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EDITORIALS
May 12, 2008

Legal services for everyone

On April 1, 2006, Nihon Shiho Shien Senta (Japan Legal Support Center) or Ho Terasu (Law Terrace) was established to offer people easy access to legal services. It began operation on Oct. 2 that year. Although two years have passed, only 22 percent of those recently polled know of Ho Terrace. More publicity...
Reader Mail
May 11, 2008

The Japanese view of ending life

Regarding David Quintero's May 4 letter, "High Japanese suicide rate mystifies," and the question he poses (Why do so many Japanese people kill themselves?): I don't have a definitive answer, but I have come up with a few theories:
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 11, 2008

The authorities gain complete control of the stories

Prior to the recent retrial of a man who was eventually sentenced to death by the Hiroshima High Court for killing a woman and her 1-year-old child in 1999, the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization complained about the coverage of the case. The BPO said that media outlets concentrated...
Japan Times
LIFE
May 11, 2008

Reaching from the skies

One of the classic images from Japanese anime — immortalized in the famous post-apocalyptic "Neon Genesis Evangelion" franchise — is of a child-pilot sitting at the controls of a robot that's so huge it stands head and shoulders above the surrounding buildings. It's the key to the genre's escapist...
CULTURE / Books
May 11, 2008

Who says there's no poetry in a game?

BASEBALL HAIKU: American and Japanese Haiku and Senryu on Baseball, edited with translations by Cor van den Heuvel & Nanae Tamura. W.W. Norton, 2007, 214 pp., $19.95 (cloth) In Ueno Park in Tokyo, among the museums and other attractions, there is a baseball ground. It is not large, and its name is not...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 10, 2008

Documenting the divide between rich and poor

She was 3 when she first stood in the spotlight — on the stage of Tokyo's National Noh Theater — as the apple of her father's eye.
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2008

A new era for Russia?

Mr. Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as Russia's new president this week, promising protection of "civil and economic freedoms" and "a true respect for rule of law." For most new leaders, such language would suggest a break with the policies of his predecessor, but Russia's former president, Mr. Vladimir...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2008

Doudou N'Diaye Rose Percussion Orchestra

To look at him, you wouldn't guess that Doudou N'Diaye Rose is pushing 80. The Senegalese master percussionist stomps and dances around the stage with an energy befitting someone a quarter his age as he conducts drum ensembles of up to 100 members.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2008

A Finnish way for the Japanese educational system?

Ever since students in Finland emerged as top performers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), many teachers and policymakers in Japan have turned to this Scandinavian country of 5.2 million for insights on how to educate...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 6, 2008

As parent firm posts record profits, Berlitz teachers strike back

Question: How do you get to be on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires? You might inherit your wealth, take risks and get lucky, or work for it. For Soichiro Fukutake, owner of Berlitz's parent company Benesse, it's a case of "all the above."
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
May 5, 2008

Japan lags European peers on female empowerment

The latest EU-Japan summit wrapped up on April 23, with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda holding talks with European Council President Janez Jansa (the Slovenian prime minister) and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The meeting came at a time when both Europe and Japan are facing an enormous...
JAPAN
May 4, 2008

Referendum law evokes one question: Why?

Now that a law is in place for conducting a national referendum on revising the Constitution, it is important to tell the public why it needs to be amended and start more discussions, a pro-amendment group said Saturday.
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Naming and shaming doesn't help

Regarding the April 26 editorial "Unwise testing in education": If the purpose of the recently administered nationwide tests is to assess instructional effectiveness, which is reflected in student learning, then Japan is following the wrong strategy.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 4, 2008

Hideki Noda: Acting with joy in his soul

Even in today's theater world in Japan, which tends to venerate age, at just 52 Hideki Noda is already a towering, legendary figure.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 4, 2008

The role of the media in tulip massacres and suicide

Since late March there has been a rash of vandalism directed against flowers. Tulips, in particular, have been cut, uprooted or trampled in public places. The news trail seems to originate during the most recent cherry blossom season, when eight young trees were found destroyed in West Tokyo's Koganei...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 4, 2008

