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EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2006

Building a suicide safety net

Every year, slightly more than 30,000 people kill themselves in Japan. Compared with other countries, the situation is particularly grim. The nation's suicide rate, calculated in terms of the number of suicides per 100,000 people, stands at 25.3 -- compared with 38.7 in Russia, 17.5 in France, 13.5 in...
EDITORIALS
Feb 24, 2006

Putting the squeeze on Hamas

For Hamas, the radical Islamic group, winning an election may prove to be the easiest part of the political process. Having claimed an outright majority in last month's Palestinian parliamentary elections, the party is now trying to assemble a Cabinet. That task, difficult at the best of times, has been...
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2006

TV Tokyo to buy 39% of Inter-FM

TV Tokyo Broadband Entertainment Inc. said Thursday it will become the biggest shareholder in FM Inter-Wave Inc., purchasing a 39 percent equity stake in the struggling radio broadcaster in a deal valued at 1 billion yen.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2006

Iran may get sanctions: Steinmeier

If Iran continues its nuclear designs, it may face U.N. Security Council economic sanctions, visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 21, 2006

Taking the biz plunge

Japan has long been a point of interest for economists worldwide, picking itself up after World War II to create a gargantuan economy that, despite the post-Bubble crash, is still one of the largest in the world. But these stats do little to shed any light on what it's like doing business on the ground...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 21, 2006

Insurance snubs and damages

Insurance snub My husband recently passed away. I have a three-year visa and a valid driver's license, but when I went to renew my insurance, I was told by the insurance company that they could not insure me because I was a foreigner.
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2006

New demands, more delays

Japan and North Korea made little progress toward solving their problems in five days of bilateral talks that ended early this month in Beijing. The only agreement was to continue to talk.
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2006

The 'freedom' to disrespect

LONDON -- The furor over cartoons published in a Danish paper last September mocking Islam has not yet ended. One was of the prophet Muhammad wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb, implying that Islam was a terrorist organization. Muslims were outraged because they saw a false image of Islam conveyed...
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2006

What right to torment?

Muslim furor in the Middle East and other parts of the world touched off by the appearance of cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad has led to diplomatic rows, embassy burnings and violent protests. It now begs serious thought about how the media should exercise the rights to freedom of the press...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 18, 2006

Winesburg, Japan, and the will of God

Sherwood Anderson once charmed America with a collection of short stories focused on the fictional town of Winesburg, Ohio. The stories portrayed normal people in the normal agony of their normal lives, tales that made Winesburg a hometown for everyone. One story in particular told of a modest clergyman...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 17, 2006

Casa Vecchia: Good local fare with uncommon flair

A trattoria is by definition a neighborhood institution, usually a small, family-run affair with modest prices and few pretensions, serving down-home cooking for a local clientele. Casa Vecchia fits that description perfectly.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2006

Japan regrets Iran's nuclear step

The Foreign Ministry expressed regret Wednesday over Tehran's nuclear defiance.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2006

At least no new wars began

The Davos-based World Economic Forum has just published the third annual report of its Global Governance Initiative. The past year was rated slightly less dangerous than 2004 but still a long way from being safe and secure. The United Nation's 60th Anniversary World Summit in September, a once-in-a-generation...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 12, 2006

Building scandals expose society's uncaring foundation

Japan is in the throes of two scandals that highlight a stunning flaw in the social order. For all its much-trumpeted national cohesion and the lip service paid in Japan to the people's sense of nasake (compassion, sympathy, mercy), these scandals are stark reminders that public welfare and the common...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2006

Indian 'New Deal' invokes bad, old idea

UBUD, Indonesia -- Recently Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a startling revelation: He pointed out that the urban-rural gap has widened over the past 50 years. By itself, this was neither a remarkable nor surprising conclusion. After all, with the poverty rate for India at about 26 percent...
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2006

JAL shareholder calls for president's ouster

Former lawmaker Eitaro Itoyama, the biggest individual shareholder in Japan Airlines Corp., is calling for the resignation of JAL President Toshiyuki Shinmachi, given the carrier's poor business performance, it was learned Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Feb 8, 2006

Sri Lanka has so much, and stands to lose it all

LOS ANGELES -- If there is one country in Asia that can serve as a metaphor for all the good and the evil in the world, it may well be little Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon.
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2006

Enough of make-believe bidding

The arrests last week of senior officials of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA) confirmed that bid-rigging on public-works projects remains an entrenched practice in Japan. What happens, basically, is that a contract is awarded at a price higher than if it were put out to bid through...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 4, 2006

The year 2006 -- going to the dogs

Jan. 29 was the Chinese Lunar New Year, the official beginning of the year of the dog according to the Chinese calendar. I did some dog-on-the-street interviews to find out what we can expect this year under the helm of the dogs.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006

Workers removed from families may get more holidays

The labor ministry plans to propose that employers let workers living away from their families take time off for birthdays and anniversaries related to their children and spouses, sources said Thursday.

Longform

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