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COMMENTARY
Dec 5, 2012

American colleges have free speech on the run

In 2007, Keith John Sampson, a middle-aged student working his way through Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis as a janitor, was declared guilty of racial harassment. Without granting Sampson a hearing, the university administration — acting as prosecutor, judge and jury — convicted...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2012

Sacred India's Chinese flavor

More than a billion small lamps lit the evening sky and hand-held sparkler fireworks added to the dancing light, while firecrackers boomed almost as if a war was going on. In hundreds of millions of homes, people chanted the sacred mantras and called upon the gods to help good defeat evil, and light...
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2012

Rich states' fossil-fuel breaks top climate aid

Rich countries spend five times more on fossil-fuel subsidies than on aid to help developing nations cut their emissions and protect against the effects of climate change, the campaign group Oil Change International said.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2012

Japan's 'no' pressures U.S., China

Japan's rejection of an international treaty on reducing pollution after 2012 is a tactic to put pressure on China and the United States to sign onto a new climate pact, according to Masahiko Horie, the country's ambassador for global environmental affairs.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 4, 2012

Mismatch: Universities on rise but students in decline

Education minister Makiko Tanaka drew immediate flak in early November when she outright refused her advisory panel's recommendation to approve three new universities.
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2012

The politics and insanity of the Cuba embargo

An open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama:
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2012

An open road ahead for soaking America's rich

As a practical matter, the debate over higher taxes is finished. If there's an agreement to avoid the "fiscal cliff," it will almost certainly contain large tax increases mostly or entirely on the wealthy.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 2, 2012

Translated version of famous Hayashi work has its vicissitudes

FLOATING CLOUDS, by Fumiko Hayashi, translated by Lane Dunlop. Columbia University Press, 2012, 303 pp., $25 (paperback) This novel is one of the most famous of female author Fumiko Hayashi's works. The present translation was done by Lane Dunlop, well-known for his earlier translations of works by writers...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 2, 2012

The ever-evolving digital movie world

JAPANESE CINEMA IN THE DIGITAL AGE, by Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano. University of Hawaii Press, 2012, 178 pp., $47 (hardcover) The world film industry, including Japan's, is now completing a changeover from traditional film stock to digital substitutes.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 1, 2012

Vows DPJ made to get in sounded too good to be true

Goshi Hosono, the handsome policy chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, is one of the few politicians who has retained his popularity despite predictions the party is headed for a crushing defeat in the Dec. 16 Lower House election.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Dec 1, 2012

Award-winning European film on tap in Suita

The National Museum of Ethnology in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, will show the award-winning film "The Kid with a Bike," a Franco-Belgian-Italian production, on Dec. 9.
Dec 1, 2012

Making the case for Palestine

Nowhere are the grievances that perpetuate violence and war more evident than they are in Palestine today. But the world's politicians continue to dance around the problem rather than confront it. The recent deadly violence in Gaza is only the latest proof that people living under occupation and siege...
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Dec 1, 2012

Award-winning European film on tap in Suita

The National Museum of Ethnology in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, will show the award-winning film "The Kid with a Bike," a Franco-Belgian-Italian production, on Dec. 9.
COMMENTARY
Nov 30, 2012

China's military crossroads

At a time when China's economy and society are under considerable strain and the country is embroiled in increasingly tense border disputes with its neighbors, the relatively peaceful once-in-a-decade political transition in Beijing has helped deflect attention from the underlying turbulence in the Chinese...
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2012

Export weakening to drag down yen, expert says

The deterioration of Japan's exports will be the driving force behind weakness in the yen, according to Alan Ruskin, global head of Group of 10 foreign-exchange strategy at Deutsche Bank AG in New York.
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2012

Toyota's output sank the most in China strife

Toyota Motor Corp. led declines in Chinese production among Japanese automakers in October as the sovereignty dispute over the Senkaku Islands led to violent demonstrations and a boycott of Japanese products.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2012

To kowtow or cooperate in Asia

When a U.S. president's first overseas trip following his re-election is to Asia, one can be sure that something big is afoot in the region. Indeed, Barack Obama's decision to go first to impoverished and long-isolated Myanmar (Burma) attests to the potency of the changes under way in that country —...
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Nov 28, 2012

Two new viewing options for your collection

With so many different types of screens to choose from, it's a wonderful time for home entertainment these days. Whether you opt for the latest HDTV, or a shiny new tablet computer as your second screen, there's something for everybody depending on your specific needs and preferences.
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2012

As the world grows warmer, concern cools down

A recent report on the humdrum subject of plans to build new coal-burning plants to generate electricity helps to explain why Asia — led by China and India — is now at the epicenter of concern about global warming and climate change.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 28, 2012

Kyushu Basho: Harumafuji less than impressive as Baruto demoted

In the days leading up to the Nov. 11-25 Kyushu Basho in Fukuoka, much of the talk in sumo circles centered on the ozeki trio of Baruto, Kotoshogiku and the forever injured Kotooshu being able to maintain their rank come the January tournament back in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2012

New global energy picture

Anew report hails a crucial shift in the global economy. If current trends continue, the United States will surpass Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer by 2020. This development will not only transform the world's energy picture, but geopolitics as well.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2012

Making the most of Russia's European prospects

In 1966, French President Charles de Gaulle's vision of a Europe "that stretched from the Atlantic to the Urals" was provocative. Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin has advanced an even more ambitious goal: "a common market stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific."
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Nov 27, 2012

Double-A seating power

The AA Stool is the lovely result of a collaboration between Torafu Architects and the Ishinomaki Laboratory, a platform that brings together creators in one of the hardest-hit areas during last year's earthquake and tsunami, Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2012

Something new for China?

Political leadership transitions typically signal either a change in direction or continuity. But the mere prospect of such a transition usually postpones some important political decisions and freezes some economic activity, pending the resolution of the accompanying uncertainty.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2012

Heed history in East Asian territorial disputes

Chinese, South Korean and Japanese diplomats recently took to the podium of the United Nations General Assembly to reassert their countries' positions on the territorial issues surrounding several small islands in the seas of East Asia.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
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