Search - community

 
 
EDITORIALS
Dec 31, 2005

A year of battered dreams

The year 2005 is likely to be remembered as a bitter one in which many dreams were battered and many cherished ideals tarnished. For sure, there were high points, but they were overshadowed by the many disappointments.
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2005

Yokohama leads way in trash separation

stopped bringing unnecessary things home, for example by telling shop clerks not to wrap products," he said. But not all municipalities have such stringent recycling policies and many cash-strapped local governments cannot afford to collect the bulky materials.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2005

New Pyongyang approach needed: summit architect

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine and his surprise visit to Pyongyang in 2002 all reflect a diplomatic decision to defy "gaiatsu," or foreign pressure, a former top diplomat recently reckoned.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2005

Crown Princess may attend water confab in Mexico

Crown Princess Masako may visit Mexico together with Crown Prince Naruhito in March to attend the Fourth World Water Forum, according to sources.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2005

Golden beaches bid ill will

SYDNEY -- Goodbye to the traditional Australian summer, surfing Pacific waves or lazing on golden beaches. Meet this summer's new beach sport, dodging gangs of racists trying to kill one another.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 24, 2005

WeLoveSnow.com puts Yuzawa on winter map

Neil Riley is up to his eyes in snow. And he's delighted.
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2005

A cloud over Korean science

The controversy over the work of South Korean scientist Dr. Hwang Woo Suk continues to grow. Doubts about the credibility of his research is a blow not only to his many supporters in South Korea, but also to millions of people around the world who had hoped that his work held out cures for debilitating...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2005

Muslims condemn terror

HONOLULU -- A conference in Mecca of Islamic leaders representing Muslims in a wide swath from Morocco through the Middle East and South Asia to the southern Philippines has issued a rare but resounding denunciation of terror, saying that violence must be condemned "in all its forms and manifestations."...
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2005

2006 budget draft reflects changing priorities

The Finance Ministry's fiscal 2006 draft budget reveals changing priorities. Here's a sample of items slated to get more funding compared with the current fiscal year, and items that would get less:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2005

Doha Round still snagged on farm trade

It's time for Japan's negotiators to protect rice farmers in other ways besides high tariffs, argues an economist at Hitotsubashi University, after six days of frustrating world trade talks that ended Sunday in Hong Kong.
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2005

Defeat presses Chen to ease up on China

HONG KONG -- Lord Acton's maxim that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" has just been proven true again in Taiwan, where the ruling Democratic Progressive Party -- which had won power five years ago on a campaign promise to stamp out corruption -- was swamped in recent local elections...
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2005

'Korean wave' sweeps the Philippines

MANILA -- The political alliance between the Philippines and South Korea has a long tradition. During the Cold War, both countries were staunch supporters of the United States. The government in Manila was among the first to send troops to the Korean Peninsula to defend the South against the invasion...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 18, 2005

TBS's quiz show "Sekai Baribari Value" looks at being rich and female and more

Many of the topical words that dominated the media this year described certain kinds of women, like makeinu ("loser dogs" -- a term for unmarried women past 30 -- and cerebu, women who, for some reason or another, are loaded. TBS's guess-the-price quiz show "Sekai Baribari Value (World's Exciting Values)"...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 16, 2005

Swallows to add 'Tokyo' to name

The Yakult Swallows have applied to the executive committee of Nippon Professional Baseball to add "Tokyo" to their official team name, club president Yoshikazu Tagiku said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2005

Advocate for the elderly

Next year Japan will take another step forward toward strengthening the protection of the weaker members of society. The Diet has passed a law to prevent cruel treatment of the aged and to assist those taking care of them. Preparations are being made for implementing the law in April. Enactment of the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Dec 16, 2005

Another jewel in the Cartier crown

Venerated as the royalty of jewelers and the jewelers of royalty, Cartier is by far the largest brand of its kind in the world. With its illustrious history and client list including countless kings, queens and princes, it is little wonder that the brand's double C logo and distinctive red packaging...
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2005

Osaka mayor's reforms may spark new battles

OSAKA -- Osaka Mayor Junichi Seki has unveiled his detailed proposal for reforming the city government.
COMMENTARY
Dec 15, 2005

Time for a Yasukuni deal

HONOLULU -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi remains in denial over the negative impact his continued visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine are having on Japanese and U.S. national security interests.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ASEAN-JAPAN SYMPOSIUM
Dec 13, 2005

Japan can help ASEAN integration

See related story: Political power plays cloud East Asian economic community vision
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2005

Keys to the LDP's viability

The Liberal Democratic Party has ruled Japan since it was established in 1955 -- except for 11 months in 1993 and 1994. Last month it celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2005

Aso to talk security with Australia, U.S.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso plans to travel to Australia in January to engage in trilateral security talks with his Australian and U.S. counterparts, Foreign Ministry sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 8, 2005

Inside the belly of the beast

Jennifer Abbott's entire career as a filmmaker and editor has been involved with challenging people's perceptions. Her first documentary, "A Cow at My Table," was on the horrors of factory farming, and Abbott met her co-director Mark Achbar while working as an editor on his documentary on lesbian marriages...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2005

Tokyo plans to pull GSDF from Iraq by Aug. 31

Tokyo told Washington in November that it will begin withdrawing the Ground Self-Defense Force from Iraq in June and finish by the end of August, government and ruling coalition sources revealed Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2005

Livedoor to join Nippon Keidanren

Internet venture Livedoor Co. has requested admission into the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), the nation's most influential business lobby, federation officials said Monday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 4, 2005

Between life and death stands culture

FINAL DAYS: Japanese Culture and Choice at the End of Life, by Susan Orpett Long. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 288 pp., $45 (cloth). This book asks how the final days might be different for Japanese patients and for those in the United States. Both Japanese and Americans state that they...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 4, 2005

Complexity drawn from emptiness

THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF IMAGES by John Mateer. Fremantle, Australia: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2005, 61 pp., A$22.95 (paper). The poet John Mateer has published previously in South Africa, where he comes from, Australia, where he now lives, and Indonesia, which he has traveled in. A group of his poems...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 4, 2005

NHK's "Project X" on the Takarazuka production of "The Rose of Versailles" and more

Takarazuka, the all-female musical theater company based in Hyogo Prefecture, made its first-ever trip to South Korea last month with a revival of the troupe's most popular musical, "The Rose of Versailles." Riyoko Ikeda's 1970s manga, upon which the musical is based, has been translated into 10 languages...
EDITORIALS
Dec 3, 2005

Cut spending before raising taxes

With Japan's economic recovery gaining momentum, the government appears set to increase taxes across a broad spectrum. The Tax Commission last week proposed a series of tax-code changes for fiscal 2006, including an abolition in 2007 of the flat-rate tax cuts for individual income taxes that had been...

Longform

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