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COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2009

U.S.-China relations shifting

Observers analyzing the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to China, not unnaturally, looked for signs of a shift in the world balance of power — and they found them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 25, 2009

U.S. online strategy holds clues for Tokyo

Imagine befriending Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Facebook. Or getting "tweets" from Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Twitter. It could happen if Tokyo follows Washington's lead.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 24, 2009

Every husband a potential 'abuser'

Before the Christopher Savoie case hit the news, Japanese commentators on the Hague Convention on international parental child abduction had already begun fretting over the completely unsubstantiated assertion that "almost all" instances of children being brought to Japan involve a Japanese mother fleeing...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 24, 2009

The tale of K.M. and the missing koseki

An American by birth, K.M. found the inquiry in our Oct. 20 column about koseki tohon, or family registration, very interesting.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Nov 24, 2009

Parental child abduction and custody: readers respond

The following are a selection of readers' responses to the recent Zeit Gist articles on child custody and parental child abduction by Colin P. A. Jones (Oct. 20, Nov. 17) and "Richard Cory" (Nov. 3):
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 24, 2009

How can the government encourage more tourists to visit Japan?

Midori Tsunekawa, 59 Housewife (Japanese)Tourist organizations in every prefecture should offer free or low-cost English-speaking guides. They could show visitors around and help them experience Japan, while teaching them about our culture and customs.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 24, 2009

Every husband a potential 'abuser'

Before the Christopher Savoie case hit the news, Japanese commentators on the Hague Convention on international parental child abduction had already begun fretting over the completely unsubstantiated assertion that "almost all" instances of children being brought to Japan involve a Japanese mother fleeing...
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 2009

Overhaul the privacy law

The intentions behind the Personal Information Protection Law, which went into effect in April 2005, are good, but it has contributed to a tendency for organizations to withhold benign information that has significantly useful social value. Ms. Mizuho Fukushima, state minister in charge of consumer affairs,...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2009

Ramping up hope for Roma with education

BRUSSELS — Hated, alienated and shunned as thieves and worse, the Roma have for too long been easy and defenseless targets for disgruntled racists in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and other European countries.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Nov 23, 2009

Japanese now a little less lost in translation

Yeah, some things still get lost in machine translation, but language barriers did grow a lot smaller in 2009.
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2009

Saving millions of children

Almost 9 million children die every year before the age of 5 — or nearly one child every three seconds. Just under 4 million of these children die within their first month, nearly 3 million of them die within the first week and nearly 2 million of them die on their first day of life.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 22, 2009

How to save the planet, Edo Japan style

JUST ENOUGH: Lessons in Living Green From Traditional Japan, by Azby Brown. Kodansha International, 2009, 232 pp., $24.95 (hardcover) Azby Brown is fascinated by Edo Japan because it once faced dire environmental degradation and yet did not collapse. Through a combination of ingenious technological advances,...
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 22, 2009

Dogmas may blinker mainstream scientific thinking

The competing claims of Growing Earth Theory and Plate Tectonics Theory as presented in the accompanying article may appear to be a recent rivalry, but they are in fact following in a long tradition.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Nov 20, 2009

Hannaryz trying to shake slump

Every expansion team is expected to struggle during its inaugural season. And if Aristotle had focused on athletics instead of classic philosophy, he could've written volumes about this subject.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Nov 20, 2009

War of words continues between Johjima, Nomura

New Hanshin Tigers catcher Kenji Johjima's return to Japanese baseball was lauded by many in the NPB community.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2009

Drawing out North Korea

SEOUL — Negotiations over the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula look set to resume. Sadly, they are unlikely to end soon. Talk of a "grand bargain" remains just that — talk.
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Nov 19, 2009

Demons still haunt Christian soldier

26th in a series
EDITORIALS
Nov 19, 2009

Preventing child abuse

Since 2004, November has been designated the month when central and local governments and nongovernmental organizations campaign for prevention of child abuse. Extending support at the local community level will be important to help parents as well as children.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2009

Slippery slope of doctor-assisted euthanasia

PRINCETON — Of all the arguments against voluntary euthanasia, the most influential is the "slippery slope": once we allow doctors to kill patients, we will not be able to limit the killing to those who want to die.
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Nov 18, 2009

Orser provides insight into making of a champion

Those who have had the chance to see a young athlete come into their own can tell you it is truly a sight to behold.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Nov 17, 2009

U.S. nuclear arms in Japan: a firsthand account

Dear Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama,
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 17, 2009

Changes must go beyond Hague abduction treaty

First in a two-part series
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Nov 17, 2009

U.S. nuclear arms in Japan: a firsthand account

Dear Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama,
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 16, 2009

Does Ozawa run the show as Hatoyama foots the bill?

Only two months in office, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama appears to be losing his political influence primarily because of (1) his failure to exercise leadership in foreign diplomacy and on the domestic agenda, and (2) the extraordinary concentration of power vested in Ichiro Ozawa, whom Hatoyama has...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2009

Embedded malcontents of nuclear Pakistan

BANGALORE, India — A government unable to control large parts of its territory, a military in disarray, loss of control over nuclear assets, radical Islamists intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction — that's the stuff nightmares are made of, at least for the West. Pakistan's current turmoil...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2009

Food security must rank with climate efforts

BRUSSELS — There are plenty of summits to choose from this year, but the World Summit on Food Security deserves not to be lost in the crowd. This meeting in Rome from Monday to Wednesday provides badly needed political momentum to three linked issues that rank among the most challenging of the current...
EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2009

Knitting the alliance

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama held a summit and a joint news conference Friday in Tokyo, their second meeting following their first in September on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly meetings. They reaffirmed that the Japan-U.S. alliance is the basis for...

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