Search - 2012

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2012

Ideology's future after the left-right divide falls

The just-concluded French presidential election seemed to suggest that the old left-right divisions are as potent as they have ever been — and certainly in their birthplace. But are they?
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2012

Put Palestine first to stop Iran-Israel posturing

Not long ago, a Dutch journalist interviewed me about the Iranian nuclear question. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has allegedly banned politicians from giving interviews on the subject, so the journalist had no choice but to seek other candidates, perhaps more "intellectual," but with no...
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2012

Let foreign aid leverage development in Egypt

The question that still underlies much thinking about economic development is this: What can we do to kick-start economic growth and reduce poverty around the world?
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2012

Feared anarchy has arrived in Syria

The failure of the Obama administration, its Western allies and several Middle East regional powers to take bolder action to stop the carnage in Syria is often explained by their fear of anarchy.
COMMENTARY
May 9, 2012

Ankle weights on Asia's rise

A favorite theme in international debate nowadays is whether Asia's rise signifies the West's decline. But the current focus on economic malaise in Europe and the United States is distracting attention from the many serious challenges that call into question Asia's continued success.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2012

Sticker price of Toyota's electric RAV4 to be twice as much as gas version

Toyota Motor Corp., the biggest maker of hybrid autos, said its electric RAV4 sport utility vehicle with batteries and motor from Tesla Motors Inc. will cost more than twice as much as the gasoline version.
COMMUNITY
May 8, 2012

A different story: the most-read Zeit Gist articles on our website

The most-viewed Zeit Gist articles on The Japan Times Online since 2007:
JAPAN
May 7, 2012

Japan, 50 African countries agree to beef up antipiracy measures

Japan and around 50 African countries agreed during a two-day ministerial meeting through Sunday in Morocco to cooperate to counter piracy.
CULTURE / Books
May 6, 2012

Mistakes that line a successful road

An Unprogrammed Life: Adventures of an Incurable Entrepreneur, by William H. Saito. John Wiley & Sons, 2012, 241 pp., $24.95 (paperback) William H. Saito has enjoyed many successes in his short career as an information technology entrepreneur, but he is keen to stress the importance of failure.
COMMENTARY
May 3, 2012

Costs of being too responsive to the public will

The Washington of conventional wisdom and the real Washington are two entirely different places.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2012

Let's just say it: Republicans pose an extreme problem

U.S. Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, was recently captured on video asserting that there are "78 to 81" Democrats in Congress who are members of the Communist Party. Of course, it's not unusual for some renegade lawmaker from either side of the aisle to say something outrageous. What made West's...
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2012

Anachronistic historian adds value

Around noon on Saturday, Nov. 23, 1963, almost exactly 24 hours after the assassination in Dallas, while the president's casket lay in the East Room of the White House, Arthur Schlesinger, John F. Kennedy's kept historian, convened a lunch at Washington's Occidental restaurant with some other administration...
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2012

Changing Futenma statement

Japan and the United States on April 27 issued a joint statement — an interim report on the review of the 2006 plan to realign U.S. armed forces in Japan. The statement hints at the possibility of exploring new options concerning the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2012

Is it an Arab spring for new borders?

Two things stand out in the Middle East since the Arab Spring began — one that happened, and one that did not. What happened was that for the first time in modern Arab history, authoritarian regimes and rulers were toppled, or seriously challenged, by popular demonstrations, not — as in the past...
COMMENTARY
Apr 30, 2012

The international path toward self-destruction

The latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that, after allowing for some data uncertainties, world military spending in 2011 as essentially unchanged from that in 2012. This breaks a 13-year-long run of continuous military spending increases. It might be a...
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2012

Officials find Oi split on reactor restarts

Officials from the central government announced they made progress on convincing residents that it is safe to restart two idled reactors at Oi's nuclear plant during a meeting Thursday evening.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2012

BOJ boosts asset buys to tune of ¥5 trillion

The Bank of Japan on Friday eased monetary policy by boosting the size of its asset purchase program by ¥5 trillion, saying the move will "better ensure the return of Japan's economy to a sustainable growth path with price stability."
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2012

METI official talks up Oi reactor restart in Fukui

A visiting official from the industry ministry on Thursday apologized to the town of Oi, Fukui Prefecture, over the government's failure to create a new nuclear watchdog by April 1, but stressed that the town's idled atomic reactors have passed all the requisite safety tests to resume operations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 27, 2012

'I'm Still Here'

You can do just about anything in Hollywood — stints in rehab, wife-beating, being arrested for lewd conduct, or drunk-driving topped off with a few anti-Semitic remarks, to name but a few — but the one thing they'll never forgive you for is spurning stardom. Woe to those such as Mickey Rourke who...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 27, 2012

Staten an island of strength for Jets in inaugural season

With 50 games in the books, the Chiba Jets' first chapter is nearly written.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 27, 2012

Representing Japan at Art Kyoto

In the wake of the recently held Art Fair Tokyo, Kyoto is following up with its own alternative in Art Kyoto. Organizers will, however, eschew the international art fair model seen in Tokyo and do what Kyoto does best — represent Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 27, 2012

Representing Japan at Art Kyoto

In the wake of the recently held Art Fair Tokyo, Kyoto is following up with its own alternative in Art Kyoto. Organizers will, however, eschew the international art fair model seen in Tokyo and do what Kyoto does best — represent Japan.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2012

Stalemate in the Upper House

The Upper House on Friday passed censure motions against Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka and infrastructure and transport Minister Takeshi Maeda. The nonbinding motions were submitted by the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and two smaller parties.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.