search

 
 
COMMENTARY
Sep 13, 2007

Lashing out at U.S. won't help Taiwan

TAIPEI — For all the divisions that define Taiwan politics, parties on both ends of the political spectrum agree on one thing: The island is in trouble. At that point, however, they part ways.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 13, 2007

An excess of curating

One of the key elements of the Istanbul Biennial is the city itself. Founded by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great in A.D. 330 as the first world's Christian capital, it was long the glorious center of the Byzantine Empire, before becoming the capital of the Ottoman Turks. Today, it's a megacity...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2007

Little public sympathy for Abe's downfall

It came out of the blue, but people walking the streets of Tokyo were not especially disappointed to hear Wednesday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was resigning.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2007

Twisting history for unpleasant purposes

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, New York — U.S. President George W. Bush is not generally known for his firm grasp of history. But this has not stopped him from using history to justify his policies. In a recent speech to American war veterans in Kansas City, he defended his aim to "stay the course" in Iraq by...
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2007

Stocks fall on Abe's decision to step down

Stock prices closed lower Wednesday following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's surprise announcement of his decision to resign.
EDITORIALS
Sep 13, 2007

Mr. Abe calls it a day

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's sudden announcement of his resignation came as a surprise, even to his close aides. Just two days before, he had delivered a policy speech at the start of the extraordinary Diet session, and 15 days before, he had reshuffled his Cabinet.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2007

U.S. envoy touts Kansai

OSAKA — The Kansai region should not remain a well-kept secret but ought instead to promote itself as an attractive destination for foreign direct investment, the U.S. ambassador to APEC said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2007

Ozawa says DPJ ready for election; still opposes MSDF law

Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa said Wednesday his party will be prepared for the possible dissolution of the Lower House and general election following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's surprise resignation announcement.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2007

Exit should have come sooner: critics

For the Liberal Democratic Party, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's resignation Wednesday was too long in coming, and regaining the public's trust will have to be the LDP's main objective from this point forward, critics said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 13, 2007

Look inside the puppet's head

"One aspiring to become a puppet operator would have to spend 10 years to master the handling of the puppet's feet and another 10 years to be able to operate its left hand," says Yoshida Bunjaku, 79, one of two omozukai (principal puppeteers) awarded the title of Living National Treasure. "While he is...
COMMENTARY
Sep 13, 2007

Europe's quarreling crew

LONDON — The European Union is again entering stormy seas. Like a ship with a mutinous crew it is drifting dangerously while above and below decks arguments rage about how Europe should be run. The EU has weathered past crises and often emerged stronger, but this time the rocks ahead are very large,...
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2007

Nomura, Norinchukin form venture

Nomura Holdings Inc. said it will form a venture with Norinchukin Bank Ltd. next year to invest assets for Japanese pension funds.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2007

Current account surplus widens on rise in overseas investment, exports

The current account surplus got bigger in July as companies and individuals earned more from their overseas investments and exports increased, the Finance Ministry reported Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 13, 2007

Memories of fortresses and clouds

Watching on television as the second plane hit the World Trade Center in 2001, Japanese sculptor Masayuki Nagare's thoughts were not with his most famous sculpture, "Cloud Fortress" (1975), which was located at the base of the towers. The then 78-year-old was recalling a time 58 years earlier when, as...
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Character can't stave off disaster

Tom Plate's comments on Thai vitality and resilience in his Aug. 28 article, "Thai character trumps flaws of politics," were, in my opinion, spot on. He went on to say that due to this national character, Thailand would never become a "gloomy" Myanmar or North Korea. But if one looks deeper, Plate seems...
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Plenty to do in EU's backyard

Regarding the Thai prime minister's refusal of the EU offer to oversee the forthcoming Thai election, Surayud Chulanont might just be on to something. There are elections and referendums within the European Union that would provide lots of work for the EU's Electoral Commission, except that they won't...
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2007

Cops not told of pension embezzlement

method from now on and consider ways to prevent similar incidents." On Tuesday, however, he said it is impossible for the government to file criminal complaints against the embezzlers now because of a seven-year statute of limitation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2007

Japan enters orbit of nations exploring the moon

The moon has languished in the shadows of space exploration since the heyday of manned missions in the 1960s and 1970s, eclipsed by projects focused on Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, not to mention the U.S. space shuttle and the International Space Station.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell