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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2009

Drama won't cure the doldrums

GUATEMALA CITY — Japanese voters have rejected the one-party state under the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has supplied most of Japan's government leaders since the party's founding in 1955. (Only in 1993 had an opposition coalition ousted the LDP, for a short time, by holding onto a majority...
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2009

Education system still effective, valid model

Japan can contribute proactively to the rest of the world, especially developing countries, in the field of education through stepped-up exchanges of students and teachers, a senior educator believes.
EDITORIALS
Sep 11, 2009

Impetus for a low-carbon world

Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, head of the Democratic Party of Japan and the prime minister-in-waiting, has announced that Japan will seek a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. This is an ambitious target that could put Japan on the path to a low-carbon society. It could also give...
COMMENTARY
Sep 11, 2009

Shifting balances of power

The hope was that the League of Nations before World War II and the United Nations, its postwar successor, would provide a more effective way of ensuring world peace than the "Balance of Power" that Britain, in particular, had tried to maintain in Europe for centuries. This hope has not been fulfilled....
COMMENTARY
Sep 10, 2009

Words of wisdom from Hatoyama

It was just this side of comical. The leader of the new ruling party of Japan barely finishes acknowledging his Democratic Party of Japan's landslide win and a public relations disaster strikes. The result: an ignominious international climb-down.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2009

Wen signals ready for talks

BEIJING (Kyodo) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told a Japanese business delegation Wednesday he hopes to meet Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama soon after the latter becomes prime minister next week, delegation members said.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2009

DPJ, two allies agree to form coalition

Leaders of the Democratic Party of Japan and two minor parties agreed Wednesday to form a coalition government, laying the groundwork for the launch of the new administration on Sept. 16.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2009

Target CO2 cut draws business ire

OSAKA — Yukio Hatoyama's reaffirmation Monday that his incoming government will stick to the Democratic Party of Japan's campaign pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels has drawn fire from local businesses but also praise from the international community.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Sep 8, 2009

National service no solution

Following are a couple of readers' responses to the Aug. 18 Hotline to Nagatacho column headlined "National service stint could help Japan out of malaise" by Rick D. Marsh Jr.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 6, 2009

Murakami says players going to MLB not hurting NPB

Long before Hideo Nomo was making major league hitters look silly with an unorthodox windup and an unhittable forkball, or Ichiro Suzuki began rewriting the record books, pitcher Masanori Murakami was blazing the trail.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 6, 2009

Kawasaki's Nihon Minkaen: Traditional folklore in a natural setting

In an article last May 10 introducing the many attractions of Tokyo's neighbor Kawasaki, this writer made a brief reference to the Nihon Minkaen (The Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum) in Tama Ward.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 6, 2009

Kawasaki's Nihon Minkaen: Traditional folklore in a natural setting

In an article last May 10 introducing the many attractions of Tokyo's neighbor Kawasaki, this writer made a brief reference to the Nihon Minkaen (The Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum) in Tama Ward.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2009

Carmakers fret loss of stimulus

Kenichi Ishida saw monthly sales at his Toyota dealership surge by up to 50 percent under the government's stimulus plans to boost car demand. Now he frets that famine will follow feast.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2009

The DPJ's sense of duty

Until the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)'s win in Sunday's election, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had dominated Japanese politics for more than half a century except for short intervals.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2009

Futenma shift puts Hatoyama, U.S. ties to test

The next prime minister faces a possible showdown with Washington over a plan to relocate a U.S. air base in Okinawa and in the process move thousands of U.S. Marines from the prefecture to Guam, as he tries to remake his country's relationship with the U.S. while maintaining their strong alliance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2009

Still photography: a new art market

Tokyo probably has more photo fans than any megalopolis on the planet, but strangely there's never been an international photography art fair here — until now. Tokyo Photo 2009, running Sept. 4-6, offers still photography artworks for sale from 12 Japan-based galleries, four from the United States...
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2009

DPJ's emission goals seen leading to carbon tax

The new government's pledge to accelerate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions may lead to higher subsidies for makers of solar cells, including Sharp Corp. and Kyocera Corp., while forcing utilities to pay premiums for solar power generated by consumers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 2, 2009

Cell phone culture here unlike any other

Cell phones in Japan have evolved as a virtual extra appendage that people can't walk, ride or relax without, as they constantly peer into their screens, send and receive messages, play video games, watch TV, and sometimes even communicate verbally.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 1, 2009

A license to drive: Readers take the wheel

Japan resident Dee wrote in our last column that she had lost her U.K. driving license and couldn't get a new one from the British licensing authority because she is no longer living in the country.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2009

Interest high among foreign media in 'historic' election

The Democratic Party of Japan's landslide victory election has stirred interest among foreign media, who generally view the ousting of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled almost without interruption for 54 years, as a positive sign of change.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2009

Foreigners weigh in on election outcome

Although foreigners couldn't vote in Sunday's election, many were focused on its outcome.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2009

the telephones get their disco on

Saitama quartet the telephones are unabashed disco aficionados.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes