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EDITORIALS
Jan 20, 2007

Come clean on political funds

Suspicions are growing over the use of political funds and the accuracy of mandatory reports on such funds. Specifically, the suspicions have been aroused by media reports that five Cabinet ministers and two Liberal Democratic Party executives had declared a combined 689 million yen as "office expenses"...
COMMENTARY
Jan 18, 2007

So much for Abe's reconciliation policy

Remember all that talk just a few months back about how Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, unlike former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, was embarked on a policy of reconciliation with China?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2007

Aso wants to be next LDP chief: Tanigaki

Taro Aso lost to Shinzo Abe in last September's Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, but the outspoken foreign minister still secretly hopes to prevail next time.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 16, 2007

Bicycles, dentists and curves

Share the road Reader Junji wants to bring to our attention the proposed laws before the Diet that will increase the number of cyclists on the sidewalk and restrict the number of roads that can be used by cyclists.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 14, 2007

Asia's shift in global importance

Chasing the Sun: Rethinking East Asian Policy, by Morton Abramowitz and Stephen Bosworth. New York: A Century Foundation Book, 2006, 165 pp., $15.95 (paper). Slowly but surely, the United States is waking up to the profound changes afoot in the structure of global power. The rise of China is one sign...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2007

Education minister's 'expenses' in question

A political group headed by education minister Bunmei Ibuki logged a combined 8.75 million yen in "office expenses" in 2004 and 2005, a period the group's political funds report indicates it had little or no activity and had a rent-free office, it was learned Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 12, 2007

'Brothers of the Head'

There's a scene near the end of the punk-rock documentary "D.O.A." where The Sex Pistols are playing a country and western ballroom in San Antonio, near the end of their ill-fated 1978 tour. The band hold the stage penned in by a baying mob, barely able to make it through their songs as the crowd pelts...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2007

Russia's progress and regress

SANTA MONICA, California -- Fifteen years after the Soviet Union collapsed and split apart, Russia still fits British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's characterization of Josef Stalin's Soviet Union nearly seven decades ago: "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2007

Nationalist populism rising in Europe

PRAGUE -- The collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe 15 years ago brought vast and positive democratic changes. But in 2006, after more than a decade of striving for acceptance by the West, the moral and political vacuum left by communism was fully exposed. Can a new balance between the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2007

Driving a train under pressure

On the morning of April 25, 2005, a "rapid service" (express) commuter train derailed along a curve between Tsukaguchi and Amagasaki stations on the West Japan Railway Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line in Hyogo Prefecture, slamming into a nine-story condominium building near the tracks. The accident killed 106...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2007

A world where no one rules

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut -- America and the world are focused on whether the Bush administration will adopt the Iraq Study Group's recommendations for an exit strategy from Iraq. That is the most pressing immediate question, but America's leaders should also be thinking ahead. America needs a post-occupation...
COMMENTARY
Jan 8, 2007

Cabinet office losing its grip

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is under intense pressure to overhaul his administration after two scandal-tainted aides were forced to resign in December. The trouble came only three months after he took office.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2007

Japan's peculiar silence on rights abuses

NEW YORK -- From Dec. 10-16, Japan observed "Korea Human Rights Week," a new occasion stipulated by the June 2006 North Korean Human Rights Act. The act, which built on Japan's cosponsorship of the 2005 United Nations General Assembly resolution, is supposed to increase public awareness of, and prevent,...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 7, 2007

O'Neill expects striker Larsson to give Man Utd a big boost

LONDON -- Apart from death and taxes there may be no other certainties in life but Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill must fear Henrik Larsson scoring on his debut for Manchester United in the F.A. Cup third round Sunday would complete the hat trick.
Reader Mail
Jan 7, 2007

Energy geopolitics is the key

In The Japan Times' Time Out features Dec. 31, various predictions are made for Japan, but not one seriously considers the most unpredictable and most influential factor of all: energy sources and where they are to come from. Robotics, demographic changes, productivity are all ultimately affected...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2007

'Amakudari' abuses targeted

establishment procedures," Matsuoka told a news conference. The group in question is the World Business Expert Forum, which bought 1 million yen worth of fundraising tickets for Matsuoka.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 3, 2007

Kobe's getting cooked like stew by all foes

NEW YORK -- No matter whom Kobe Bryant guards this season the opposing coach goes right at him.
COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2007

Unwise gantlet for teachers

Certain professionals must pass state examinations to obtain licenses for their jobs. They include medical doctors, dentists, jurists, certified public accountants, architects, pharmacists and registered nurses, as well as primary, middle and high school teachers. Amid the severe employment situation,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2007

Defusing the dangers of nuclear proliferation

North Korea test-fired a series of ballistic missiles and carried out a nuclear test in 2006. If the policy goal of the Bush administration was to prevent the proliferation of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, it has failed.
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 31, 2006

Daunting challenges face fast-graying nation

Robert Feldman is chief economist at Morgan Stanley Japan Securities, where, as cohead of Japan Equity Research, he is responsible for forecasting the direction of the Japanese economy.
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 31, 2006

Shaping our future along with robots

Yoshiyuki Sankai is a professor of engineering at Tsukuba University in Ibaraki Prefecture and a front-runner in the field of "cybernics," which combines robotics with a wide array of academic disciplines, including neurology, information technology, behavioral science and psychology. Now aged 48, he...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2006

Cultural attitudes in Japan spell few adoptions

Couples looking to start a family naturally want their own children. But amid the recent debate over whether to legalize surrogate births in Japan, one question has largely been overlooked: What about adoption?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 30, 2006

Jeri Foley

Ten years ago, the "Tokyo Journal" published its first annual list of 50 foreigners "who live here long-term, have been measurably successful in their work, and have made a difference to the Japanese and foreign community."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2006

Mansfield Center eyes lay judge debut

A new system that gives ordinary citizens in Japan a role in deciding the outcome of criminal trials debuts in less than three years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 28, 2006

A lifetime's observations

He saw Ginza when it was a blackened plain but for the bombed-out Mitsukoshi department store, the Hattori Building and a handful of other structures left standing. He observed the city as it was rebuilt, and its people. He observed, and then he wrote.

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