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Reader Mail
Nov 8, 2007

Nagasaki open and friendly

Regarding the Oct. 28 letter "Ebb and flow of discrimination": I was surprised to read that anti-American sentiment is prevalent in Nagasaki. I have been living in Nagayo, Nagasaki, for five years and can honestly say that I have never suffered from any discriminatory remarks or rude behavior, other...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2007

Gen. Musharraf's last act?

PRAGUE — Desperate to hold onto power, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has discarded Pakistan's constitutional framework and declared a state of emergency. His goal? To stifle the independent judiciary and free media. Artfully, though shamelessly, he has tried to sell this action as an effort to bring...
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2007

Arriving outside Narita will be worse

OSAKA — As annoying as the new fingerprinting procedure will be for non-Japanese going through immigration at Narita International Airport, it is going to be much worse for foreign residents who don't live in the Tokyo area.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2007

Nova faces liquidation after sale

OSAKA — Nova Corp.'s court-appointed administrators plan to sell 30 of the failed language school chain's 670 branches to G.communication grp. and liquidate the rest, making tuition refunds very unlikely.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2007

Let history judge Russia's revolutions

PRAGUE — A plethora of anniversaries is arriving in Russia. This fall marks the 90th anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917 and the 25th anniversary of the death of Leonid Brezhnev. Next month will see the 15th anniversary of the Soviet Union's disintegration. Only by understanding that first...
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2007

Quick profits, yes, but merger mania has its share of failures

Mergers and acquisitions are making headlines as companies increasingly seize on consolidations to generate quick profits to reward shareholders and cope with intensifying competition in a saturated domestic market.
Reader Mail
Nov 8, 2007

Nova system could still work

The Nov. 4 editorial, "Nova burns out," about the rise and fall of the English-teaching company, was very enlightening. Instead of painting a dark and destructive picture of the situation, it illustrated basic facts: Nova had 300,000-plus students who were paying for mostly English lessons, and in Japan...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 7, 2007

Ochiai's Dragons aim to capture Asia Series championship

Fresh off conquering Japanese baseball, the Chunichi Dragons are turning their attention to Asian supremacy.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2007

Biofuel quest, climate, urban flight endangering key staple

havoc with rice crops," Zeigler said in an interview last month. Rice is a staple in more than 100 countries and provides 20 percent of the calories humans consume. About 90 percent of the land used to grow rice is in Asia, with India, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and the...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2007

Ozawa to stay on as DPJ president

quit easily," said Kazuhiro Harada, a DPJ Lower House lawmaker. "I promised the public that we would make (Ozawa) prime minister." One DPJ Lower House lawmaker who asked to remain anonymous, however, expressed dissatisfaction.
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2007

Time for Musharraf to go

Waterloo, ONTARIO — For outsiders as for Pakistanis, the choice is between worse and worst: a militantly Islamic, 160 million strong, nuclear-armed failed state at the strategic crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. Pakistan's fate has rested historically on the three A's: Allah,...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2007

Recidivism rate reached an all-time high in 2006

Despite an overall decline in reported crimes nationwide, those committed by repeat offenders reached a record high in 2006, according to a Justice Ministry white paper released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2007

Three relationships the U.S. must tend to

LOS ANGELES — Three of the largest pieces in the sprawling jigsaw puzzle known as Asia are, of course, China, India and Japan. The first is the most populous country on Earth, the second is the most populous democracy and the third is the world's second-biggest economy — and (theoretically) chief...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2007

Nova union seeks way to hold classes

A union for Nova Corp. employees is calling on students and teachers to meet outside their old schools Saturday so they can find a way to continue classes independently of the failed foreign-language school chain.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2007

Softbank profits triple as mobile users mount

Softbank Corp. said Tuesday its net profit more than tripled to ¥46.46 billion in the six months that ended Sept. 30 from ¥14.4 billion a year earlier after winning more mobile phone subscribers than bigger rivals NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Nov 7, 2007

Pride towers amid ongoing woes

In 1669, the Ainu leader Shakushain, who rose up and united the Ainu in rebellion against Japanese invaders, was called on to observe a truce, and invited to a banquet in his honor. The Matsumae clan, who had established a foothold on the island then called Ezo, now Hokkaido, by building a castle in...
EDITORIALS
Nov 7, 2007

Bizarre offer to quit

Mr. Ichiro Ozawa's announcement of his offer to resign as head of the Democratic Party of Japan, which controls the Upper House together with other opposition forces, was too abrupt and bizarre. His behavior was irresponsible, especially in light of his party's strength in the Upper House. He had the...

Longform

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