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BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2010

Kan may need ¥7 trillion tax hike

Prime Minister Naoto Kan may have to raise taxes by as much as ¥7 trillion to fulfill his pledge to cap bond sales in coming years, according to an independent adviser to the government.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2010

Synthetic biology's promise outweighs its risks

MELBOURNE — In the 16th century, the alchemist Paracelsus offered a recipe for creating a living being that began with putting sperm into putrefying "venter equinus." This is usually translated as "horse manure," but the Latin "venter" means abdomen or uterus.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 15, 2010

A light of hope for abused children

In the dock, Katsuyuki Okuno cut a strange figure as he listened baby-faced, chubby, graying, frightened and seemingly unable to understand what he had done.
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2010

Flawed pretrial investigation

On June 14, 2009, the special investigation squad of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office arrested Ms. Atsuko Muraki, who was then chief of the welfare ministry's Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau, on suspicion of issuing a fabricated certificate to recognize an organization as a...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2010

Palestinians preparing for 'independence'

JERUSALEM — Although the crisis over Israel's naval interventions to defend its blockade of Gaza is gaining all the headlines around the world, something of far more historic importance is taking place in the Middle East. The Palestine National Authority is preparing to issue a unilateral declaration...
COMMENTARY
Jun 13, 2010

Japan-U.S. relations cry out for new management, dialogue

Ripples, frictions, uneasiness, concern and even dismay — these are the words by which most of the Japanese mass-media commentaries characterize present Japan-U.S. relations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 13, 2010

Brides, boats and blooms

The bride in the garden is a vision in white, her snowy dress contrasting sharply with the brilliant purple of the irises around her.
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2010

Who to credit for Asia's extraordinary rise?

LOS ANGELES — The extraordinary rise of Asia in recent decades cannot be understood or appreciated without some reference to outstanding leadership. Consider the experience of other regions of the world.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2010

Rightist also tells theaters to run 'Cove'

A movie director, journalists and even a rightist voiced opposition to movie theaters canceling the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove" after watching the movie with some 550 other people in Tokyo on Wednesday night.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 11, 2010

Yokohama seeks French joie de vivre

Yokohama is known for its international flair and this month the French Tricolore will paint the city.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 10, 2010

Annals of cheap: UR apartments to die for

With UR rentals, you can land an apartment for half the price ... as long as you're not easily spooked.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jun 10, 2010

Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani

Toru Iwatani, 55, is the designer of Pac-Man, the classic video game that virtually kick-started the world market for the video-gaming industry. Released by Namco in Tokyo on May 22, 1980, Pac-Man made history as the first video game that appealed to both genders and to all age groups. Idea-man Iwatani,...
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2010

Universities' risky business

Effective April 1 — the start of the new academic year — I became president of Shiga University, a "national university corporation" near Lake Biwa in Japan's Kansai region. It is a relatively small institute consisting only of the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Economics.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 6, 2010

Beyond belief: Graveyard business expands

Thinking ahead to reserving a cemetery plot in Tokyo? It's a gravely serious business.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 6, 2010

Dancing for joy in Japan

As I sipped my vin rouge last week during an interval in "The Sleeping Beauty," K-Ballet's latest Tokyo production, a woman at the next table said to her companion: "I can't believe that evil fairy was a man! I just naturally thought it was a woman dancing that role."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 6, 2010

Grappling with the gangsters

Some years ago, a Japanese friend suggested we have dinner together at a chanko-nabe restaurant because neither of us had ever been to one. Chanko-nabe is the fortifying stew that sumo wrestlers grow fat on, and they all learn how to make it. Many rikishi (sumo wrestler) who don't become stable masters...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 6, 2010

Chaos will reign if hidden Buddhas die

"Hidden Buddhas," or hibutsu, are Buddhist statues that are kept out of sight, though only a few are kept so permanently. Most are put on display for worshippers at regular intervals: once or twice a year, once every several years, once every 33 or 66 years.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2010

Exporters keep dreaming of a buyers' wonderland

HONG KONG — It is a measure of the nervous mess of world financial markets that when the Financial Times reported last week that China was reviewing its assets denominated in euros, the markets promptly plummeted. The very next day — when China denied any such euro-review — there was a massive...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan