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EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2007

Dignity for disabled people

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 13. The convention, which covers rights to education, health, work, cultural activities, etc., is the first human-rights treaty of the 21st century....
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 11, 2007

Vitriol vies with science

For journalists used to the smooth diplomatic hum of the global conference circuit, covering the poisonous annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is akin to being slapped in the face with a slab of week-old minke bacon.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 11, 2007

On the line between East and West

Glory in a Line: A Life of Foujita--the Artist Caught Between East and West, by Phyllis Birnbaum. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006, 332 pp., with photographs. $27.50 (cloth) The line referred to in this excellent biography of the troubled artist, Tsuguharu Fujita (1886-1968), is the "thin line...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 11, 2007

Ft. Myers getting ready for 'Dice-K' and Japanese media

Sportswriter David Dorsey of the Ft. Myers News-Press in Florida is getting ready to work the Boston Red Sox spring training camp in that town. He will be joined by a bevy of reporters and photographers from the various Japanese media there to cover the Daisuke Matsuzaka circus and lefty reliever Hideki...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2007

Shinzo Abe at a crossroads

With media polls showing approval ratings for the Cabinet falling from over 70 percent upon its inauguration four months ago to the lower 40 percent level, the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears to be at a crossroads.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 10, 2007

Tim Hornyak

Freelance writer Tim Hornyak is the author of 'Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots.' He anticipates that the family robot will become a reality in Japan
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 10, 2007

Time custom-designed for that unique experience

It takes Charlie Spreckley no time at all to leave his apartment in Ebisu and meet at the station. He is tall, smiling, and very droll. Nicole Fall, his business partner, falls in not far behind, looking brisk and wearing wrist weights. "I've no time to go the gym these days. These help keep my upper...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 8, 2007

Rejecting kawaii culture

Momoyo Torimitsu (b. 1967) is a little tired of being remembered for Jiro Miyata, a life-size robot she created based on a middle-aged salaryman in 1994. But who could forget? Miyata, which Torimitsu had crawl around the streets of Tokyo, Paris, New York and other cities, so brilliantly embodied the...
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2007

Get divorced, face deportation

I got divorced recently and have two Japanese children. However, I am British. Therefore, I applied for any type of visa that would give me rights to work and support my children and ex-partner. My ex-partner wrote a letter stating I always provide financial support and that I can see my children whenever...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 6, 2007

Innocence is presumed but bail is not a given

There are some things money can't buy, but to get out of jail, bail can be an option for some.
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2007

A coldhearted ruling

The Tokyo District Court last week rejected a damages suit filed against the government by elderly war-displaced Japanese from China. The ruling is not only harsh but also appears blind to history. It turned down the plaintiffs' argument that the Japanese state should compensate them for failing to swiftly...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 5, 2007

BOJ should have yen for watching stock economy, not just go with the flow

In its Policy Board meeting from Jan. 17 to 18, the Bank of Japan kept the key short-term interest rate unchanged at 0.25 percent on the grounds that prices and consumer spending were still weak. The decision triggered a yen selloff in the currency markets, pushing the yen down to around 122 against...
COMMENTARY
Feb 5, 2007

Gaffes dog Abe's leadership

A series of inept remarks made by ministers of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet have undermined public support for his administration. Opinion polls show that public approval ratings for his Cabinet continue to fall.
Reader Mail
Feb 4, 2007

Decisions only Tokyo can make

Regarding Brad Glosserman's Jan. 24 article, "Abe's aggressive agenda": Reinforcing what he calls Japan's "junior partner status," Glosserman recommends that the United States "help" Japan in its formulation of its vision of its emerging power and its "strategy to use it." He then warns that "Washington...
COMMUNITY
Feb 3, 2007

Aikido fuels life of selfless service

Meet Kenkichi Futami, in many ways the archetypal Japanese salaryman of the postwar period whose sacrifice helped position Japan so productively in the world today.
EDITORIALS
Feb 2, 2007

Freedom to edit

The Tokyo High Court has ordered NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) and two production companies to pay 2 million yen in compensation to a women's rights group for altering the content of a documentary program on Japan's wartime military sex slaves. The ruling, which pointed out that NHK officials' excessive...
MORE SPORTS
Jan 31, 2007

Hillman accepts FSAJ Sportsman of Year Award

It's a little early in the year to be receiving hardware, but Trey Hillman's cup overflowed in 2006.
Reader Mail
Jan 31, 2007

Normalization and reconciliation

In his Jan. 18 article, Gregory Clark argues that there are more important issues in Japan-China relations than Yasukuni Shrine. This is true, but the article does not address the more important issues of trade, regional integration, and building trust for security cooperation.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2007

Consumers are wary as new Windows Vista goes on sale

Microsoft's Windows Vista hit store shelves Tuesday, but consumers were not snapping them up as the computer industry had hoped.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 30, 2007

Press clubs: Exclusive access to, pipelines for info

Because "kisha" press clubs provide easy access to information provided by the central and local governments and business associations, membership is considered essential for mainstream news organizations.

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