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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2009

Pulling out all the stops for an Olympic bid

In an alternative universe, here's how Japan might have won the right to host the Olympic Games in 2016 with a glowing pitch to the International Olympics Committee (IOC) in Copenhagen.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2009

Tourism budget to soar: Maehara

Tourism minister Seiji Maehara requested Thursday a budget of ¥25.7 billion for the 2010 fiscal year, a fourfold increase on the previous year, to increase foreign tourists to Japan and promote regional economies.
JAPAN
Oct 14, 2009

'Disruptive' Kamei roils markets

In more than three weeks since becoming financial services minister, Shizuka Kamei has sent bank stocks plunging, accused the Bank of Japan of sleeping on the job and blamed the nation's biggest business lobby for increasing the murder and suicide rates.
Reader Mail
Oct 11, 2009

Tokyo dodged the Olympic bullet

Congratulations to the people of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil for their right to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. It's their problem now, and good riddance, so Tokyo can heave a sigh for having dodged a bullet. Government here has enough on its plate already — trying to control its foreign residents,...
OLYMPICS
Sep 30, 2009

Igaya says final presentations key

Japan's highest-ranked sports official in the Olympic movement, Chiharu Igaya, believes the four cities bidding for the 2016 Olympic Games are "neck and neck" entering the home straight.
Reader Mail
Sep 27, 2009

Short shrift to suicide prevention

Regarding the Sept. 20 article "Now suicide has become a political issue, how will Japan address it?": It is refreshing to see an article on suicide in Japan focus on the fact that it takes political will for any nation to bring about any significant lowering of its suicide rate.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2009

Natural gas Down Under bound for Japan by 2014

SYDNEY — Resources-rich Australia has signed on to provide Japanese households and industries a reliable source of natural gas for decades to come.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2009

Ajinomoto may go on ¥100 billion M&A spree

Ajinomoto Co., the seasonings maker that first sold monosodium glutamate, may spend more than ¥100 billion on acquisitions in the next three years to help cut costs and expand overseas.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 18, 2009

Pianist Lang to give free show

Chinese pianist Lang Lang will give a special performance at an event by UNICEF in Tokyo's Odaiba district on Sept. 21.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2009

Inpex gets OK for Indonesia project

Inpex Corp., Japan's largest energy exploration company, won Indonesian government approval to develop the Masela liquefied natural gas project.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2009

Fatah's new status quo leaders

HERZLIYA, Israel — The Sixth Fatah Congress, held recently in Bethlehem, was an important event for the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict and for the Palestinian movement. But a careful look at the results of the Congress' elections to Fatah's Central Committee yields a picture that is quite different...
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2009

Nissan plans EVs, hybrids at U.S. plant

Nissan Motor Co., aiming to be the top seller of electric vehicles in the U.S., is hedging its bets.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 20, 2009

Two brothers competing on Japan's political ladder

One of the major topics of speculation among political observers nowadays is what course of action former internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama will take following his revolt against Prime Minister Taro Aso. He will have to make up his mind soon now that the date of the next general election has just...
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2009

Ishihara must face the opposition

The Democratic Party of Japan's rise to pre-eminence in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly may force Gov. Shintaro Ishihara to bend on some of his more controversial policies, notably the funding of troubled lender Shinginko Tokyo, according to observers.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2009

DPJ scores big win in Tokyo assembly

The Democratic Party of Japan was cruising Sunday night to a clear victory in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, taking over as the No. 1 force from the Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2009

A disappointing understanding

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — U.S. President Barack Obama raised expectations for achieving a world without nuclear weapons when he said in Prague on April 5, "I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jul 9, 2009

United World Karate Association President Daikaku Chodoin

Daikaku Chodoin, 68, is the founder and president of the United World Karate Association, which combines all five iemoto (the traditional branches of the martial art) with an estimated 50 million practitioners around the world. A kyuudan (9th degree black belt) of Goju-ryu, one of Okinawa's "hard-soft"...
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2009

Hitachi delivers high-speed rail in U.K.

LONDON (Bloomberg) Britain's first bullet trains entered service in London this week, bringing high-speed travel to the world's oldest rail network, but government spending cuts prompted by the global recession may stunt plans to extend the project.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2009

Aso, Lee confirm cooperation on N. Korea

Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak agreed Sunday to intensify joint efforts to stop Pyongyang's nuclear programs and urged North Korea to abide by a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning its recent nuclear test.
Reader Mail
Jun 14, 2009

Licensing of clinical psychologists

Regarding the June 7 editorial, "One (suicide) every 15 minutes": The current worldwide recession is of course impacting Japan, too, so unless very proactive and well-funded local and nationwide suicide prevention programs and initiatives are taken immediately, it is very difficult to foresee as achievable...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 25, 2009

Paying Aso back with praise

Ranking officials at the Foreign Ministry appear more preoccupied with presenting Prime Minister Taro Aso as dexterous at diplomacy than promoting the national interest. One official has confided that it is now their turn to return the favor given to them when Aso was foreign minister.

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