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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 17, 2008

Up close with images of faith

W ith its current exhibition of National Treasures from Yakushi-ji Temple, the Tokyo National Museum is offering a not-to-be-missed opportunity to see masterpieces of ancient Buddhist and Shinto art. For the first time ever, they are being displayed in a museum so that they can be studied much more closely...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 8, 2008

Dancing with the devil over 'Yasukuni'

One of the great mysteries of life in Japan is the presence of the ultra-right. Loud, threatening and occasionally lethal, the shaven-headed patriots seem immune to police powers. "Why doesn't someone do something about those guys," is a fairly common response by the first-time foreign visitor. A strong...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 17, 2008

Gilberto wavers from the family script

Her albums of sultry, sunny bossa nova and pop have beguiled and seduced millions of listeners. But, woken by The Japan Times after a meager few hours' sleep, Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto is struggling to put on a brave face.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2007

Russia's role as the 'awkward partner'

MOSCOW — The greatest disappointment of the postcommunist era has been the failure of the West — particularly Europe — to build a successful relationship with Russia.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2007

Nanjing survivor wins ¥4 million in libel suit

," the court said. Xia welcomed the ruling, telling reporters that Higashinakano "lied and spread wrongful information" in his publication. "Higashinakano is an insolent man," she said after the ruling.
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Oct 18, 2007

The horror of war cannot be forgotten

Tenth in a series
COMMENTARY
Oct 4, 2007

Can Fukuda improve ties with China?

HONG KONG — China and Japan celebrated the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations on Saturday with glittering diplomatic receptions and an exchange of congratulatory messages by leaders of the two countries.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2007

Tokai tasked with continuing education reforms

Fukuda to rebuild the education system," the 59-year-old Lower House member from Hyogo Prefecture said Wednesday. "As education is a pillar supporting a nation, I support this direction." The ministerial post, which Tokai assumed on Tuesday, is the lawmaker's first in a 21-year career. Begun under Abe,...
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2007

Itochu chief Sejima, ex-war strategist, dead at 95

poses with Toshio Doko (center), then chairman of the government's second ad hoc council for the promotion of administrative reform, in Tokyo's Nagatacho district in June 1986. KYODO PHOTO
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 1, 2007

The honorable language

Whenever the work and weariness of life fills my house with gloom, the one sure way to drive away the clouds and ring in the laughter is this:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 28, 2007

The blame game

We live in interesting times. With the shortage and high cost of domestic labor, the Japanese government has brought over record numbers of cheap foreign workers. Even though whole industrial sectors now depend on foreign labor, few publicly accept the symbiosis as permanent. Instead, foreigners are...
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Aug 21, 2007

Censors unable to hide defeat: China escapee

In April 1945, Yukika Sohma and her four small children boarded a packed train in Mudanjiang in Manchuria bound for the port of Rajin in what is today North Korea. From there, the family took a crowded ship to Niigata Prefecture, then another train to Fukushima Prefecture to join relatives.
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Aug 15, 2007

Surrender spared a young, doubting kamikaze

If Masamichi Shida, 80, had known a bit more about the world back in 1942, he might never have become a kamikaze.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 9, 2007

The hidden treasures of Shikoku revealed in Ueno

Kotohira Shrine — popularly known as Konpira-san — is one of the main religious centers on the island of Shikoku. Until three bridges were built during recent decades to connect the island and the mainland — and ruin the previously magical scenery — Shikoku was remote and mysterious, a Shangri-La...
Reader Mail
Aug 5, 2007

Fujimori had duel nationality

Some Japan Times articles on former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (who unsuccessfully ran for an Upper House seat in last Sunday's election) have said he was "granted Japanese nationality" in 2000. But this is not true.
EDITORIALS
Jul 22, 2007

Passing of the JCP architect

Mr. Kenji Miyamoto, who died Wednesday at the age of 98, embodied the history of the Japanese Communist Party both before and after World War II. The charismatic leader put the party on a realistic policy path, helping the party gain some influence in Japan's politics.
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2007

Groom Japan's gifted students

On April 11, the public broadcaster NHK's program "Close-up Gendai (Current Affairs)" took up the issue of the International Science Olympiads (ISOs) for middle- and high-school students. The competition tests knowledge in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, astronomy and other areas...
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2007

Restoring the military's honor

I was disappointed by two recent moves by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration to whitewash Japan's war responsibility, although I was not really surprised. After all, Abe comes from the most conservative faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, as did his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi....
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2007

Battle for textbook accuracy

The education ministry has publicized the screening results for new textbooks, most of which are scheduled for use at junior and senior high schools starting in April 2008. Conspicuous is the government's efforts to impose its historical view of the mass suicides among Okinawan residents during the Battle...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2007

Abe should be looking forward, not back

HONOLULU -- What was he thinking? That is the question most Japan-watchers grappled with following Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's fumbled questions about the imperial Japanese government's role in recruiting "comfort women" during World War II. His responses came close to undoing the progress he...
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2007

Mr. Abe's trivial pursuit

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent statements on the Japanese military's use of "comfort women" during the war years trivializes the real issue. By focusing on whether Japanese soldiers used physical force to recruit young Asian women into a form of sex slavery, he shifts attention from the government...
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2007

Abe firm: 'coercion' not proved

The resolution submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives calling on Japan to apologize for forcing women into sexual slavery in the 1930s and 1940s is based on misconceptions, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday.
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2007

Japanese publishers accountable?

Regarding the Feb. 23 article "Mag on foreigner crime not racist: editor": I would like to comment on editor Shigeki Saka's remark that publisher Eichi's special magazine edition "Shocking foreigner crime: the underground file" does contain "a little bit of extreme expressions for commercial purposes."...

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