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COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2010

War epics on screen skip mass slaughter of civilians

SAN FRANCISCO — Does the history diet fed to Americans by Hollywood promote an unhealthy national memory? The latest screen epic about American heroism in World War II — the HBO miniseries "The Pacific" — is clouded by an unintended irony.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 4, 2010

Eikaiwa on the ropes after fall of Geos

RICHARD SMART Special to The Japan Times A chain of English conversation schools is closed down. Thousands of employees are left worrying whether they will get paid or keep their jobs. Students are told refunds will not be given on advance payments for lessons. G.communication steps in to pick up the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 2, 2010

He's unusual, so why not just kill him

In a review of the book "Shikei de Ii desu" ("The Death Sentence Is OK With Me") that appears in the Feb. 26 issue of Kinyobi, critic Tatsunori Yagashiwa asks if a society that "disregards illness" can properly judge criminal suspects.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2010

Tabloid tracks security chief's Diet dorm 'trysts'

Drained by a chain of political money scandals, the Democratic Party of Japan-led coalition came under a fresh attack Thursday by a weekly magazine that accused the chairman of the National Public Safety Commission of shirking his duties by having an "inappropriate tryst" with a woman he is dating.
BUSINESS / U.K. JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Mar 26, 2010

Voter behavior holds key to political system change

Six months have passed since the Democratic Party of Japan ousted the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party from power. But whether there will be a fundamental change to the nation's political system will depend not just on the lawmakers but on the behavior of voters.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2010

Half-year on, Hatoyama struggling

It's been six months since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his Cabinet strutted the red-carpet for an inaugural photo session, staging a perfect Hollywood ending to a summer blockbuster election that knocked the Liberal Democratic Party out of almost 50 years of unbroken rule.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 28, 2010

Three LatAm capitals and the Tokyo of 1964

NEW YORK — While visiting three capitals in Latin America on a lecture tour earlier this month, I wondered if Tokyo looked or felt like any of these cities to someone visiting it from New York or a large European city half a century ago.
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2010

Justice finally served

The Yokohama District Court on Feb. 4 ruled that five now-deceased men, three of them journalists, were falsely charged in a case known as the Yokohama Incident, which is regarded as the worst example of wartime free-speech suppression, and ordered the government to pay compensation to six relatives...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Dec 23, 2009

One step at a time — sumo needs to change

As 2009 draws to a close, the sport of sumo can look back on a year largely free from scandal. Pleasing perhaps for many of the conservative elements in and around the sport, but 2010, could well prove the year in which relative young bloods in the ruling stablemaster elite take steps towards advancing...
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2009

Hatoyama's talk of 'equal' ties leaves U.S. in dark

Japan and the United States need to rethink their relationship and expand their ties from a narrow alliance to a partnership that can deal with a broad range of global challenges, American foreign policy experts said in a recent symposium in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2009

North Korea's will to talk

Meeting with a special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao in Pyongyang last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il expressed his willingness to resolve problems related to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through bilateral and multilateral talks.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2009

Human-trafficking not addressed: U.N. envoy

Japan needs to make greater efforts to stop being a destination for human-trafficking and swiftly ratify the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which outlaws the practice as well as migrant-smuggling, visiting U.N. Special Rapporteur Joy Ngozi Ezeilo said Friday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 12, 2009

'Campaign' star no longer life of the party

Takafumi Horie, the former CEO of Livedoor Inc., has nothing to do with the documentary "Campaign," which had a special public screening at the Rise X theater in Shibuya the morning of June 30. However, the subject of the movie, politics, is close to his heart, so he agreed to discuss it with the film's...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jun 10, 2009

Newton heads class in inaugural Top 20 list

The bj-league hit the nail on the head by naming Ryukyu Golden Kings center Jeff Newton the MVP of the 2008-09 regular season and the playoffs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 29, 2009

From dust-gathering tapes to the digital age

Walkman brand still standing: Sony's latest additions to the once-venerable Walkman brand, the NW-X1050 and NW-X1060 (released last week), base their appeal on a wide range of features for watching video and playing music. Each of the pair sports a 3-inch OLED touch-screen display, which has a 432×240-pixel...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 14, 2009

'A battle for Japan's future'

Despite being Japan's most densely populated area, Warabi rarely causes a blip on the national media radar.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2009

Calderon couple to exit in April; daughter to stay

A Filipino couple who lost their long fight against a deportation order have decided to leave their 13-year-old Japan-born daughter behind when they return to the Philippines in April, their lawyer said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2009

Future of 'anime' industry in doubt

After graduating from Tokyo Animator College, Yuko Matsui began working at a midscale animation production agency.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Feb 6, 2009

Getting a glimpse behind the mask

It happens in Japanese cities every winter and spring — the mask attack.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 9, 2008

Plastic surgery, ethical doctors and disability discrimination in public schools

Cosmetic-makeover show "Beauty Colosseum" (Fuji, Tues., 7 p.m.) returns to the airwaves this week with a two-hour special that features examples of some of the newest technological advances in plastic surgery.
EDITORIALS
Nov 1, 2008

Economic damage control

Prime Minister Taro Aso on Thursday evening announced a ¥26.9 trillion economic stimulus package in an effort to minimize damage to the Japanese economy from the global financial crisis. The current economic turmoil could have a devastating effect on people's lives. As Mr. Aso said, "The economy is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 30, 2008

Tokyo film competition rewards tantalizing tales

When I was at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea a few weeks ago, I discussed the Tokyo International Film Festival with some journalists, who disagreed with my assertion that TIFF's Competition section was a dumping ground for movies that couldn't make it at other film festivals. They...
COMMENTARY
May 9, 2008

How to succeed in Burma with a practical approach

NEW DELHI — Such is the tragedy that Burma symbolizes that, in one week, it has been hit by new U.S. sanctions and by a tropical cyclone that left thousands dead.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell