Search - world

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 27, 2010

Immersed in epic visions of nature

It is as epic as it is arresting. With a gentle whirr, thousands of white feathers are blown into the air in a vast clear space where they proceed to toss and tumble like snowflakes.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2010

Looking at a double dip

The U.S. economy is faltering. Consumer confidence is shaky and business uncertainty is rife, and the two create an ugly downward spiral. Worried about tomorrow's bottom line, companies refuse to hire. Fearful of being unemployed, consumers are tightening their belts. The result is a stagnant economy...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2010

Aussies facing a rocky ride

SYDNEY — An electoral rout of both major political parties, Labor and Liberal, has left Australian voters confused and angry. After decades of economic growth the uncertainty could not come at a worse time as the United States appears to slide into a double-dip recession threatening world markets....
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2010

When scores of centenarians fall off radar

Japan prides itself on the world's longest life expectancy but is struggling with a disturbing footnote to that statistic — revelations that hundreds of people listed as its oldest citizens are either long dead or haven't been heard from for decades.
LIFE / Digital
Aug 25, 2010

Twitter delivers creative way for ad agencies to play

While Twitter itself is still struggling to find a profitable business plan, Japanese ad agencies have quickly embraced the micro-blogging service to create innovative campaigns.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 24, 2010

Wartime labor redress efforts at key juncture

Sixty-five years since the end of World War II, and one year since the Democratic Party of Japan came to power, redress campaigns for forced labor in wartime Japan are bearing promising fruit and entering a decisive phase.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2010

Weak START for the mindset of deterrence

LOS ANGELES — A strange sense of deja vu is gripping Washington these days, as the debate over ratification by the U.S. Senate of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russia heats up. Spats have broken out among the Obama administration, future presidential contenders, senators,...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 22, 2010

Of forests and floods

Last week I enjoyed the sublime luxury of watching a sunrise from the middle of a lake in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, Maine.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 22, 2010

Inui, Cerezo outplay Antlers in big match

KASHIMA, Ibaraki Pref. — Cerezo Osaka denied Kashima Antlers top spot in the J. League table and leapfrogged the defending champion into second place for good measure with a 1-0 win on Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2010

Tattoo as art on human canvases

The human body becomes a canvas in the hands of tattoo artist Horiyoshi III. Each dot, each line is carefully engraved, until gradually it becomes a colorful masterpiece.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2010

Hostility against Jews increasing in Sweden

VIENNA — Last month, firecrackers were thrown at the only synagogue in the Swedish city of Malmo, breaking three windows. The day before, a bomb threat had been left at the building, warning of what was about to happen. Two weeks earlier, another attack was launched against the same synagogue.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2010

When does transparency start eating its tail?

PRINCETON, N.J. — Transparency seems to be the word of the day in a wide array of policy domains. But is greater transparency always good?
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2010

Japan's experience highlights perils for China

Until the global financial crisis hit, China had achieved export-led high economic growth by keeping its currency at an undervalued level. It is now abundantly clear that the growth model is not sustainable. The People's Bank of China reinstated the "managed floating exchange rate regime with reference...
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Aug 10, 2010

Cuba-U.S. finale showcases baseball's Olympic worth

Sadaharu Oh saw a great game on Saturday night. Too bad IOC president Jacques Rogge wasn't there to watch it with him.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 8, 2010

A warm embrace for ruff justice

Some years ago, a Belgian woman named An van Dienderen wondered why so many Japanese tourists visited her hometown of Antwerp, and particularly its cathedral. She learned that they wanted to see the place where the boy Nello and his faithful dog Patrasche died in the story "A Dog of Flanders." This thin...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 6, 2010

With only a few new works a year, Ishinha is all about quality theater

Among all of Japan's many theater companies, the innovative Osaka- based Ishinha (Reformers), founded in 1970 by its current director Yukichi Matsumoto, has stood out consistently. While most companies eye their bottom line, pack their schedules with different productions and move to Tokyo to maximize...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2010

'No One Knows About Persian Cats'

Persian cats may be the next cool thing, but don't be misled: We're not talking about the feline kind.
EDITORIALS
Aug 5, 2010

Roiling the South China Sea

The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Asia's only regional security mechanism, is often derided as a mere "talk shop," where diplomats gather to discuss security concerns but never actually do anything about them. At this year's annual foreign ministers' meeting, which convened late last month in Hanoi, words...
SOCCER / World cup
Aug 4, 2010

Japan to face Paraguay in friendly

Japan will play Paraguay next month in a friendly rematch of their round of 16 game at the World Cup.
COMMENTARY
Aug 3, 2010

Drug use is fueling AIDS epidemic in Russia

NEW YORK — Russia has one of the world's most serious epidemics of injection drug use, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS. It is estimated that Russia has 2 million injecting drug users (IDUs), 60 to 70 percent of whom have HIV-related illnesses. In the past decade, the number...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2010

A vote for Hong Kong as most livable city

HONG KONG, PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES — For me, there is no question that Hong Kong is one of the world's most wondrously livable cities. After 30 years of having Hong Kong as my home, I would challenge anyone to claim that — on balance — any other city can deliver the same combination of virtues.

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