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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,
Reader Mail
Jul 18, 2010

Divergence of whaling sentiments

Recent letters share a perceptive and valid view regarding the whaling issue. It all boils down to a clash of principle vs. sentiment — between Japan and antiwhaling groups — and to maneuvering by my Japanese government. Most agonizing are the heartless hunting practices that continue for the sake...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jul 16, 2010

Hannaryz mum on Abdul-Rauf's future

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's future with the Kyoto Hannaryz is still uncertain.
EDITORIALS
Jul 16, 2010

Surveillance cameras sprouting

These days it seems that nobody can escape being monitored by surveillance cameras. These cameras are in banks, convenience stores, busy streets, railway stations and residential areas, and even inside trains and taxis.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 12, 2010

Where will limits of G20 policy leave debt-strewn Japan?

The G8 and G20 meetings in Toronto, closely watched last month as Europe struggled to halt the chain reaction of doubt set in motion by the Greek debt crisis, exposed their inability to coordinate on quelling financial uncertainty.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 11, 2010

Liberated gentleman out of time and place

This meandering tale of an interesting man's life spanning the Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras helps readers understand the ferment of the times while serving up some gems of social history.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2010

The kindling in Kyrgyzstan

There is blame enough to go around for the hellish situation that has descended on Kyrgyzstan. Forces loyal to former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev are said to have provoked the violence that has affected 8 percent of the country's population. The government's response has been ham-fisted and there are...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jul 6, 2010

Good news and bad news for manga lovers

Manga publishers vow to crack down on scanlation but hope comes from other quarters.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 4, 2010

Pearl Harbor: setting history straight

It is extraordinary the lengths to which some people will go to reorganize history to suit their own ends. There are still voices, for example, claiming that Emperor Hirohito knew nothing about Pearl Harbor, the aerial attack that launched Japan's holy war.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 4, 2010

Manga's Cinderella story

"I want to tell you a real love story," whispers a pen-wielding Misako, a graphic-novel version of comic artist Misako Takashima, on the first page of the 2007 book, "Rock and Roll Love."
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2010

UCLA Anderson dean extols global viewpoint

Business opportunities today are inherently global, so traveling to get an MBA in a foreign environment is an advantage, according to Judy D. Olian, dean of the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo