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COMMENTARY
Nov 18, 2007

Stoking democracy in a Muslim giant

BALI, Indonesia — Do you like big-time success stories? There may be a quiet one in the making here that almost no one knows about, aside from the neighbors. And it's an important story at this early stage, even if the political tale's ending cannot honestly be forecast.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2007

Aussies eye painless change

SYDNEY — A conservative coalition that has governed Australia for over a decade under Prime Minister John Howard faces a severe test ahead of next week's national election.
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2007

The fusillade against China

In some ways China is not my favorite country. I once went to some trouble to learn its language. I have often had to court rightwing hostility for trying to explain its foreign policies in less than demonic terms. Back in 1971 I even organized, single-handedly and over Canberra's opposition, an Australian...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2007

Restoring the innocence of childhood

With just a few days before International Children's Day (Nov. 20), it is high time to ponder the issues in the leadup to the event. This day is marked to commemorate globally the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was signed by the United Nations on Nov. 20, 1989, and celebrated as Children's...
Reader Mail
Nov 11, 2007

Appalling conditions at zoo

We live in Canada and vacation in Japan often -- my wife is Japanese. I am greatly impressed by Japan -- the culture, the people, the technology and the high standard of living. But as with any other country, not everything is perfect.
EDITORIALS
Nov 10, 2007

Hooked on hired help

Blackwater USA, a private security company, is undergoing unprecedented scrutiny following the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis earlier this year. The investigation has revealed that this was only the most recent in a string of incidents that demonstrates horrific indifference to the violence perpetrated...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2007

East Timor need not follow Myanmar

MANILA — East Timor, now known as Timor-Leste, is the world's newest democracy. It may have a population of less than 1 million, but it has a proud, heroic history and a rich culture built up over centuries of diverse ethnic and colonial influences.
Reader Mail
Nov 8, 2007

Tired old cultural conflict

Regarding the Nov. 2 Associated Press article "American sues Dentsu USA over brothel outing": This "American" gentleman has bigger issues within himself. I have seen this attitude before -- the "shock" that Anglos show when their Japanese counterparts take them out at night, whether it be to a brothel,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2007

Time for Musharraf to go

Waterloo, ONTARIO — For outsiders as for Pakistanis, the choice is between worse and worst: a militantly Islamic, 160 million strong, nuclear-armed failed state at the strategic crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. Pakistan's fate has rested historically on the three A's: Allah,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2007

Three relationships the U.S. must tend to

LOS ANGELES — Three of the largest pieces in the sprawling jigsaw puzzle known as Asia are, of course, China, India and Japan. The first is the most populous country on Earth, the second is the most populous democracy and the third is the world's second-biggest economy — and (theoretically) chief...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Nov 7, 2007

Pride towers amid ongoing woes

In 1669, the Ainu leader Shakushain, who rose up and united the Ainu in rebellion against Japanese invaders, was called on to observe a truce, and invited to a banquet in his honor. The Matsumae clan, who had established a foothold on the island then called Ezo, now Hokkaido, by building a castle in...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 6, 2007

Nova's crash: readers respond

Following are responses from readers on the collapse of language school chain Nova Corp. and last week's Zeit Gist article, "Nova crash adds to 'eikaiwa' wage woes":
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2007

Nova burns out

The tragedy of the English-teaching company Nova is a gripping and revealing one. That students should have their fees returned and teachers and staff be given their salaries should go without saying. That the company had serious management and leadership problems should be equally obvious. Still, the...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 4, 2007

Who'd trust conservatives to conserve the countryside?

Farmers in many countries are icons of their nation's ethos. But "American Gothic," Grant Wood's famed 1930s painting of a gaunt, stoic-looking farming couple complete with pitchfork, is by no means the whole story. In fact, today it is not even part of it.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 3, 2007

Hillman bids farewell to Fighters

NAGOYA — The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have hired a proven winner in Masataka Nashida to manage the team next year. That's good because the Trey Hillman era will be a tough act to follow.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2007

Activists comfort dying dolphins

Opponents of Japan's annual dolphin slaughter have taken their campaign to a new level of confrontation by paddling into the bloody waters off a western killing cove to comfort animals moments before their deaths.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 2, 2007

Soul goes Hi-Tek with Derrick May

"Basically I'm trying to save the world from bad . . . soulless music in whatever form that may be," 44-year-old DJ Derrick May says on his Web site. So its pretty safe to say there will be no remixes of Spice Girls songs in his set at the Hi-Tek Soul events to be held Nov. 3 and 11.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Nov 2, 2007

Well-heeled in Chuo Ward

From the opulence of world-renown Ginza emporiums, to the glittering scales on the fish auctioned from slick palettes in Tsukiji market, Chuo Ward wheels and deals precious commodities.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 2, 2007

Oden: Japanese for 'soul food'

There's no need to look at the changing leaves to know what season it is; just walk into your nearest 7-Eleven outlet and sniff. Those trays of oden stewing by the checkout are all you need to know that winter is on its way.
EDITORIALS
Oct 31, 2007

A deal in Manila

As an action film star, Mr. Joseph Estrada was constantly dodging perils. Last week, he made another escape; this time for real. The former president of the Philippines walked out of jail after being amnestied by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. This act of clemency may be more than it seems: It looks...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 30, 2007

Textbook screening — not always on same page

The spotlight has fallen again on textbook screening as people in Okinawa denounce the government's March instruction that publishers delete descriptions about the role the Imperial army played in ordering mass civilian suicides during the Battle of Okinawa.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 30, 2007

What are the plans of Nova's teachers and students?

Jisu OhStudent (South Korea)Nova's closure has made me think that it is better to just make friends so I can exchange culture as well as language with other people. I can't pay for another school.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2007

France suits up as European full-timer

PARIS — When Nicolas Sarkozy became president of France, he declared that his country was back in mainstream Europe. Since then, Sarkozy has thrown himself into the European political fray.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 28, 2007

And the government says: Let them eat rice

When I tuned in to NHK's "Nihon Kore Kara (Japan From Now)" on Oct. 20 to watch a live citizens' debate about Japan's food-security crisis, I felt the issue was a no-brainer. Who could argue against the importance of food security, meaning the self-sufficiency of a country to feed itself? And given the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 27, 2007

Ryozo Tanaka

A question often asked of Professor Ryozo Tanaka is "What made you so keen on English culture and tradition?"
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 26, 2007

Peruvian dining at the Hilton, free-flowing wine at Chinzan-so

Peruvian food, cooking lesson The Hilton Tokyo and the Embassy of Peru are have organizing the event "Peruvian Gourmet & Cultural Promotion — Fascinating Peru," which runs Nov. 2-11.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 26, 2007

Don't go for the gov, go for the good grub

Since comedian-turned-politican Hideo Higashikokubaru was elected governor of Miyazaki Prefecture in January, the previously nondescript, countryside region of 1.14 million people on the southeastern coast of Kyushu, southern Japan, has had its profile dramatically boosted.

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