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Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Jun 5, 2008

Donald Richie offers history lesson

18th in a series
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jun 3, 2008

Good news from grass roots

Reader Rodney in Vancouver recently e-mailed: "I've often found your articles informative and useful, but they tend to take a tone of complaint. Please tell us about some face-to-face, grassroots efforts that have helped make Japanese more considerate and respectful of those who are different."
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 3, 2008

Absentee ballot system up, running

Suffrage is a fundamental right of a democracy, and many countries ensure their citizens can cast absentee ballots.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Jun 2, 2008

Europe poised to take chance on reducing farm subsidies

I f If there is one topic that has been catching a lot of attention lately, it is the global rise in prices for resources, especially the most precious resource of all: food.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 1, 2008

Rivalry in Asia upsets the balance of power

RIVALS: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade, by Bill Emmott. London: Allen Lane, 2008, 314 pp., £20 (cloth) The United States and Europe are coming to understand that the rise of China and India means that there will be increasingly less scope for the status...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jun 1, 2008

Arata Isozaki: Astonishing by design

If the entire Japanese architectural fraternity was one big royal family, then Arata Isozaki would be a king approaching the end of a long and glorious reign.
JAPAN / TICAD IV
May 31, 2008

Making a continent 'vibrant'

YOKOHAMA — The defining phrase of this year's Tokyo International Conference on African Development was "Towards a Vibrant Africa." But what does this mean to the TICAD participants?
JAPAN / TICAD IV
May 31, 2008

Africa awaits real action in TICAD wake

YOKOHAMA — The three-day Tokyo International Conference on African Development closed Friday with participants issuing a declaration committing Japan and multinational organizations to promote sustainable growth on the continent and fight poverty and climate change.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 31, 2008

Eroticism as a means of development

Several months ago, at an exhibition titled "Matsuri," I purchased a print by American photographer Vincent Morris.
COMMENTARY / Japan / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
May 28, 2008

Behind the failure of the Japanese economy

Takafusa Shioya has sent me his book published last year, "Keizai Saisei no Joken" (Conditions for Economic Recovery). Nearly three decades ago, during a period of a few years when Jimmy Carter's presidency morphed into Ronald Reagan's, he was stationed in the New York outpost of a Japanese trade office...
EDITORIALS
May 28, 2008

Creative policy for Africa

The first Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was held in 1993, cosponsored by Japan, the United Nations and the World Bank. Leaders from 45 African countries are attending the fourth TICAD in Yokohama this week. Serving as meeting chairman, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is trying...
EDITORIALS
May 27, 2008

Common sense on eating

The recently issued fiscal 2007 government white paper on agriculture conveys a strong sense of crisis over Japan's food supply, stating that "unprecedented changes are taking place." The government must take measures to increase domestic food production and stabilize food imports, and consumers should...
COMMENTARY
May 26, 2008

Second wind for cigarette sales

At the initiative of the Finance Ministry, the government has introduced a system to verify the age of anyone using a cigarette vending machine. But the system reportedly is not widely used.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
May 26, 2008

G8 meet sidesteps midterm gas cuts

KOBE — Environment ministers from the Group of Eight countries meeting Sunday in Kobe apparently sidestepped the major issue of setting midterm greenhouse-gas reduction targets for 2020 due to a divide between developing and industrialized countries over specific targets.
JAPAN / AFRICA LIFELINE
May 26, 2008

Tokyo ready to shift foreign-aid focus from Asia to Africa

Japan is embarking on a diplomatic sea change.
Reader Mail
May 25, 2008

Let the SDF deploy overseas

Craig Martin's May 21 article, "Permanent SDF overseas deployment law endangers democracy," was an extreme pleasure to read, although I do not agree with everything in it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
May 24, 2008

Status quo may block climate pact

KYOTO — A weak prime minister, a divided bureaucracy and opposition from big business mean Japan's ability to use the July Group of Eight Summit at Lake Toya to forge an effective global warming treaty is at risk, a leading environmental activist warns.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AFRICA LIFELINE
May 24, 2008

JICA, TICAD look beyond basics to growth

When the first Tokyo International Conference on African Development was held in 1993, aid to Africa still meant providing support for social infrastructure, including water, health and education projects, because many of the countries were in civil war and their people needed basic necessities.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
May 23, 2008

Bottled water: It's naughty, but nice

I know, I know, bottled water is terribly unethical these days. Pinching a natural, life-sustaining resource and flying it to rich people in faraway lands is a bit naughty, all that packaging is trashing our planet, and our taps dispense safe water for less than ¥1 per liter — or a little more than...
JAPAN
May 23, 2008

Fukuda pledges full support for planned ASEAN unified market

Echoing his late father's message more than three decades ago, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Thursday that Japan will seek closer ties with Southeast Asian countries by supporting the planned creation of a single integrated market in the region.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 21, 2008

EPAs clearing way for foreign caregivers

Indonesian nurses and care workers are expected to start arriving in Japan this summer under a new bilateral economic partnership agreement, and, under a similar EPA between Tokyo and Manila, such professionals from the Philippines may follow.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2008

Experts hit curbs on foreign investment

Japan needs to review foreign investment restrictions and reduce corporate tax rates to attract more foreign direct investment and takeovers, a government advisory panel proposed Monday.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 20, 2008

Ainu: indigenous in every way but not by official fiat

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples last Sept. 13, with Japan among the 144 member states voting in favor.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 19, 2008

Does Emperor pose hurdle to forming a common Asia market?

The slowing United States and its subprime-mortgage woes are promoting the need for economic interdependency in Asia, but various hurdles must be overcome before the widely diverse economies can further solidify regional ties.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
May 18, 2008

Skaters going all out to try and keep ice rinks open

With Japan currently boasting the No. 1 ranked female (Mao Asada) and male (Daisuke Takahashi) figure skaters in the world, The Japan Times will begin a periodic notebook chronicling the latest news and notes on Japanese skaters in the buildup to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan