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JAPAN
Aug 2, 2006

Japan lauds UNSC resolution on Iran

Japan on Tuesday welcomed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Tehran to suspend all uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities by Aug. 31 and showed determination not to compromise on its stance against nuclear proliferation because of its economic stake in Iran.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2006

Paper hits North's missiles, China buildup

nuclear (arms) issue, are a destabilizing factor for the entire international community," the report reads. "The range of North Korean missiles is expected to be extended (farther), including possible derivatives of Taepodong-2 missiles," the paper, released Tuesday, says in reference to Pyongyang's...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 1, 2006

Island travel and Mac help

Airport on Ogasawara? J and partner have heard that there is an air service to Ogasawara (the Bonin Islands) -- described in my book Insider's Tokyo (2001) as "Tokyo furthest flung outpost."
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 1, 2006

Can NHK justify its huge collection costs?

NHK spends a massive 76.9 billion yen per year on its fee collection system, which equates to some 12.4 percent of the national broadcaster annual operating income.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 31, 2006

BOJ should have based hike on consumer needs, worldwide inflation trend

The Bank of Japan raised the unsecured overnight call rate from virtually zero to 0.25 percent at the end of its July 13-14 Policy Board meeting and hiked the official discount rate from 0.1 percent to 0.4 percent.
LIFE
Jul 30, 2006

What's Japan's secret of 'many happy returns'?

Japan may never have become the world's No. 1 economy, and, faced with other rising Asian powers, it probably never will be. Nonetheless, there is one thing at which Japan proudly excels above all nations: its people's longevity.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2006

LDP hopefuls kick off debates

Both declared and undeclared candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election began making their cases for prime minister Friday in a high-profile panel discussion viewed as a prelude to the Sept. 20 poll.
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2006

The endgame in Lebanon

It has been more than two weeks since Hezbollah launched a raid on Israel that prompted a brutal Israel response and appears to have triggered what can only be called a war. The international community has sharply criticized the combatants, but has done little more than protest. There is talk of inserting...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 26, 2006

Will commons sense dawn again in time?

These days we can be forgiven for wondering if Homo sapiens have gone completely mad. From just a glance at the headlines, it is easy to conclude that humans are hellbent on destroying themselves and their environment, with little concern for which goes first.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2006

Adolescent suicide: a serious problem in every country

NEW YORK -- It happens every day, and with alarming frequency. Adolescent suicide is a serious problem in every country, and Japan is no exception. An estimated 30,000 Japanese of all ages kill themselves each year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 25, 2006

Lesbian mothers' twin tasks

Motherhood can be daunting under even the best of circumstances, but, as a lesbian, considering starting a family brings with it a whole new set of difficulties.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2006

Containing chemical weapons

Recent events from the Middle East to Northeast Asia have once again highlighted the unsatisfactory state of affairs with respect to the tool kit available to the international community for responding to the challenge of weapons of mass destruction. This makes it all the more curious as to why more...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 23, 2006

Marty K. still alive and well in Eagles' nest

Marty Kuehnert still with Rakuten? What is Marty doing these days?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2006

Putting Lebanon back together again

LONDON -- Today's crisis in Lebanon is a crisis of the Lebanese state. It is this structural crisis that must be addressed if the violence is to stop.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 22, 2006

Robert Erickson

Robert Erickson was born in New Jersey in 1943. The following year, his father was fighting in the Pacific War. "He came into Japan with Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and was stationed at the U.S. Army Air Force Base in Atsugi," Erickson said. "He used to send me small Japanese gifts, wrapped in rice paper,...
COMMUNITY
Jul 22, 2006

No such as thing as the average 'gaijin' in Japan

Charles Lent points out landmarks from the 31st floor of Tokyo Sankei Building in Otemachi with confidence and pride. After 13 years in Japan he knows more than a few.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2006

Koizumi cools momentum on Pyongyang sanctions push

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday Japan should hold off before imposing more economic sanctions on North Korea, depending on whether Pyongyang responds "seriously" to the international condemnation of its July 5 missile tests.
COMMENTARY
Jul 19, 2006

Cultural diplomacy in the Middle East

Political and economic stability in the Middle East is vital to ensure Japan's energy security and to reduce risks in the global economic system. In the interests of this region's mid- and long-term political stability, it is clearly desirable for "democratization" in the region to take root deeply and...
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2006

Our very own preemptive option

After North Korea test-fired seven missiles July 5, arguments suddenly began flying within the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that Japan should consider developing the capability to strike a foreign missile base if there is an imminent threat of an attack on Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 18, 2006

Preventing suicide and axing overtime pay is a risky mix

More than 30,000 people kill themselves each year in Japan, bestowing the country with the shameful honor of the highest suicide rate in the developed world. To deal with this reality, a group of lawmakers from across the political spectrum pushed an antisuicide bill through the Diet last month to force...
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2006

A guy, a paper clip and the Internet

It's tempting to forget about finding a larger meaning in the story of Kyle MacDonald and to just sit back and enjoy it. Mr. MacDonald is the 26-year-old Canadian blogger who has rocketed from Internet cult figure to mainstream news item since he pulled off a remarkable bartering feat recently, trading...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2006

Britain to get new Japanese studies center in September

Efforts by Japan experts in Britain to boost Japanese studies in the country will bear fruit this September with the opening of the National Institute of Japanese Studies in the new White Rose East Asia Center.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2006

Runup to war in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO -- My plane lands smoothly at Colombo's plush Bandaranaike International Airport, but beyond the runway lies the turbulence of ethnic strife that for 20 years has ravaged this hauntingly picturesque island nation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2006

Racism plagues Western media coverage

GAZA -- Racism is "the belief that one 'racial group' is inferior to another and the practices of the dominant group to maintain the inferior position of the dominated group. Often defined as a combination of power, prejudice and discrimination."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 11, 2006

How do you think conditions for foreigners in Japan could be improved?

Shinya Sato Self-employed, 28 I think there should be more free Japanese lessons that are better advertised and easier for foreigners to find. The government should also publish some kind of booklet or brochure with useful every day information.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 9, 2006

Japan fashions a menswear coup d'etat

For a week in July, Paris becomes an outpost of Tokyo as Japanese designers and buyers throng the catwalks, parties and cafes where business is done at the biannual men's clothing collections

Longform

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