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COMMENTARY
Feb 7, 2012

Capital pain: pay, bonuses

The recent international jamboree at Davos provided ample opportunity for the "great and the good," as well as the not so great and not so good, to enjoy gourmet meals and doubtless lashings of champagne ultimately at the expense of tax-payers. The participants also had time to exchange views on current...
COMMENTARY
Feb 4, 2012

The political hygienists' assault on free speech

Dina Galassini does not seem to pose a threat to Arizona's civic integrity. But the government of this desert community believes you cannot be too careful. And state law empowers local governments to be vigilant against the lurking danger that political speech might occur before the speakers notify the...
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2012

Let economic impetus drive a deal in territorial dispute

Judging by the latest events in the seemingly endless territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over the "Northern Territories," the Japanese side has decided to confirm its steadfast stance by presenting strong historical and judicial arguments — some traditional, some rather new.
COMMENTARY
Jan 17, 2012

Democracy and growth: Russia's great challenge

At this particular historic moment, the urgency of the economic assimilation of new natural and human resources worldwide is somehow obscured by the global crisis and by the necessity of reforming the global financial system.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 17, 2012

Tokyo: What website could you not live without?

Eleanor
COMMENTARY
Jan 6, 2012

Russia's mental adjustment

Through the centuries, every people — big or small — has been working out its own approaches to various sides of life that, summed up, predestine its mentality and national character.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 4, 2012

Mothers first to shed food-safety complacency

The disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and the threat of radioactive fallout changed the lives of many people, including Mizuho Nakayama and other mothers of young children whose primary goal suddenly became that of keeping their kids out of harm's way.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Dec 28, 2011

Futenma plan once again thorn in side of DPJ

The submission of the environmental assessment on Henoko in Okinawa sparked polarized reactions from the governments in Tokyo and Washington and the people of Okinawa, underscoring the gap in awareness over the contentious relocation of the Futenma air base.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 27, 2011

Kamakura: What word for you sums up 2011?

Mattia CimolaiStudent, 23 (Italian)Change. I'm from Italy and this year a lot of things have changed there, like the government and so on.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 20, 2011

Yokohama: What are your all-time best and worst Christmas tunes?

Jerri HarperHousewife, 46 (American)My favorite is "Silent Night." My least favorite is "Jingle Bells" — it's annoying.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Japan Pulse
Dec 16, 2011

Warm up with these winter drinks trends

Milking the current trends, beverage makers unveil their winter lineups, perfect for warming you up on a cold winter day.
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 13, 2011

What will be Japan's next big cultural export?

Cezar ConstantinRestaurateur, 34 (Romanian)Tourism. Japan is very special, very different to anywhere else in the world. The culture and history are very well-preserved, and many of the traditions are still alive here.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 13, 2011

What will be Japan's next big cultural export?

Cezar ConstantinRestaurateur, 34 (Romanian)Tourism. Japan is very special, very different to anywhere else in the world. The culture and history are very well-preserved, and many of the traditions are still alive here.
COMMENTARY
Dec 9, 2011

Russia's cooperation options for design of a trade scheme

Nowadays the trend toward trade and investment liberalization is developing under restraints of the opposite — protectionist — tendency strengthened by the shaky and unpredictable world situation, which in turn was created by the global financial and economic crisis.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Dec 8, 2011

New era for New Year's cards

It'll be nengajo time soon, and clever entrepreneurs have got you covered.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 6, 2011

Tokyo: What are the challenges facing foreigners when learning Japanese?

Iain Naughton, 30Event promoter (Scottish)Motivation. It's all too easy to live here and not learn Japanese. I attended the cheap ward office lessons but everything was in kana and kanji. I felt discouraged but determined to try again.
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2011

Russian Asia mega-project

Unprejudiced analysis brings us to the conclusion that Russia does not have many choices concerning its immediate economic future. Let us hope that Soviet-style "autarky" is out of the question.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 29, 2011

Kamakura: So what's Thanksgiving all about?

Matt PiaggiStudent, 22 (New Zealander)Some American relatives came over and did Thanksgiving for us. My uncle stood up in front of us and said that it was about giving thanks for the family we've got. I loved the turkey we ate.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 22, 2011

Sapporo: What's so great about winter in Hokkaido?

Charles HarrisonCompany director, 28 (Australian)Aside from the amazing snow, the variety of people in Hokkaido is great. I've been in and out of Hokkaido now for four years but I love it so much I'd like to base myself here.
COMMENTARY
Nov 18, 2011

Historic choices for Russia

Recently the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza stated that the foreign ministers of Poland and Germany — Radoslaw Sikorski and Guido Westerwelle — have worked out a common position concerning an eventual EU policy toward Russia.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 15, 2011

If you could meet any living Japanese person, who would it be?

COMMENTARY
Nov 11, 2011

Two days that shook the CIS

On Oct. 18-19, eight of 11 members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — gathering in St. Petersburg for its annual session — accepted a proposal from Russian Prime Minister and returning President Vladimir Putin to establish a free trade zone, thus taking a decisive step toward a Eurasian...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 6, 2011

'American Jesus'

Iwas thrilled when, around Easter this year, I received an email from a leading American publishing house.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 1, 2011

Designs that come out of the blue

Reflecting on Okinawa's natural pigmentations, one thinks instinctively of the red of its hibiscus, the pinks and mauves of bougainvillea, the green of ripening shikuwasa limes and fukugi trees. The strongest association, though, is blue.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 25, 2011

Tokyo: What spooks you in Japan?

Mike HannahMechanic, 30 (Australian)Being followed. It's always been a nightmare. To think that someone is lurking about outside your house while you are doing something as normal as cooking a steak.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2011

What is in store for Russian Asia?

When the Soviet Union disintegrated, a large number of ethnic Russians and other Russian-speaking and Russian-cultured peoples remained outside the borders of the Russian Federation — creating, in the short run, many acute and complicated problems but, in the long run, eventually facilitating a revival...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 18, 2011

Fuji Five Lakes: What are your thoughts on hiking prices on everything from food to utility bills in the wake of the 3/11 disasters?

Robin Lawrentz, 34Yamanashi local government (American)It will be a greater burden in rural Japan where the economy is already struggling. There it will just take more out of money out of people's hands. But people will get used to it unless the change becomes drastic.

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