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JAPAN / BOOSTING THE BIRTHRATE
Jun 2, 2010

Holdout singles stalling birthrate

Japan's low birthrate has accelerated the graying population.
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2010

Heavy blow to Mr. Hatoyama

The Hatoyama administration has been weakened after the prime minister decided to basically keep intact the 2006 Japan-U.S. pact on the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa. Mr. Yukio Hatoyama's dismissal of consumer affairs minister Mizuho Fukushima, who opposed the Futenma decision,...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2010

Hoped-for Chinese stand against North not in cards

Officially, Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing have vowed to keep in close contact over North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean warship, but critics don't expect China to join other countries in adopting a United Nations resolution against Pyongyang.
JAPAN
May 27, 2010

SDP walks a tightrope as it flirts with leaving coalition

When Mizuho Fukushima was re-elected president of the Social Democratic Party in December, she promised to pull the SDP out of the ruling coalition if the Futenma air base was relocated within Okinawa, as called for in a 2006 agreement with the United States.
EDITORIALS
May 23, 2010

Usual tension turns perilous

Northeast Asia has entered a tense and dangerous period. The South Korean government's conclusion that North Korea was responsible for the sinking of one of its navy vessels demands a response. Neither Seoul nor any government can afford to ignore such blatant aggression. But Pyongyang has said any action...
EDITORIALS
May 22, 2010

Business results improving

Most enterprises listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Exchange Market have announced their performances for the business year ended March 31. Increased exports to emerging economies like China and India and cost-reduction efforts have enabled many firms to become profitable — a stark contrast with...
EDITORIALS
May 21, 2010

Familiar name wins in Philippines

There is a timeless quality to Philippine politics. The names in any election are familiar, as are the issues. Yet even in this amberlike world, the most recent presidential election seemed particularly populated by ghosts. In the top slot, Mr. Benigno Aquino III, son of the slain human rights icon and...
JAPAN
May 19, 2010

NPOs' social roles still in stage of infancy

When he set up a nonprofit organization 35 years ago to sell organic vegetables, Kazuyoshi Fujita never expected his pursuit would grow into a big business.
JAPAN / Q&A
May 18, 2010

Referendum law in effect but no amendments eyed

Three years since its Diet passage, the national referendum law takes effect Tuesday, paving the way for amending the Constitution.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 16, 2010

Sense of complacency links Japan to Greek crisis

There's nothing like a good financial meltdown to straighten out your priorities. When it happened in Greece more than a month ago, the Japanese press went over to see whether or not the country's situation had anything to teach Japan. After all, Japan's public debt is much worse than Greece's. In fact,...
JAPAN
May 15, 2010

Hirano to Kagoshima again

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Friday he will again visit Kagoshima Prefecture to try to overcome strong local opposition to the government's plans to partially relocate the operations of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Tokunoshima Island.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2010

Don't write Labour Party off

In an ironic twist, just as the Democratic Party of Japan government is considering importing elements of the Westminster model, British politics begins turning Japanese.
JAPAN
May 13, 2010

Hirano gets Tokunoshima earful during trip to pitch base transfer

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano visited Kagoshima Prefecture Wednesday evening to brief local politicians on the government's hope to partially relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma's operations to Tokunoshima Island.
JAPAN
May 13, 2010

Parties pin poll hopes on sports star power

The summer Upper House election is looking increasingly like an athletic competition as both ruling and opposition parties field sports stars to woo independent voters.

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