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Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2009

Aiiku Hospital, too, feeling pinch

Aiiku Hospital, a perinatal care center in Tokyo for high-risk pregnancies widely considered one of the best for expectant mothers, recently applied to the metropolitan government to end its emergency 24-hour status, underlining the serious shortage of doctors to treat pregnant women.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 8, 2009

Language shows the resurgence of being kechi

"Nai sode wa furenai (無い袖は振れない)" was a phrase that an old man in my neighborhood used to say many, many years ago. Whenever anyone within hearing range complained about their lack of money, the cost of living or rising taxes, he pulled out this standby comment as a way of summing up the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2009

'A world without nuclear weapons'

U.S. President Barack Obama has committed his administration to the long-cherished dream of a world without nuclear weapons. In a landmark speech in Prague last weekend, Mr. Obama pledged that the United States would demonstrate "moral responsibility" and lead international efforts toward that goal....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2009

Chavez hails U.S. antinuke stance

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday applauded Barack Obama's promise to lead the world into a future free of nuclear weapons and said he was open to working with the new U.S. president.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2009

Nakasone unbending on launch

Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone continued Tuesday to push for a forceful response to North Korea's launch of what it purports was a satellite, though the likelihood of a fresh U.N. resolution condemning the action is fading in the face of opposition from China and Russia.
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Apr 7, 2009

Kenyan Embassy puts positive spin on charity cause

Impoverished children, war-torn homes, towns ravaged by epidemics, land devastated by floods and droughts — these are some of the most powerful images of Africa, and also the most commonly used to encourage charity donations. But, organizers of a fundraising event for Kenyan children late last month...
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2009

Step toward destabilization

North Korea on Sunday launched what it claims to be a communications satellite. The first stage of the rocket fell in the Sea of Japan, and the second stage fell in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after flying over the Tohoku region. It is regrettable that Pyongyang went ahead with the launch in defiance...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 5, 2009

Dead ends, about turns abound in the politics of roads

About a year ago, the government was all in a lather about extending the gasoline tax. Local governments and the ruling coalition, not to mention interested bureaucracies, wanted to continue the tax because they said the revenues were necessary to build more roads. Opposition parties were against the...
Reader Mail
Apr 5, 2009

Launch watch worsens anxiety

Like the 1998 test-firing of a long-range Taepodong 1 missile through Japanese airspace and the 2004 test-firing of a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan, the reverberations of North Korea's planned rocket launch this month have not only caused tensions with its Asian neighbors, especially Japan,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 5, 2009

Deciphering 'A Page of Madness'

Teinosuke Kinugasa's "A Page of Madness" ("Kurutta Ichipeiji," 1926) was long thought lost. Only some 75 years later did the discovery of the missing negative allow the picture to be finally viewed by the present generation. At the same time there emerged a critical need to evaluate it because it seemed...
Reader Mail
Apr 5, 2009

Attack on Ozawa politically suspect

The arrest of Democratic Party of Japan party leader Ichiro Ozawa's secretary reminds me of what happened to Malaysia's de facto opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who was arrested in 1999 and again last year under sodomy laws.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2009

MSDF shoos away suspected pirates

A Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer scared off apparent pirate vessels approaching a Singapore-registered tanker Friday off Somalia, the Defense Ministry said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 5, 2009

Gates, gardens and . . . war

"Ohayoooo gozaimasu!" I greeted my 22-year-old nephew, Chris, using my foot to nudge him awake on the first morning of his 10-day visit to Japan. "What do you say we walk around Ginza?"
Reader Mail
Apr 5, 2009

English aptitude of the Japanese

Hiroaki Sato's March 29 article, "Hold the SOS call on the Japanese language," is an insightful article. Japan's case is different from that of the Indian subcontinent where, due to various reasons, English has become an absolute necessity. Take a language like Bengali, which has almost twice the number...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Apr 5, 2009

Porn actresses pick up prizes

You've come a long way, baby, and in such a short time.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2009

Venezuela's Chavez angling for oil project investment

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he'll seek investment agreements this week during his trip to Japan and China to secure financing for oil projects in the South American country. Chavez is making stops in Asia and the Middle East to deepen economic ties after a plunge in oil prices forced him to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2009

Horie says he, Okubo both were railroaded

Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie was back in the media spotlight Thursday, drawing a parallel between what he said was the unfair treatment he received from prosecutors and the recent indictment of a top aide to Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 3, 2009

Bookstore offers a place for political debating

"You have to fight your way in with a knife every time you want to talk," said Good Day Books manager Stephen Kott. "A bookstore is a natural venue for something like this."
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2009 PACIFIC LEAGUE PREVIEW
Apr 3, 2009

Lions poised to continue reign in Pacific League

The following is last of a two-part preview for the upcoming Nippon Professional Baseball season. Team-by-team previews of the six Pacific League clubs are listed in order of predicted finish.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 2, 2009

Rabbits forced to fold amid economic crisis

The Seibu Prince Rabbits, an ice hockey team with a 37-year history, is the latest casualty of Japan's economic crises.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2009

K-Line cuts number of car carriers

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., a transporter of cars for Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., will scrap six of its car carriers and return another 11 to owners as it slashes its fleet amid a slump in auto demand.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2009

Will pay gap at Nomura go toxic?

Nomura Holdings Inc. is paying college graduates originally recruited by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. more than twice as much as those it hired on its own, two sources said.

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