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BASKETBALL
Feb 16, 2009

Apache, Five Arrows make big statements

Two second-place clubs posted statement-making sweeps and moved within a game of the bj-league's conference leaders over the weekend.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Feb 16, 2009

Tigers, Hawks busy breaking in new skippers during spring training

With spring training under way, fans in Osaka and Fukuoka are watching closely as their teams undergo a change.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Feb 16, 2009

Germans, Japanese have good reasons for shunning equities

S tock markets around the world are really beginning to feel the effects of the financial crisis of 2008, with some industry watchers estimating that as much as $30 trillion of total market capitalization has been lost worldwide since 2007. This is hurting investors everywhere, big and small.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2009

Untying 'postretirement' jobs

Prime Minister Taro Aso has come out rather harsh against the job-placement practices of bureaucrats in postretiretment. But it is unclear whether this change of mind will lead to effective control of the practices criticized for giving unfair advantages to bureaucrats.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2009

Waiting for the right pension

The existence of some 50 million hard-to-identify pension-premium payment records surfaced in 2007. Then, in 2008, the tampering of records related to Kosei Nenkin (pension system mainly for company employees) surfaced. Progress in rectifying the situation is slow.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2009

Involve, don't attack, China

HONG KONG — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her maiden overseas trip has a golden opportunity to show that the new administration of Barack Obama understands and is prepared to make its best efforts to put America's most important bilateral relationship on a surer footing. I'm not talking...
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2009

Suggestion for teaching English

In the Feb. 5 article, "What's wrong with the way English is taught in Japan": It would have been better if writer Gregory Clark had admitted that neither he nor anybody else is capable of dismissing the efforts of teachers and students alike without a comprehensive grasp of the situation in every school...
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2009

Fruits of hyper-individualism

The Feb. 8 Natural Selections article, "City ecology explains Japan's low birthrate," provides all sorts of academic- sounding theories and buzzwords that make Japan's low birthrate seem like just another inevitable result of an irresistible force. I would offer another reason.
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2009

Release of Guantanamo prisoners

Regarding Michael Richardson's Feb. 4 article, "Guantanamo closure raises key issues for U.S.": I do not perceive the purpose of Richardson's reciting well-known facts without rendering an opinion. One has to interpret his opinion from his stress on the negative implications of President Barack Obama's...
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2009

Limit the trial role of victims

Regarding Philip Brasor's Feb. 8 Media Mix article, "New law may backfire on victims": Sometimes it seems that many people have forgotten that a trial has a two parts: First, the defendant is found innocent or guilty; then, if guilty, punishment is imposed. This is supposed to be true in Japan, just...
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2009

Model for enterprising youths

Alex Martin's Feb. 11 article, "Shoe shiner buffs his trade into fine art," is a remarkable story of determination, humility, entrepreneurialism and a sharp mind for business growth. Yuya Hasegawa has raised shining shoes to an art form. The article doesn't mention the fact that there's a definite psychological...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2009

Tokyo orchid extravaganza wows flower lovers

A myriad of orchids enchanted visitors at Tokyo Dome in Bunkyo Ward on Saturday, kicking off a nine-day floral event crowned with prizewinning orchid works.
EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2009

EU-China relations back on track

Europe's relations with China appear to be back on track. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's recent tour of Europe was by all accounts a success, with both sides eager to put behind them last year's unpleasantness — a high-level China-EU meeting was canceled because of China's objections to French President...

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