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JAPAN
Aug 7, 2010

Kan issues nonproliferation plea, stands behind three key principles

Following is the full text of a speech by Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday at an annual ceremony commemorating the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima by the United States on Aug. 6, 1945:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 7, 2010

Kamakura expat at one with all Buddhist deities

Mark Schumacher's home in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, requires a journey, both on foot and for the spirit.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2010

Privacy law may face new scrutiny

The government may look into revising the Personal Information Protection Law if some of its provisions are stopping municipalities from ascertaining the status of "missing" centenarians and other pension recipients, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku hinted Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 5, 2010

China's claims make waves

Befitting its status as a rising global power, China says it is the third-largest country in the world, after Russia and Canada, with a land area of about 9.6 million square km. However, although China is a continental giant, it is a maritime minnow compared to other big countries.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 3, 2010

Dying to work: Japan Inc.'s foreign trainees

"The Industrial Trainees and Technical Interns program often fuels demand for exploitative cheap labor under conditions that constitute violations of the right to physical and mental health, physical integrity, freedom of expression and movement of foreign trainees and interns, and that in some cases...
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2010

Historic schools face doom

From August, Chuo Ward in Tokyo will start to razing two "fukko" (revival) elementary schools, and demolish a third one around two years later.
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 2010

Beijing's Asia power play

China's economic and military might has grown in recent years along with its overseas trade and investment. China is becoming an oceanic power with growing clout in the Asia-Pacific region.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2010

Refugee studies forum created

With the number of asylum seekers on the rise, experts on refugee issues have recently launched an interdisciplinary academic organization to promote research in their field while steering public interest.
EDITORIALS
Jul 29, 2010

A year left on analog TV

Less than a year remains before the total switch to terrestrial digital TV broadcasts in Japan. Analog TV broadcasts are scheduled to end July 24, 2011. While preparations for the transition are being pushed, many problems must be solved to ensure a smooth transition.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2010

Lebanon's Hezbollah finds itself in a corner

BEIRUT — The future of Hezbollah, Lebanon's powerful Shiite political and paramilitary organization, has never looked more uncertain. Indeed, given rising tension with Israel and possible indictments of its operatives by the international tribunal investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2010

Pedal faster, not slower

LONDON — Memo to Naoto Kan, David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, and Hu Jintao and Manmohan Singh: Running an economy is like riding a bicycle — if you maintain a good speed, you can make progress; but if you reduce your speed, there is always the danger of losing your balance,...
COMMUNITY / ZEIT GIST: UPDATE
Jul 27, 2010

Talks drag on, teachers fired in Berlitz case

After 20 months of legal wrangling, neither side has managed to snag a win in Berlitz Japan's ¥110 million lawsuit against five teachers and their union, Begunto.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 27, 2010

Ex-students don't want JET grounded

Since 1987, the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program has brought young Westerners — often straight out of college — to Japan to teach English at high schools. But now, Japan's massive public debt and the need to cut costs have put JET in the spotlight.
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2010

No reason not to intervene

The Child Abuse Prevention Law went into force in November 2000. Under a 2004 revision, people are obliged to report to the authorities concerned whenever they come across children with bruises or a feeble build that suggests physical abuse. A 2007 revision enables a court to issue a permit for children's...
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2010

Cooking the planet, not the books

Last year, controversy swirled around British climate researchers after leaked e-mails suggested that they had "cooked the books" on climate research by manipulating evidence, harassing opponents and suppressing dissenting opinions. The uproar triggered several investigations, all of which exonerated...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 25, 2010

A northern odyssey

Komandorskiye Ostrova — the Commander Islands in English — are about as bleak and remote as anywhere imaginable for human habitation. Indeed, the two islands in the group, named Bering and Medny, support only one hardy community of fewer than 1,000 souls in a settlement called Nikolskoye on Bering...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 23, 2010

Post office attempts to reverse non-regular employment trend

Japan Post bucks the trend toward non-regular employees by offering its workers a shot at regular employment.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jul 23, 2010

Players spread gospel in summertime

Players hone their skills on basketball courts near and far in summer months. They also lend a helping hand to youngsters who are learning the game.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 23, 2010

'Seraphine'

When a woman values her art over personal happiness, the result can yield sheer, mesmerizing beauty. Tolstoy wrote that women prevail because of their "ingrained talent" to achieve happiness, but at the same time this talent becomes their downfall in achieving true greatness. Indeed, had Frida Kahlo,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jul 22, 2010

Pharmacist Masaaki Goto

Masaaki Goto, 83, runs a tiny pharmacy in Tokyo. Japan has the highest number of prescriptions per capita in the world and, after the United States, it is the world's second largest pharmaceutical market. There are about 50,000 community pharmacies in the country, and large drug stores and convenience...
EDITORIALS
Jul 21, 2010

The U.N. pulls its punches

It is hard to escape the conclusion that the U.N. Security Council blinked — again. Offered the chance to make a forceful denunciation of the attack on the South Korean naval corvette Cheonan, the council pulled its punches. Three months of intense negotiations yielded a statement that looks good until...
LIFE / Digital
Jul 21, 2010

Bloggers in blue spread their net

Teenagers and marketers aren't the only ones riding the social- media wave — several police departments in Japan have joined in, running their own community blogs to improve communication with residents.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jul 20, 2010

A decade of harassment by Tokyo police

Dear Minister of Justice Keiko Chiba,

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?