Japan's media plays nursemaid to nation's immature democracy

A major Japanese newspaper publishes an article denouncing the prime minister. Reporters hold a rally to criticize his Cabinet. The government responds by banning sales of the edition of the newspaper that carried the article, indicting its author for violation of the Newspaper Law. Rightwing agitators...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
May 2, 2008

Big man Newton an integral part of Evessa's run at third straight bj-league title

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which is in its third season. Jeff Newton of the Osaka Evessa, who face the Rizing Fukuoka in Saturday's semifinal showdown at Ariake Colosseum, is the subject of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
May 1, 2008

U.S. looking for 'accountability' at July summit

KYOTO — The United States' agenda for the upcoming Group of Eight summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, emphasizes health and development issues, making sure previous agreements are carried out in a publicly accountable way and guaranteeing that developing nations are part of a post-Kyoto Protocol treaty, said...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 1, 2008

LDP gets drivers' ire for gas hikes

Angry motorists swiftly slammed the government's decision Wednesday to reinstate provisional extra tax rates on gasoline, with some calling the imminent price hike a "terrible act" and others criticizing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda for his strong-arm political tactics.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2008

Mr. Berlusconi's return

Italian voters are hoping that it will be third time lucky for Mr. Silvio Berlusconi. In fact, the Italian media magnate, one of the world's richest men, is almost always lucky. The real question is whether Mr. Berlusconi's third term as prime minister of Italy will be good for his country. Sadly, there...
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2008

DPJ victory in Yamaguchi

The victory of a candidate of the Democratic Party of Japan over a candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's Lower House by-election in the Yamaguchi No. 2 constituency has raised a question mark over Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's political leadership. The DPJ candidate trounced the LDP candidate...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 29, 2008

Terahara not opposed to closing on regular basis to help BayStars

YOKOHAMA — When his name was called, the stadium was sent into an uproar.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 28, 2008

Closing of global mind bodes ill for future of globalization

"The Closing of the American Mind" is a book that no doubt many readers will be familiar with. As an indictment of higher education and the corrosion of the intellect in 1980s America, this book caused a sensation and earned well deserved acclaim. I am reminded of this title because we seem to be suffering...
Reader Mail
Apr 27, 2008

One-sided view of military burden

Your April 15 editorial "Funding for U.S. military facilities" is, unfortunately, consistent with a trend that's fairly prevalent in the Japanese media -- the one-sided theme of the "burden" borne by Japan for hosting U.S. military facilities. In this editorial the burden was financial, in others...
MORE SPORTS
Apr 27, 2008

Ito, Nakamura grow as rivals, swimmers

Reiko Nakamura and Hanae Ito occasionally chat with each other. But consciously or not, they almost never talk about swimming.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 27, 2008

Reprising the identity of Vietnam's Mieu

AMBIGUITY OF IDENTITY: The Mieu in Vietnam, by Nguyen Van Thang. Silkworm Books, 2007, 206 pp., 595 bahts (paper) Modern states dominate the lives of minorities to an extent never experienced before. As the lines between respective ethnicities blur under pressures to change and assimilate into the mainstream,...
OLYMPICS
Apr 26, 2008

New swimsuits have Japan quite worried

For the Japan National Team's swimmers and coaching staff, this is a question that'll pop up often over the next several months: Will their choice of swimsuits diminish their chance of success at the upcoming Beijing Summer Olympics?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2008

Watanabe pushes U.S. to fix credit crisis

Likening the U.S. credit crisis to a broken bathtub leaking water, financial services minister Yoshimi Watanabe is urging Washington to inject public money to fix the problem before it gets worse.
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Bring back old weather map

Could we please have the informative old weather map back? The new, static chart is so dumbed down as to be almost worthless. It essentially informs us that some time today there may be some kind of precipitation. The high and low forecast temperatures are unreadable. There is nothing about any winds...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji