — Yasumasa Morimura decided two years ago it was time to tackle the male "realm of politics and war."
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2008

What the U.S. presidential hopefuls see when they look East

OSAKA — The Iowa caucus kicks off Thursday in what is expected to be a hard-fought battle for the U.S. presidency. The November election itself will end the era of George W. Bush and offer the victor a chance to reshape America's role internationally.
Reader Mail
Jan 1, 2008

Hope for moral recovery in 2008

I would like to write a few lines of appreciation to The Japan Times for keeping our interest keen and alive in observing the conduct of our fellow citizens, both good and bad. As the high priest of Kiyomizu Temple (Kyoto) lamented last month, the Japanese should feel ashamed that 2007 has been symbolized...
EDITORIALS
Jan 1, 2008

A year of opportunity

While many of the trends that created anxiety in 2007 will continue, the new year holds considerable promise and opportunity. The arrival of new faces on the international political scene offers hope for new choices and new policies.
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Dec 29, 2007

Distance fails to dent couple's relationship

David Backof, a native of Miami, was a college student in New Orleans when his friend suggested they apply together for teaching jobs in Japan. Not knowing what he wanted to do after graduation, he agreed.
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2007

Drain of public trust in 2007

In the past year, Japan has been rocked by political turmoil — especially the devastating defeat of the ruling coalition in the July 29 Upper House election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's abrupt resignation in September and Mr. Yasuo Fukuda's ascent to power. An attempt to form a grand coalition between...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WITNESS TO WAR
Dec 28, 2007

Student nurse recalls horror of Okinawa fighting

Thirteenth in a series
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2007

Japan sizes up 'nonnuclear' Iran

OSAKA — A recent report by 16 U.S. intelligence agencies that concluded Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003 is likely to present new opportunities and challenges to Japan, whose relations with Tehran have blown hot and cold over the past decade.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2007

Christmas letter to Pope Benedict XVI

HONG KONG — Until three years ago, you had a well-earned reputation as the fierce watchdog of the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. You were nicknamed "God's Rottweiler."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 23, 2007

Oh, to be American — with God on Your side

The administration of George W. Bush, with its faith-based mission, is seen by many as a radical departure from the main- stream of American politics. But in fact it is no more than a continuation, in a mildly extreme form, of what has gone before. Bush has changed the typeface, but not the layout, on...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2007

Diet unites to tighten politicians' funding rules

With money scandals marring the image of lawmakers, the Diet passed a bill Friday to increase the transparency of political funding by obliging them to disclose all expenses other than salaries.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2007

Galileo regains its wings

The European Union has agreed to proceed with Galileo, a satellite navigation project designed to rival the GPS system of the United States. The project has been fraught with difficulties, primarily squabbles about how to divide the spoils among the consortium of states backing the effort. Those problems...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2007

Fascist currents in the EU mainstream

LONDON — On a cold wet November evening the dreamy spires of Oxford University became the unlikely setting for a new front line between the organization Unite Against Fascism and the far-right British National Party (BNP).
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2007

Fukuda seeks set law on SDF deployments

Japan needs a permanent law to allow the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces overseas so they can carry out peace activities whenever requested, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Friday.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 14, 2007

Punk goes to The Dogs

The last time a gang of degenerate Detroit punks came to Japan, they sparked a near riot, with thousands of fans storming the stage. That was at the Fuji Rock Festival this summer, and those responsible were the re-formed Stooges.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 14, 2007

'Les filles du botaniste'

Banned in China as "unsuitable for viewing," "Les filles du botaniste (The Botanist's Daughters — released in Japan as 'Chugoku no Shokubutsugakusha no Musumetachi')" is a luscious, languid tale of forbidden love in 1980s China.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 13, 2007

Freed by the war

Nationalism — especially in the Japanese context — routinely gets a bad press.
Reader Mail
Dec 9, 2007

Japanese seem easy to brainwash

I agree with Jeffrey Snow's remarks in his Dec. 2 letter, "The media's view of foreigners" -- about the media's successful role in brainwashing the Japanese public about immigrant foreigners. Politics, the media and the public are awash in mistaken notions about foreign crime, the relationship between...
COMMENTARY
Dec 7, 2007

Cagey political fundraising

LONDON — Prime Minister Gordon Brown continues to have a difficult time. His problem arises from the need for funds to run the Labour Party.
Reader Mail
Dec 6, 2007

Tired of the same old commentary

There are too many "multi-commentators" on Japanese TV programs. I'm talking about people who comment on various subjects. Are they experts on all of these subjects?
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2007

Sarkozy's grand bargain

WASHINGTON — Think of it always. Speak of it never.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2007

High tensions in EU's Low Countries

PRAGUE — Belgium and the Netherlands, two founding members of the European Union, are increasingly divided about what that project now means. The EU's Reform Treaty is now the focus of that dispute, but its roots go deeper. At one point, according to press reports, the row became so serious that French...
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2007

A victory for Mr. Putin

In Sunday's election for the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, President Vladimir Putin's party was set to gain more than two thirds of the chamber's 450 seats, enough to revise the Constitution. With Mr. Putin running as the lead candidate of United Russia, the election result represents...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2007

Rudd and Asia's security

SYDNEY — Kevin Rudd has been swept into power after 6 percent of the voters swung to the Australian Labor Party. With domestic issues dominating the contest, the Howard government's unpopular industrial relations policies became the focus of discontent and a central argument for political change.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2007

The return of Aussie Labor

SYDNEY — A clean sweep across Australia ensures that old-style conservative government is out for at least the next three years, possibly the next decade. The Australian Labor Party now rules, not only in Canberra but in every state and territory.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 2, 2007

Japanese intellectual crosscurrents

The Scars of War: Tokyo during World War II: Writings of Takeyama Michio, edited and translated by Richard H. Minear. Lanham, M.D.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 207 pp., 2007, $24.95. (cloth) Michio Takeyama (1903-1984) was one of many 20th-century intellectuals who in the course of their life...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 2, 2007

Forever passing on ancient secrets of strategy

The Art of War: Sun Zi's Military Methods, foreword by Arthur Waldron. New York: Columbia University Press, 208 pp., with frontispiece, 2007, $19.95 (cloth) Here is a new translation of the sixth-century-B.C. Chinese military manual that has been long seen as the definitive work on strategies and tactics....
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2007

Labor wins by a Rudd-slide

WATERLOO, Ontario — Poor John Howard. Reckless on climate change, clueless in Iraq, fickle on civil liberties, mean to migrants and minorities, ruthless toward the workers — and now jobless. He also was set to lose the Parliament seat he has represented since 1974, the first sitting prime minister...
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2007

Upbeat band of moderates keep the faith

BALI, Indonesia — A bad idea can sometimes illuminate the darkest landscape of truth with brilliant flair in a way that mere fact cannot. Consider, for example, the idea that Islam is incompatible with democracy. It's a really bad idea, but it can serve a very good purpose.

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