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JAPAN
May 16, 2007

ASDF Iraq mission extension gets nod

The House of Representatives approved a two-year extension of the Air Self-Defense Forces' transport mission in Iraq on Tuesday, overcoming criticism of Japan's involvement in the increasingly unpopular war.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2007

Constitution paid for in blood

Sixty years after Japan's Constitution was promulgated, so many Japanese people, including the prime minister, seem to have no knowledge about how our compatriots felt when the war came to an end.
JAPAN / Q&A
May 15, 2007

What follows from passage of Constitution referendum bill?

The Diet on Monday passed a bill to establish procedures for a national referendum to revise the Constitution. The bill was a key agenda item for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a conservative who has repeatedly stressed his intention to revise the Constitution, which was drafted in 1947 under the Allied...
Reader Mail
May 13, 2007

Government's priorities misplaced

Regarding the April 22 article "Japan eyes buying U.S. F-22A, F-15FX fighters," Japan has a budget deficit of 16 percent, a public debt of 176 percent of GDP and an external debt of 150 trillion yen. Despite this, the government -- infatuated with military pomp and kit -- wants to spend a further 1...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2007

Art activist works toward helping spirits flourish

Several years ago, I was privileged to hear the Nubian musician Hamza El Din play at Enkaku-ji temple in Kita Kamakura. The space in which he played was open to the elements, and the sound of rain falling provided an accompaniment to the notes of his instrument, the oud, in a way that still resonates....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 11, 2007

Peace is found in a historic town

Not since my Adidas-donning days in my hometown Croydon (famous as the breeding ground of chavs) in southeast London, have I ridden trams around town, and even then it was only to pick up a Chinese take-away and buy the odd large hoop earring. So, when I visited Nagasaki with a couple of friends, touring...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 10, 2007

Muscling in on the world of showbiz

Some of Japan's top athletes are using their talents to carve out new careers in the theater spotlight — and they have created one of the nation's most successful entertainment exports along the way
Reader Mail
May 9, 2007

Editorial falls short

The April 23 editorial "Progress in abduction probes" is one of the shallowest editorials I have ever read. The editorial simply tells the The National Police Agency's version of its investigation of the 1973 disappearances of a mother and her two children. The NPA has now concluded that the two children...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2007

Constitution protects all: political expert

Political science professor Kang Sang Jung had no interest in the Constitution until the 1980s.
EDITORIALS
May 6, 2007

Kiosks and koban

Two of Japan's most respected institutions — kiosks and koban (police boxes) — have gone empty in recent weeks, upsetting many who regularly depend on them. The shock waves are still reverberating around the country, but especially in Tokyo, where their essential everyday services were reported closed...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 6, 2007

Baseball federation and schools cause student players to suffer

Some scandals shock the public and others don't. The latter type usually involves organizational malfeasance that people suspect is a normal fact of life. However, in some rare cases a scandal of this type will actually strike people in a contradictory way: The purported malfeasance is not a surprise,...
JAPAN
May 5, 2007

Nation's child population declines to new postwar low

Japan's child population has fallen to a record low since the end of World War II as the country's birthrate continues to fall, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
May 4, 2007

Proponents of Article 9 like it just the way it is

Thousands of people gathered Thursday in Tokyo's Hibiya Park to mark the 60th anniversary of the Constitution and to oppose moves by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party to amend it and its war-renouncing Article 9.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 4, 2007

Constitution turns 60; Abe wants change

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe marked the 60th anniversary of the Constitution on Thursday by calling for a bold review of the document to allow the country to take a larger role in global security and foster a revival of national pride.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
May 4, 2007

The sun shines in spiritland

Toshima Ward is rife with zombies and familiar spirits. In the wee hours near the stationopolis of Ikebukuro, pale-faced university students, partied-out salarymen and a host of others wander the streets until the first trains arrive. These are Toshima's innocuous shades; there are others more spine...
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2007

Honoring the Constitution

Sixty years ago, the government and the people celebrated May 3 as the day the current Constitution went into force. In a departure from the Meiji Constitution, which stipulated that the nation "shall be reigned over and governed" by the emperor, the postwar Constitution "proclaims that sovereign power...
JAPAN / CHARTER TURNS 60
May 3, 2007

Proponent of rewriting Article 9 still wants limits

The Constitution marks its 60th anniversary on May 2. This is the first in a series of interviews with politicians and experts on whether or how the charter should be changed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 3, 2007

Water with an extra kick is making splash with consumers

In a country where tap water is safe and the soft drink market is saturated by an incredible variety of products, Japan's mineral water consumption has stayed relatively small.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2007

Photos of preteen girls in thongs now big business

Asuka Izumi was modeling for a DVD in July 2005 when the director asked her to put on a string bikini. She was just 12 years old.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 3, 2007

'I love my contradictions'

One of Hollywood's most beloved actresses talks to The Japan Times about tough times for female-focused movies, her ability to make millions of dollars here in minutes — and the awful truth about eating pork
Reader Mail
May 2, 2007

Blogger editorial disappoints

I was excited to see an editorial about the ascendancy of blogging in Japan . . . until I actually read all of it ("Japan as number-one blogger," April 22). While it could have been an engaging celebration of this boom in people's media, it ended up being a lame and quite bizarre attempt to downplay...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 2, 2007

Japanese firms flock to booming Vietnam

HANOI — Fueled by the latest investment boom, Vietnam is one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
Reader Mail
Apr 29, 2007

Old issues not ready for rest

In his April 18 letter, "Can old issues be put to rest?," B.K. Cottle expresses his disdain for the tendency of Japan to see itself as a victim of World War II. While there is no doubt that this is an irresponsible and morally reprehensible position for Japan to take, given Japan's culpability in the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 29, 2007

Global population is graying

The 2006 revision of the United Nations population estimates and projection recently made public shows that the world population, now 6.67 billion, will reach 9.19 billion in 2050. This increase of 2.52 billion people is equivalent to the world's total population in 1950. During the same period, the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Apr 27, 2007

Melt-Banana take aim again

'It was my first time to kill so it affected me a lot," says Melt-Banana's vocalist Yako, before breaking into a cackle befitting a Shakespearean witch. "But it wasn't a cute bambi. It was a big deer. You told us about (the Sex Pistols song) 'Who Killed Bambi.' It's you who made us keep thinking about...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Apr 25, 2007

'Manga' meets 'keitai': a match made in Japanese technology heaven

We've all been there: squashed onto a rush-hour commuter train with barely enough room to breathe, let alone open up a book to while away the journey; trying desperately to crush a book into an overstuffed backpack before a long trip; or cursing our own lack of foresight while bored at school or work...

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic