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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2010

The limits of China's global charm offensive

BRUSSELS — To many people in the West, China seems to have gone from a country that "keeps a cool head and maintains a low profile," in Deng Xiaoping's formulation, to one that loves a good international bust-up. Putting an Australian mining executive behind bars for 10 years, squeezing out Google,...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2010

Learn from H1N1 experience

The threat posed by H1N1 influenza, the spread of which caused an international health scare last year, appears to now be less serious in the northern hemisphere. It's time for the government to review its preventive and reactive policies on H1N1 influenza, in preparation for any strain of influenza...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 23, 2010

Different by design

HOLLYWOOD — Tim Burton, the filmmaker who gave a new spin to the classic children's book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," has now taken up the challenge of a greater classic, "Alice in Wonderland."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 20, 2010

Not showing at a family court near you

I have seen the secret Japanese video. No, not the one where you die within a week of watching it, the other one — the one about how traumatic divorce and parental separation are for children.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 17, 2010

Fuji veteran brings kids English Adventure

If you hike in the Chichibu mountains this summer in Saitama Prefecture, you may stumble across an American-style summer camp with huge tents and 50 to 60 school kids exploring nature with walks and tree-climbing adventures and enjoying campfires and roasting marshmallows.
JAPAN / Q&A
Apr 15, 2010

Financial behemoth has huge footprint

The postal system has been on the path toward privatization, but a recent Cabinet decision to double the ceiling on postal savings accounts and maintain a large government share in the postal group has turned the clock back on reform.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 15, 2010

New 3-D casts aside special glasses

While electronic makers are scrambling to release 3-D TVs, three-dimensional display technology that requires no special glasses is getting a lot of attention at a trade fair that kicked off Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 15, 2010

Why do English teachers have to be native speakers?

In Japan, non-native English-language instructors from South Asian countries are challenging cultural stereotypes and putting a new face on the industry. And it hasn't been any easy task.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 15, 2010

Ear rakes

Dear Alice,
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 13, 2010

Lawson 100 and the evolution of the convenience store

As a rule you don't go to a convenience store for value. The new exception to the rule is Lawson Store 100.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 13, 2010

What Japanese phenomena would you like to see exported abroad?

Phil MacKenzie Engineer, 47 (English) I like the communal way of eating, so I'd like to see more Japanese food overseas, like yakitori and shabu shabu. It's a fun and friendly way to eat a meal.
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2010

The DPJ's new manifesto

The Democratic Party of Japan has started preparing a new election manifesto for the coming Upper House election and is scheduled to adopt it by the end of May. Making promises that aren't financially feasible will only cost the party popular support. Therefore the DPJ should carefully review its 2009...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 9, 2010

Modernism put in perspective

Currently based in Seoul, Lee Bul is one of Korea's leading contemporary artists. She first became known for street performances incorporating provocative soft sculptures of her own design and then went on to create sculptures and installations commenting on contemporary culture and aesthetics.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2010

Hog story ties Iowa, Yamanashi

Tokyo and Washington are now locking horns over Japan's import restrictions on American beef, but when it comes to pork the story is a little bit different.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2010

Japanese executed in China for drugs

BEIJING (Kyodo) China executed convicted Japanese drug-smuggler Mitsunobu Akano on Tuesday, a move that could spark new friction in otherwise improving bilateral relations.
COMMENTARY
Apr 7, 2010

How Google got too hot for China's kitchen

It is one of the positives of my largely happy life that I never found myself in the field of public relations with a client like Beijing. It's not that there aren't many wondrously good stories about China — hundreds of millions of otherwise dirt-poor people moving up into a better economic life,...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2010

The unknown promise of Internet freedom

MELBOURNE, Australia — Google has withdrawn from China, arguing that it is no longer willing to design its search engine to block information that the Chinese government does not wish its citizens to have. In liberal democracies around the world, this decision has generally been greeted with enthusiasm....
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Apr 4, 2010

Knight's life enriched by playing abroad

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. The league's fifth season began in October. William "Billy" Knight of the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix is the subject of this week's profile.
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2010

Disrespectful Japanese welcome

I am a retired Swedish citizen who undertook a 40-day tour of Japan from Feb. 10 to March 20. I found Japanese people kind and very helpful, but I deeply resent the way the immigration and customs people treat visitors. There were many offensive questions on the customs clearance card that nobody should...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 4, 2010

Japan, please don't go grabbing Ethiopians' land

On March 15 just gone, this newspaper carried an excellent but disturbing article by John Vidal, environment editor of the London-based Guardian newspaper. He wrote about food shortages and land-grabbing in Africa, and I was particularly troubled to read about deals going on to sell Ethiopian land to...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 4, 2010

Basking in misplaced faith is no way to prepare for any disaster

"Calender journalism" is what it's called. It's when the anniversary of an event, ideally in some round number of years, provides the point of departure for an article commemorating the event and/or considering its ongoing relevance.
JAPAN / ARRIVAL OF E-READERS
Apr 3, 2010

Apple turns the medium into the message

Amid the media hype over the iPad's potential to transform Japan's conservative publishing industry, experts say the tablet computer's potential is even broader: The gadget might change the way people view videos, play video games and music, or even how they get an education.
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2010

Freedom of expression for all

The Tokyo High Court on March 29 acquitted a former worker of the now-defunct Social Insurance Agency who was indicted on allegations that he distributed copies of a Japanese Communist Party newspaper. He had been charged with violating Article 102 of the National Public Service Law, which prohibits...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2010

Japan is more than Toyota

NEW YORK — The tragic flaws discovered in Toyota cars have crowded out other news about Japan and the U.S.-Japan relationship during this 50th anniversary year of the formal U.S.-Japan security alliance.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 30, 2010

Food cooperatives offer peace of mind for a price

Food cooperatives offer guilt-free groceries delivered to your doorstep, but that peace of mind will cost you a pretty penny.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 26, 2010

Japanese bands go big in Texas at SXSW festival

AUSTIN, Texas — 'We want to conquer the world," says Okamoto's vocalist Shou Okamoto after their well-received gig at the 24th annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Music and Media Conference.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past