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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2009

Losers can live with Lebanon's 'West' vote

BEIRUT — Lebanon's voters have handed a clear defeat to the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance. In a smoothly run and peaceful election, the pro-Western March 14 alliance emerged with a clear majority of 71 seats, compared to 58 seats for its rivals. The results elicited a nearly audible sigh of relief...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jun 10, 2009

'Random' drug tests make JSA look bad

What a joke.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2009

Recession easing, key gauge shows

Japan's deepest postwar recession is easing, the government's broadest measure of economic health indicated Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2009

Pandemic test eyed for cell phones

A few months from now, a highly contagious disease will spread through a Japanese elementary school. The epidemic will start with several unwitting children, who will infect others as they attend classes and wander the halls.
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2009

Build poor countries with trade

David Howell's May 28 article, "West resembles Mr. Jellyby," would have to be one of the most perceptive articles on (foreign aid) that I have seen to date. Quite apart from recycling the old saying "charity begins at home," it correctly points out that the continuing pouring of that commodity into struggling...
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2009

Raising the birthrate

The nation's total fertility rate (TFR) — the number of children an average woman gives birth to — has increased for three consecutive years. This is good news. But the rise occurred as the Japanese economy was expanding. The economic downturn that started last fall may have an adverse effect. The...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 6, 2009

Japan's own Onion

"America's finest news source" is the slogan of The Onion, a satirical newspaper in the U.S that pokes fun at current events. I think a newspaper like this would go over well in Japan too. Here are some top stories I could imagine:
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2009

Reviving the travel bug

Two years ago the government started to promote tourism, partly to increase domestic demand and to raise the No. 2 world economy's claim on tourism revenues (No. 26 in the world in 2007).
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2009

Diet extension gives Aso breathing space

Now that the Diet session has been extended until July 28, the spotlight has shifted back to Prime Minister Taro Aso as politicians and analysts try to predict when he will dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election.
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2009

The path with North Korea

What is North Korea up to? Is it trying to undermine the six-party talks in order to force Washington to deal with Pyongyang directly, as some experts claim? Or, as others maintain with equal certainty, is it sending a signal that it is not interested in talks at all, given current domestic political...
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2009

Pyongyang purge seen speeding helm change

As speculation mounts that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has selected third son Kim Jong Un to succeed him, information obtained Wednesday suggested a purge has begun of people close to Kim Jong Nam, the dictator's first son and former heir apparent to the hermit regime.
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2009

Debt-to-GDP ratio should be cut: panel

The government should reduce its public debt to gross domestic product ratio "in a stable manner" and start eliminating its budget deficits to sustain fiscal health, a Finance Ministry panel said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 2009

Now what's good for GM?

General Motors Corp. symbolized U.S. prosperity in the postwar period. Its weight in the U.S. economy was summed up by the phase "What's good for General Motors is good for America" — attributed to a 1953 statement by GM's Chairman and CEO Charles Wilson.
COMMENTARY
Jun 2, 2009

To Obama and others of his ilk: Quit now!

MIAMI — We expected broken promises. But the gap between the soaring expectations that accompanied Barack Obama's inauguration and his wretched performance is the broadest such chasm in recent historical memory. This guy makes Bill Clinton look like a paragon of integrity and follow-through.
Reader Mail
May 31, 2009

Motivations that drive people

In his May 20 article, "France's economy shines," William Pfaff argues for the "centralized, interventionist" French model of the capitalist economy. The neo-Gaullist Nicolas Sarkozy's France has produced better results than the so-called Anglo-Saxon model, he says.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2009

Creation of a consumer agency

By a unanimous vote, the Upper House of the Diet has enacted bills to create a government agency to promote consumers' rights. A consumer agency is likely to be established by this fall at the earliest. The agency should strive to realize the ideal of former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who in April...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 31, 2009

A slight unmasking of Japan's flu 'pandemic'

While traveling through Scandinavia two weeks ago, I had scant opportunity to monitor Japan's anxiety over the sudden increase in confirmed cases of H1N1 flu that led to closings of schools in the Kansai region. Europe seemed barely concerned about the new flu and when I caught BBC World in hotel rooms...
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2009

Obamanomics gets warning flag

PALO ALTO, Calif. — It is still too soon to gauge the full economic impact of U.S. President Barack Obama's implemented and proposed policies, but a preliminary read indicates limited short-term benefit at large long-term cost.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years