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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2009

New revolt of the masses

PARIS — Is the current economic crisis uniting the democratic world in anger as much as in fear? In France, with many factories closing, a wave of executive hostage-taking — "boss-napping," as this newfangled crime is called — is agitating board rooms and police. In the United States, big bonuses...
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2009

U.S. shifting Mideast policy

It is almost possible to hear the tectonic plates grinding. The whole international landscape is once again on the move, tumbling old structures and turning old assumptions upside-down.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2009

Indictment of Okubo arouses suspicions

The indictment of Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa's chief secretary is prompting observers to question the timing of the arrest and details of the charges because of the impact the probe poses to national politics.
JAPAN / Q&A
Mar 20, 2009

Hand-wringing over fund scandal

The political fund scandal involving Nishimatsu Construction Co. has brought to light once again the unhealthy relationship between politics and money. This time, prosecutors went straight to the top by arresting the chief secretary of Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2009

'This is England'

The gang-movie genre tends to follow a fairly predictable arc: Impressionable youth is seduced by gang life, enjoys the wild times and camaraderie that follow, then inevitably winds up disillusioned with the lifestyle. Whether it's the mods and rockers of 1960s London in "Quadrophenia," or the favela...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2008

Yes we can . . . what, Mr. Obama?

KYOTO — America appears to have been swept up in a feel-good moment. But as much as U.S. President-elect Barack Obama appeals to me as a public speaker and wordsmith, as much as I appreciate his candid, inclusive style as an antidote to everything redolent of President George W. Bush, as thrilled as...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Nov 2, 2008

Probing the real Japan with Kenneth Pyle

Kenneth Pyle says his first memories of Japan were of watching war films when he was a child — "all the dogfights with Zero fighters and all that."
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 15, 2008

LDP — a party defined by factions

Apart from one brief interval, the Liberal Democratic Party has been in power since it was formed in 1955, and every time it picks a new leader internal factions vie for power.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 5, 2008

So you think U.S. democracy's dying? Well, you're probably right

The national conventions of the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties are now but fast-fading memories. The only thing that I really wanted to know once they were over was: Who has the balloon concession for these events, because there's obviously a lot of easy money to be made from hot air.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2008

A new face for Israel

While global attention has been focused on U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, another woman has quietly climbed to the top politics, in Israel. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has been elected leader of the Kadima party — the main party in that country's ruling coalition — and...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 19, 2008

Ozawa bets on a takeover

Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the No. 1 opposition Democratic Party of Japan, has long been known as a gambler, both at the casino and in the political arena. When he was his 40s, he often went to London to study British parliamentary politics, which he regarded as a model of political reform. While there,...
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2008

Five start campaigns for LDP presidency

The Liberal Democratic Party officially kicked off its presidential election campaign Wednesday with five candidates angling to succeed Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who announced his resignation last week.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 16, 2008

Yoga helps bring balanced stance

Every morning, Linda Gould opens the doors and windows of Riverside Yoga studio in Hadano, Kanagawa Prefecture, and feels her body relax, spirit quicken and mind lighten.
EDITORIALS
Aug 5, 2008

Victory for Turkish democracy

Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled last week that the country's governing party will not be banned for violating the country's constitution. The outcome is a victory for democracy, as the court decision amounted to a rejection of conservative opposition to the ruling Justice and Development Party and...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2008

Confucianism makes a comeback in China

BEIJING (Daniel A. Bell is professor of political theory at Tsinghua University (Beijing). His latest book is "China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society."
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 10, 2008

Home front baggage cramps leaders

TOYAKO, Hokkaido — The Group of Eight leaders headed for home Wednesday evening after wrapping up their three-day annual summit.
COMMENTARY
Jul 3, 2008

Malaysia: deja vu all over again

Reading the first reports of the accusations against Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, I had to check the date at the top of the page. Has there been a time slip? Is this file 10 years old?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 15, 2008

Nuggets of 'wisdom' can speak volumes beyond what's said

"Biting Comments, Curious Statements and Famous Misstatements" is the headline on the lead article in the June 5 issue of the popular Japanese weekly magazine Bungei Shunju. It features dramatic ejaculations of famous politicians, sports figures and entertainers, among others.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2008

Lectures from steak-lovers hard to stomach

London — I feel a little sorry for U.S. President George W. Bush. Whatever his other many failings, he has a pretty good record on aid to poor countries, particularly in health care. True to form, he recently announced a big increase in U.S. food aid good for the hungry poor and good for American farmers....
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2008

Rescuing the revolution from Yushchenko

BRUSSELS — There is no more depressing sight in politics than a leader who, desperate to cling to power, ruins his country in the process. By his recent actions, President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine now looks like he has joined the long list of rulers who have sacrificed their country's future simply...
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2008

Japan needs a dose of Koizumi's old magic

I wish more people understood Japan better. I wish I understood Japan better.
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2008

Publicity stunt on Everest

NEW DELHI — As a triumphal symbol of its rule over Tibet, China is taking the Olympic torch through the "Roof of the World" to the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, which straddles the Tibetan-Nepalese border. That publicity stunt will only infuse more politics into the Games, already besmirched...
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2008

Mr. Abdullah is battered

Malaysia's ruling coalition was stunned in elections last weekend. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his National Front (Barisan Nasional) lost the two-thirds majority in Parliament that they have held for nearly four decades. As the government tries to regroup, Malaysia appears headed toward...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2008

No easy answers for the United States before or after the presidential election

The United States will likely see a "fertile period of policy experimentation" under the new administration that takes office after the November presidential election, says Thomas E. Mann, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution who is an expert on U.S. election campaigns.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2008

Putin's unwilling executioner?

NEW YORK — The question that has dominated Russian politics, and world discussion of Russian politics — will he (Vladimir Putin) or won't he stay in power? — has now been settled. He will and he won't.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2008

Bangladesh tries to shake corrupt image

DHAKA — Ever since its hard-won independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh has struggled to shake off something just as unwelcome as foreign rule: its image as an impoverished and politically corrupt backwater.
COMMENTARY
Feb 15, 2008

U.S. campaign fires up Brits

LONDON — "A woman president, a black president or the oldest president — which would you prefer?"
COMMENTARY
Feb 13, 2008

A growing laundry list against Beijing

LOS ANGELES — Some double-standards are two-faced in the extreme, but not all.

Longform

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