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BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2009

CPI unchanged in January

Consumer prices failed to rise in January for the first time in more than a year as households cut spending amid a deepening recession.
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2009

Little reason for Indians to claim 'Slumdog'

CHENNAI, India — Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" may have walked away with eight of the 10 Oscars it was nominated for, including those for Best Picture and Best Director, but the euphoria it has created in India is clearly misplaced.
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2009

Econ lessons from Japan

Searching the reasons for Japan's "lost decade" — the deflation and stunted growth said to have plagued Japan ever since the collapse of the "bubble economy" in the early 1990s — has long been popular among U.S. and British commentators seeking an answer to the West's current economic problems.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2009

TGE turns down Tocom merger

The Tokyo Grain Exchange, which forecasts a net loss this year, is rejecting proposals to merge with other bourses and will boost product offerings to revive profit, according to Chairman Yoshiaki Watanabe.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2009

Deterioration outpacing predictions

Bank of Japan Policy Board member Tadao Noda said the economy is deteriorating more than the central bank forecast last month as the global recession triggers unprecedented drops in exports and output.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2009

Lots of blame to go around for 'losing' Turkey

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — "Who lost Turkey?" That question, often raised in the past, has been heating up in the aftermath of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's emotional outburst during the recent World Economic Forum 2009 in Davos, when he abruptly left a panel he was sharing with Israeli President Shimon...
COMMENTARY
Feb 25, 2009

Building an Asian safety net

Asian finance ministers have agreed to build a regional safety net to help countries withstand currency weakness and avoid a financial meltdown. However, they appear to be making haste slowly when the deepening global recession demands decisive action.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2009

Success of Kosovo is Europe's responsibility

PRAGUE — On Feb. 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence and has so far been recognized by more than 50 countries representing close to 60 percent of the world's economic power. Interethnic violence — which many feared — has largely been avoided and the mass exodus of Serbs that some also predicted...
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2009

Japan may get a say in U.S. Afghan policy

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Japan is likely to participate in the United States' review of its strategy in Afghanistan, sources close to Japanese-U.S. relations said Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2009

Opposition bill lowers hepatitis patients' costs

Four opposition parties jointly submitted a bill Friday to the Lower House that would greatly reduce medical costs that hepatitis B and C patients need to shoulder for expensive interferon treatment and antiviral medication.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2009

Envoy lauds role of ODA in Azerbaijan's development

Official development assistance may be on a long-term decline, but its effectiveness remains integral to Azerbaijan's development, the country's deputy foreign minister said Friday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Feb 20, 2009

Schiller works to keep baseball on world stage

As Major League Baseball struggles to decide how to punish players who take performance-enhancing drugs, International Baseball Federation president Harvey Schiller made his opinion on the matter loud and clear as it pertains to the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2009

Aso accepts blame for Nakagawa

Prime Minister Taro Aso apologized Thursday over the abrupt exit in disgrace of Shoichi Nakagawa as finance minister and accepted responsibility for appointing him.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Feb 20, 2009

Sumo, a sport of humble respect and grand entrances

Sumo is a physical sport to many, but it is very much a spiritual rite to others. The bouts commence and end with a bow, in much the same way as judo or kendo bouts start with a similar acknowledgment of the opponent. Mutual respect is forever the name of the de facto national game.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2009

Justice Ministry looking to take over foreigner ID cards

The Justice Ministry has drafted a bill to abolish the current system for Alien Registration Cards handled at the local level and instead directly manage data on registered foreign residents using a new ID, members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel said Tuesday.
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...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Feb 15, 2009

Amazing feats on the hoof

As I joined lines of people shuffling into a covered arena in Kiba, eastern Tokyo, one night recently, the scent of the air became distinctly more rural than urban.
SOCCER
Feb 14, 2009

Man United gives Giggs new deal

MANCHESTER, England (AP) Ryan Giggs, Manchester United's most decorated player, has agreed to a one-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until June 2010.
COMMENTARY
Feb 14, 2009

When it's wrong to protect

LONDON — A government's first duty is to protect its citizens. So say all the authorities and experts. It sounds simple, but in practice and in real life it is a very complex and problematic matter.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past