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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2011

Sales tax must be doubled: Yanagisawa

The consumption tax needs to be more than doubled to shore up the government's finances, given soaring debt and welfare costs, according to a member of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's tax and social security panel.
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2011

A contrarian view of how 'austerity' bleeds Japan

With the Standard and Poor's downgrading of Japan's long-term credit rating from AA to AA minus, the focus even more is on how the economy can get out of its current deflationary quagmire.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2011

FCCJ looks to woo new journalists

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan is launching a new membership campaign to make it easier for a new generation of journalists and nonjournalists to join.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 30, 2011

Voters have their apathy to blame for Japan's dire farce at the top

Here's a fable about Japanese politics circa 2011.
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2011

Task for new NHK president

NHK's new president, Mr. Masayuki Matsumoto, a former vice chairman of Central Japan Railway (JR Tokai), started his three-year term Tuesday. It is unfortunate that confusion preceded his selection by NHK's 12-member board of governors. Mr. Matsumoto learned that he was a candidate for president of the...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2011

Opposition issues Ozawa terms

Senior opposition lawmakers demanded Thursday that Ichiro Ozawa testify under oath in the Diet over his alleged involvement in falsifying political funding reports.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2011

Economics for the people

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — We are in the midst of a boom in popular economics: books, articles, blogs, public lectures, all followed closely by the general public.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2011

LDP pledges to send ruling party packing

Liberal Democratic Party President Sadakazu Tanigaki pledged Sunday at his party's annual convention to lead the fight to corner the ruling Democratic Party of Japan into dissolving the Lower House for a snap election.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2011

Making sense of Tucson

There are times when the United States seems like a strange and distant place. That distance has seemed larger than usual in the aftermath of the shooting of U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, an incident that claimed six lives and wounded 14 others. The reaction in the U.S. to that horrific incident...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2011

'Gantz'

Films about murder games of various sorts have become a popular Japanese-movie subgenre, beginning with the ultra-violent Kinji Fukasaku hit "Battle Royale" (2000) and continuing with the even more successful "Death Note" trio of films (2006-2008) — though the "game" in the latter was more of a battle...
EDITORIALS
Jan 20, 2011

Moment of truth nears

Former Democratic Party of Japan chief Ichiro Ozawa, on the advice of his attorneys, turned down a request Tuesday to submit to interrogation ahead of his expected indictment on allegations of falsely reporting political funds. The request had come from lawyers appointed by the court to act as prosecutors...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2011

Key ministers meet to weigh tax hike

Key Cabinet ministers agreed Wednesday to map out comprehensive proposals on social welfare and tax reforms, with an eye to hiking the sales levy, by June as they met for the first time to explore ways to cope with the problems of a rapidly aging society and mounting government debt.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jan 19, 2011

'Tokyo Control': Sony launches its first 3-D drama into the air

If 2010 was supposed to be 3-D's coming-out party, then in 2011 the party is poised to continue as manufacturers do their best to make this trendy technology truly stick.
EDITORIALS
Jan 18, 2011

Selection of NHK's new chief

NHK's 12-member board of governors on Jan. 15 named Mr. Masayuki Matsumoto, vice chairman of Central Japan Railway (JR Tokai), as the public broadcaster's next president, following sheer confusion in the selection process. The board members, especially board chairman Shigehiro Komaru, shoud feel ashamed...
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 17, 2011

Unusual souvenirs deliver Japan in a can

Looking for a one-of-a-kind Japanese souvenir? Good chance you might find it in a can.
COMMENTARY
Jan 17, 2011

Experts worth listening to

Each of the government's ministries and agencies has its own deliberative council. Before the fiscal 2001 ministerial reorganization — on April 27, 2000 — the government adopted the basic plan for abolishing and integrating these councils and the like. (The expression "and the like" was added because...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2011

Blasphemy hardly equates to hate speech

NEW YORK — The assassination of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province in Pakistan and an outspoken critic of religious extremism, has focused attention on his country's Draconian blasphemy law.
EDITORIALS
Jan 17, 2011

Students feel heat of joblessness

Many soon-to-graduate university students have not yet found jobs. According to a survey by the education and labor ministries, as of Oct. 1, 2010, only 57.6 percent of university students scheduled to graduate this spring have secured jobs. The figure is a record low and below the figure of slightly...

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes