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JAPAN
Mar 11, 2009

East Timor leader acknowledges aid

Japanese aid for infrastructure-building is vital to the development of East Timor, the Southeast Asian country's prime minister, Xanana Gusmao, said Tuesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2009

Cost of five Aso trips overseas — ¥658 million

Travel isn't cheap, and the fees rise even higher when it's the prime minister heading overseas.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2009

Ozawa denies wrongdoing, vows to stay on

Despite rising public pressure to resign as president of the Democratic Party of Japan over the scandal involving alleged illicit donations from Nishimatsu Construction Co., Ichiro Ozawa said Tuesday he will stay at his post and denied any wrongdoing on his part.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2009

Yosano sets aside fiscal discipline

Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Tuesday he will put on hold the quest to restore the nation's fiscal health and pull out all stops to revive the economy, which continues to dive.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2009

Building markets we need

VIENNA — The greatest challenge of the current global financial crisis is the seeming impossibility of comprehending and managing its diversity. Indeed, the way problems are proliferating appears almost uncontrollable. Plans to meet the crisis, in country after country, have been revamped and restructured...
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2009

Step up efforts to slash emissions

Prior to the Toyako Group of Eight summit in July 2008, Japan adopted a long-range goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by 60 to 80 percent by 2050 from the current level. But compared with other major developed countries, Japan has been slow in deciding on a midrange reduction goal.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 11, 2009

Catwalks for the King, a shot at glory for his underlings

With the Spring Basho less than two weeks away now, sumo fans might be forgiven for thinking something is amiss given the lack of any real news coming out of Osaka.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 11, 2009

Nakasone predicts major changes in politics

Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who still exerts much influence in Japanese politics at the age of 90, hailed Ichiro Ozawa in an interview toward the end of last year as "having gained dignity, insight and stature during the past year" as the man qualified to lead his Democratic Party of Japan...
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2009

Mr. Aso lands on Okinawa

Prime Minister Taro Aso visited Okinawa Prefecture over the weekend for the first time since he came to power in September, and met with Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima. He did not visit any U.S. military bases or their vicinity, as he apparently sought to avoid luring public attention to base-related issues....
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 11, 2009

An A-to-O guide to Japan's obsession with blood types

The Japanese have a passion for filing and categorization that reaches fever pitch when it comes to the always-popular system of classifying people by their A, B, AB or O blood group — "ketsuekigata" (血液型, blood type)." Women, especially, will ask about the blood type of anyone we feel friendly...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2009

Iraq is stable enough for U.S. troops to leave

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration's decision to withdraw the bulk of U.S. troops from Iraq over the next 19 months has sparked fears that Iraq will once again plunge into the wide-scale and debilitating violence that it endured from 2004 to 2007. Those fears are, for the most part, overblown. There...
BASKETBALL
Mar 11, 2009

Evessa's Washington nabs honor

With power forward Lynn Washington leading the way, the Osaka Evessa earned a two-game sweep over the Toyama Grouses last weekend.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 11, 2009

Woodson doing good job of handling Smith

NEW YORK — Before Saturday night's come-from-behind victory over the Pistons, I wasn't sensing much love in Dixie, where Josh Smith and Hawks coach Mike Woodson dropped the verbal gloves at halftime of Friday night's seven-point loss to the Bobcats. It was shades of two seasons ago when the coach banished...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2009

Colonel stages a comeback in Osaka

Is it an evil omen or harbinger of better days for hundreds of thousands of baseball fans in the Kansai region?
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2009

Gauging Obama's Asia policy

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent trip to Asia underscored elements of continuity and change in the Obama administration's Asia policy. Generally speaking, her visits to Japan, South Korea and China represented continuity; her trip to Indonesia signaled change.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2009

Insight is bright light amid auto doldrums

Honda has taken 18,000 orders for its hybrid Insight since the model hit the domestic market about a month ago, outpacing its target and underlining the success of the new affordable and ecological vehicle, the carmaker said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2009

Sony Ericsson sees demand falling

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., the mobile phone venture of Sony Corp. and Ericsson AB, expects industry shipments to decline more than 5 percent this year.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo