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JAPAN
Feb 25, 2010

Politically connect: Twitter use is up

Presumably exhausted from all the heat over his political money scandals, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama recently limited the number of questions he takes from reporters every morning as he leaves his official residence.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2010

No. 1 automaker pitching trust amid the repercussions of recall

As the impact of Toyota Motor Corp.'s massive vehicle recalls to make free repairs unfolds on the world's automobile markets, at issue are not only the irregularities found with the Toyota models concerned but also the company's very systems for handling complaints and managing crises. Consumers are...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 22, 2010

How many factors are driving euro's descent?

The euro's value is falling conspicuously. Compared with the highs in the last quarter of 2009, Europe's unified currency has dropped from around ¥135 to ¥122, and from about $1.52 to roughly $1.37, losing nearly 10 percent against the yen and the dollar. What is causing its fall and where will it...
EDITORIALS
Feb 21, 2010

The last newspaper train

Japan's last "newspaper train" will make its final run in March, ending a long history of Japanese trains serving readers as well as passengers. The JR Sobu Line has carried evening papers from Ryogoku Station to areas in the Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture for many years. The March 12 train, however,...
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2010

Can 'prince' Toyoda cut the mustard?

Toyota President Akio Toyoda, known as "the prince" in Japan, was groomed for years to head the automaker his grandfather founded.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 21, 2010

Truly unique version of the foreigner's tale

Like a Yemenese bride-to-be who first sees the countenance of her fiance in a photo presented by relatives, Rebecca Otowa experienced a presentiment of her future in a black-and-white image of a building, a 350-year-old farmhouse in rural Japan.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2010

Kansai execs fret affairs of the state

KYOTO — Senior business leaders in the Kansai region have long been able to rely on smooth relations with local and central government politicians sympathetic to their causes.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2010

Marines a threat-deterrent benefit: general

The U.S. forces in Okinawa should not be seen as a burden but as a benefit, a top U.S. Marine Corps general said Friday, despite calls from Japanese leaders to move the Futenma air base out of the prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2010

New panel mulls new security parameters

A newly set-up government panel began discussing basic defense policies Thursday, ultimately aiming to revise the National Defense Program Guideline before year's end.
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2010

Debates miss big picture

Liberal Democratic Party leader Sadakazu Tanigaki and Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi had separate one-on-one debates with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in the Diet Wednesday, although the debates were a long time coming. Five months have already passed since the Hatoyama administration began. Such debates...
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2010

Building the best military

What sort of defense capability is now needed and how much can be afforded?
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Feb 18, 2010

Time for Okada to step back and take stock

National team manager Takeshi Okada vowed to get straight back in the saddle after his public dressing-down on Monday. After the beating he has just taken, a period of quiet reflection might be a better option.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2010

Rail CEO to head defense panel

The government announced Tuesday it has set up a panel to revise defense policy, tapping a businessman as chairman to head the team of experts on national security.
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2010

Jobs, wages still a concern

Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) in the October-December quarter increased 1.1 percent in real terms or an annualized 4.6 percent from the previous quarter, marking expansion for three consecutive quarters. GDP for all of 2009 fell 5 percent in real terms from 2008 — the worst contraction since...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 17, 2010

Keep your fūtō out of your mouth at the post office

A fun part of living thousands of miles from family and friends is sending packages home — that is, so long as you know the requisite jargon to communicate at the yūbin kyoku (郵便局, post office).

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past