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JAPAN
Jan 27, 2009

Diet poised to OK second extra budget

The Diet was set Monday to approve over the strong protests of opposition parties a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 that includes Prime Minister Taro Aso's controversial ¥2 trillion cash handout.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 25, 2009

A herring fishery shows that the big picture can be elusive

Nearly all the herring roe now used to make the Japanese new-year delicacy kazunoko comes from North America's west coast. The ocean-living herring go there in huge numbers to spawn in March, and are met by ranks of predators, including cormorants, terns and gulls, bald eagles, ospreys, dogfish sharks,...
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2009

Cabinet OKs diluted tax reform bill

Prime Minister Taro Aso got a little breathing room Friday after the Cabinet approved his modified tax reform bill, which now offers an open-ended clause for a future consumption tax hike, while mending an internal rift over the issue in his Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY
Dec 8, 2008

Mumbai and Kashmir: What goes around, comes around

We were all shocked, rightly, by the Islamist attacks in Mumbai. But how many or us were equally shocked by earlier reports about the discovery of unmarked graves in Kashmir?
Reader Mail
Dec 7, 2008

'Civilian control' misinterpreted

Regarding the Nov. 28 article "SDF's rise in '90s behind Tamogami's challenge": I'd like to point out that "civilian control" has been wrongly interpreted — by the media, government bureaucrats, politicians and the like in Japan — ever since the end of World War II to curtail the freedom of speech...
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 2008

Opposition to dam plan

The governors of Osaka, Kyoto, Shiga and Mie prefectures have called on the government to cancel its plan to build a dam on the Daido River, part of the Yodo River system, in Shiga Prefecture. They said its priority is low and that the dam should not be included in a development program to construct...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 17, 2008

LDP split on when to fight

A serious schism has developed within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Taro Aso between those who demand an early general election and those who favor waiting for the political and economic situation to improve so that the party has a better chance of winning.
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2008

Mr. Obama wins

The senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, made history Tuesday when he was elected the 44th president of the United States. The scale and sweep of his victory are nothing short of breathtaking: Not only did he win a landslide in the electoral college, but he rode a Democratic wave into Congress. He should...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 21, 2008

How well does Japan look after the needs of its disabled population?

JAPAN
Sep 23, 2008

Aso elected LDP leader in landslide

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party chose Taro Aso as its 23rd president Monday, hoping to regain public popularity and win the next general election.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 23, 2008

Readers get last word on 'gaijin' tag

The Community Page received another large batch of e-mails in response to Debito Arudou's followup Sept. 2 (Sept. 3 in some areas) Just Be Cause column on the use of the word "gaijin." Following is a selection of the responses.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2008

Self-styled hawk Aso displays a dovish side on foreign policy

Following back-to-back prime ministerial resignations by conservative star Shinzo Abe and political dove Yasuo Fukuda, where does the new president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party rate on the hawk-dove scale?
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2008

Forum addresses public's aversion to China

Chinese and Japanese political, economic and academic leaders shared their apprehensions about the ever-growing aversion to China among the Japanese public when they met for a two-day forum in Tokyo starting Tuesday.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 10, 2008

War and reconciliation: a tale of two countries

On July 7, 2008, officers of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force visited Nanjing, the ancient capital of China, for an artillery demonstration — a visit barely mentioned in the Chinese media, even though it was the first time Japanese soldiers returned to the scene of the crime — the Nanjing massacre...
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 2008

An outbreak of nationalism

The issue of Scottish nationalism has again come to a head, and is raising serious political issues for all of Britain. The situation has been sparked by the outcome of a recent parliamentary by-election which, to general surprise, the Scottish Nationalist candidate won.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2008

Euroskeptics, come out and have your say

BRUSSELS — The European Union has no coherent strategy on many issues. It has only sketchy economic policies toward Russia; ambitions, but no game plan, to become a player in the Middle East; and, despite its original leadership on the Kyoto Protocol, no successor program on climate change.
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 10, 2008

Home front baggage cramps leaders

TOYAKO, Hokkaido — The Group of Eight leaders headed for home Wednesday evening after wrapping up their three-day annual summit.
Reader Mail
Jun 22, 2008

Give guest workers a set contract

Regarding Nick Wood's June 12 letter, "Whiff of hypocrisy in gate-tending," which referred to my June 5 letter on foreign workers ("Hold guest workers to a timeline"): Wood uses rather emotive language such as guest workers being "sent packing when their contracts expire."
COMMENTARY
Jun 21, 2008

Security versus freedom

How to maintain a fair balance between national and individual security and traditional freedoms and human rights is an important political issue in Britain. We have been forced to accept increasing intrusion into our private lives by government agencies. Some fear we are living in a world similar to...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2008

With Europe waiting, Ireland votes on treaty

MAYNOOTH, Ireland — On Thursday, Irish voters will vote on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, the instrument designed to improve the efficiency and legitimacy of the now 27-member bloc.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2008

Quake warms Japan-China ties

The Sichuan earthquake disaster has highlighted many changes in China, such as its willingness to accept outside aid in contrast to the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, when Beijing insisted on self-reliance and refused all offers of assistance.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 14, 2008

D'Antoni not the solution for troubled Knicks

NEW YORK — "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.'' — Albert Einstein
EDITORIALS
Apr 27, 2008

Ruling restricts free speech

The Supreme Court's Second Petit Bench on April 11 found three antiwar activists guilty of trespassing when they entered a housing compound of the Self-Defense Forces in Tachikawa, Tokyo, in January and February 2004 to distribute leaflets urging SDF personnel and their family members to oppose the deployment...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2008

Kamei seeks to undermine death penalty

Japanese politicians are generally not very vocal when it comes to their views on capital punishment, mainly because a large majority of the public supports the death penalty.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2008

Mixing sports and politics

PARIS — "Do not mix sports and politics!" That defiant cry from China's rulers to the threat of a boycott of this summer's Beijing Olympic Games does not stand the test of reality. Sport and politics have always been closely linked.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2008

Taiwan politics: Back to the good old days under the KMT

HONOLULU — Surprises and exciting finishes are the rule in Taiwan's elections. In the months before the presidential election on March 22, Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Ma Ying-jeou led Democratic Progress Party (DPP) candidate Frank Hsieh Chang-ting in public opinion polls by as much as 20 percent,...
Reader Mail
Apr 3, 2008

Data seem to contradict argument

I read the March 30 letter "What soldiers' criminal acts convey" with great interest as it was from a Japanese Okinawan. This is what I retain from the statistics offered by the author:
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2008

Deterrence fails in a prison with no key

PRINCETON, New Jersey — Every day in the Gaza Strip, strategic deterrence — the inhibition of attack by fear of punishment from superior military power — is being put to the test. The escalating spiral of violence by Israel and Gazan militants indicates not only that deterrence is failing, but...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami