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EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2008

Historic visit to Taiwan

The Taiwan Strait continues to narrow. Last week witnessed the highest-level contacts between Taiwan and mainland China since the 1949 civil war. The visit of Mr. Chen Yunlin to Taipei continues the bridge-building between the two sides and is a step forward in the eyes of all who seek peace and stability...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2008

Exec finds room to grow in NGO

Microsoft executive John Wood has made a name for himself as the founder of nongovernmental organization Room to Read, which has built more than 5,600 libraries in developing countries. Less well known is his right-hand woman, Erin Keown Ganju, who has been flying around, working closely with local staff...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 11, 2008

Nova refugees: Where are they now?

'All the schools are closed.'
Reader Mail
Nov 6, 2008

Pro-whaling case self-serving

I read with interest Dan Goodman's Nov. 2 letter, "Bogus arguments about whaling." The Institute of Cetacean Research, with which Goodman is affiliated, is a "unique organization in Japan specializing in the biological and social sciences related to whales . . . whose legal status is authorized by the...
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2008

Repeat of Clinton-era friction, concerns unlikely

Democrats in the United States and residents in the town of Obama, Fukui Prefecture, may be getting carried away Wednesday by news of Sen. Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election.
COMMENTARY
Nov 5, 2008

Beijing has enough of its own problems

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — It would be a mistake to overestimate how much China can or will do to pitch in to the world dilemma as the roiling and unnerving global financial world proceeds apace.
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2008

Dangerous ideas from on high

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Oct. 31 dismissed Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami over his essay, which stated it is "false" to accuse Japan of having been an aggressor nation before and during World War II. The essay also implied that the Self-Defense Forces should be...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2008

Nagoya family's temple reassembled on S.C. campus for classes

The former Buddhist temple sits opposite a waterfall on the campus of Furman University, with vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains when the trees are bare.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2008

Line of liquidity to confront fear

WASHINGTON — Even as the squeeze in interbank lending has started to ease after the rescue of financial systems across the advanced countries, falling economic indicators have sent stock markets tumbling. Pressures on emerging-market countries, which were once thought by many to have "decoupled" from...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2008

Ukraine's reversal of fortunes in health care

NEW YORK — Once called the breadbasket of the Soviet Union because of its rich soil and favorable climate, Ukraine is now experiencing a rapid increase in cases of tuberculosis (TB), a disease often associated with poor living conditions.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 4, 2008

Reappreciating Okinawa's languages, while there's still time

The saying "a language is a dialect with an army" is a bit worn out in linguistic circles. A change in how it is uttered might save it, though. How about "gengo ndi yyu shē guntai muchuru hōgen yaibin" (言語んでぃっゆしぇー軍隊むちゅる方言やいびん)? This is how you would say it...
Reader Mail
Nov 2, 2008

Taking a proven myth as fact

In his Oct. 23 article, "Remember the China lesson," Brahma Chellaney mentions four times the alleged Tiananmen Square "massacre" of June 1989. But there is now a wealth of eyewitness material -- much of it cited in my July 21 article, "Birth of a massacre myth" -- proving that there was no massacre,...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2008

Hopes for next president

LONDON — Around the world, America's presidential election campaign has attracted as much attention as domestic political controversies in each of our countries. The interest the world has taken in America's vote is the best example of America's soft power, and a lesson in democracy from the world's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 30, 2008

Tokyo film competition rewards tantalizing tales

When I was at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea a few weeks ago, I discussed the Tokyo International Film Festival with some journalists, who disagreed with my assertion that TIFF's Competition section was a dumping ground for movies that couldn't make it at other film festivals. They...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2008

Obama, McCain all but ignore poverty issue

PRINCETON — Barack Obama worked for three years as a community organizer on Chicago's blighted South Side, so he knows all about the real poverty that exists in America. He knows that in one of the world's richest nations, 37 million people live in poverty, a far higher proportion than in Europe's...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2008

Bush's nuclear deal with India: bigger consequences to consider

HONOLULU/STOCKHOLM — The U.S.-India civilian nuclear agreement was signed into law this month after two years of negotiations and bitter debates. The final deal sharply divides arms control and nonproliferation specialists. The focus of an often-emotional debate revolves around a simple question: Is...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 28, 2008

WWII forced labor issue dogs Aso, Japanese firms

After evading the issue for more than two years, Taro Aso conceded to foreign reporters on the eve of becoming prime minister that Allied POWs worked at his family's coal mine in Kyushu during World War II.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2008

Verhagen calls on Japan to continue MSDF tour

Japan should continue its naval refueling mission in the Indian Ocean and together with the Netherlands shoulder its share of international efforts to secure peace in Afghanistan, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said during a lecture Monday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 28, 2008

Foreign students to fill the halls

Rie Yoshinaga had a wide range of colleges to choose from.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 28, 2008

A peep at video parlors

In the predawn hours of Oct. 1, a fire broke out at an Osaka video parlor, killing 15 people and injuring nearly a dozen others, including one who died later. Kazuhiro Ogawa, a 46-year-old unemployed man who had been in the parlor, was arrested on suspicion of arson and murder.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 26, 2008

TV tributes to an artificial heart innovator, Picasso and Sadaharu Oh

The subject of this week's edition of "Professional: Shigoto no Ryugi" ("The Professionals") (NHK-G, Tuesday, 10 p.m.) is 56-year-old Chisato Nojiri, the leader of a special-project team that recently developed a new type of artificial heart.
EDITORIALS
Oct 24, 2008

Help your elderly neighbor

A declining birthrate and an aging population are changing the composition of Japanese households. A 2007 survey by the health and welfare ministry shows that the percentage of households comprising elderly people alone has risen while the size of the average household has shrunk. The trend points to...
COMMENTARY
Oct 23, 2008

Africa and the unstoppable rise of English

Just over half of Africa's 52 countries speak French, but the number is dropping. This month Rwanda defected, announcing that henceforward only English will be taught in the schools. It would not be overstating the case to say that this caused alarm and despondency in France.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2008

Aso, Singh pledge cooperation, regional security; EPA eludes

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister Taro Aso agreed Wednesday to cooperate on several issues, including regional safety, but fell short of signing an economic partnership agreement due to differences on trade.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Oct 22, 2008

Skate America kicks off GP season

Former world champion Miki Ando will once again be looking for redemption and Yukari Nakano, the fourth-place finisher at the world championships last March, will be out to raise her profile even higher as the 2008 Grand Prix season gets under way this weekend with Skate America in Everett, Wash.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 22, 2008

A plea for the wetlands

Representatives of 158 nations will converge next week on Changwon in South Korea, where they will spend nine days, from Oct. 27 to Nov. 4, talking about how to save the world's wetlands.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2008

Lower House passes MSDF antiterror bill

The Lower House approved a special antiterrorism bill Tuesday to enable the Maritime Self-Defense Force to continue refueling multinational warships engaged in counterterrorism operations in the Indian Ocean — a key goal of Prime Minister Taro Aso for this Diet session.

Longform

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