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COMMENTARY
Aug 4, 2009

Drawing down the nuclear stock

Conflicts of interest dividing Moscow and Washington have overshadowed a more positive development — real progress in nuclear arms cuts between the two powers that together hold 95 percent of the world's nuclear weapons.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2009

Those off lay judge hook feel relieved

Relief was the overriding emotion of the candidates who weren't picked in a final lottery draw Monday to participate in the first criminal trial under the new lay judge system.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2009

June sees record fall in wages

Wages fell at their fastest pace on record in June as companies cut bonuses to protect dwindling profits, adding to evidence that consumers are unlikely to contribute to an economic recovery.
Reader Mail
Aug 2, 2009

Safe and accommodating country

I have lived in Japan for only two years, but may have more experience than the author of the letter ("Pocket knife lends tourist, 74, in lockup") appears to have of the culture and life in this beautiful country.
Reader Mail
Aug 2, 2009

The wealthy don't create wealth

N.R. Williams' July 23 letter,"A guiding light for the economy," states an interesting opinion with which I agree. After World War II, the governments of most Western countries intervened in the control and management of their national economies. This contributed to maintaining stable economic growth...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 2, 2009

Forgotten Igawa continues to toil for Yanks in minors

Last week we examined the situations of pitchers Masahide Kobayashi (recently released by the Cleveland Indians) and Yasuhiko Yabuta (still treading water on the Kansas City Royals farm team at Omaha) and suggested they give up the major league dream, return home and pitch for a Central or Pacific League...
JAPAN / History
Aug 2, 2009

Allied POW war dead honored in Yokohama

YOKOHAMA — About 100 people participated in the 15th annual memorial service at the British Commonwealth War Cemetery on Saturday to pay their respects to soldiers and others from Allied nations who died in Japan as prisoners of war during World War II.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2009

Two funerals plus the legacy of Khrushchev

NEW YORK — My great-grandfather, Nikita Khrushchev, has been on my mind recently. I suppose it was the 50th anniversary of the "kitchen debate," which he held with Richard Nixon that first triggered my memories.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 2, 2009

Comparing and contrasting to plumb the heights of Japanese humor

Of all the absurd things that foreigners have said about the Japanese, the assertion that they are lacking in a sense of humor takes the cake.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 2, 2009

Comparing and contrasting to plumb the heights of Japanese humor

Of all the absurd things that foreigners have said about the Japanese, the assertion that they are lacking in a sense of humor takes the cake.
COMMENTARY
Aug 1, 2009

Tough times for politicians

Democratic governments everywhere are in trouble. In Britain, the Labour government is tottering. In Japan, defeat looms for Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party. In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is clinging on amid a sea of scandal. In France, hyperactive President Nicolas Sarkozy...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 1, 2009

Baseball expert lines up new book on mobsters in Japan

Robert Whiting is best known as an expert on baseball. But he's much more than that. He's also an expert on mobsters in Japan and the sound a radar site makes when it is "spotted" by a U2 spy plane.
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 2009

Gay ruling takes Delhi back to where it was

CHENNAI, India — The Delhi High Court's recent ruling that decriminalized sex between two consenting men or women is widely seen in India as a move toward a healthier sexual climate. Though confined to Delhi now, the law could eventually be adopted by the country's other regions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2009

Mimi Gates brings Seattle Art Museum's Asian collection back home

When Mimi Gates moved to Seattle in 1994 to be director of the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), it was the museum's superb Asian collection that had lured her away from the Yale University Art Gallery after 19 years working there, 12 as curator and seven as director). At Yale, she had championed Oriental art...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2009

'Yamagata Scream'

Japanese horror movies, under the label J-Horror, were once quite the international thing. Hollywood remade the shockers "Ring" (1998) and "Juon" ("The Grudge," 2002), while foreign video labels snapped up rights to the originals. All that is now a distant memory, though. Fantastic film festivals in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2009

Escape from propaganda

Artist, architect, designer, photographer, curator, writer, editor, activist — Ai Weiwei is many things. This multiplicity of means all serve a united end that centers on the existential question: What does human freedom mean in China today?
Reader Mail
Jul 30, 2009

Words can't make up for tragedy

Regarding the July 20 article "Agent sorry for mountain deaths": The only proper way this tour company could acknowledge its gross failure in the eight deaths of senior citizen hikers who entrusted their lives to it would be to shut down its mountain activities for good. "Wet-cold" is one of the first...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2009

Government ponders marketing plan to target Asia's rich as medical tourists

The government plans to market medical services to wealthy tourists for income to help offset the rising costs of the aging society, according to a government report.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 28, 2009

New law: no dues, no visa

In your wallet or somewhere at home, do you have a blue or pink card showing that you are enrolled in one of Japan's national health and pension programs? If not, and if you are thinking of extending your stay here, you may want to think about a recent revision to visa requirements for foreign residents....
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2009

EU set to build ties with eastern neighbors

STOCKHOLM — Pushing the "reset" button on diplomatic relations is a popular endeavor nowadays. President Barack Obama recently journeyed to Moscow in order to "reset" strained U.S.-Russian ties. The European Union, though not in need of a "reset" because of strained ties with its eastern neighbors,...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 28, 2009

My nursery nightmares: responses

Following are some readers' views on Jenny Holt's June 23 Zeit Gist article "My nursery nightmares":
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2009

The deadline to prosecute

A study panel of the Justice Ministry has issued a final report urging abolition of the statute of limitations for serious crimes such as murder. It will ask the ministry's Legislative Council to discuss revisions to the Code of Criminal Procedure and other laws. The statute of limitations was first...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jul 28, 2009

Pocket knife lands tourist, 74, in lockup

To the Japanese government and law enforcement authorities,
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2009

Better eating habits

In 2005, the Diet enacted the basic law on education on eating habits (shokuiku) to promote healthful eating habits. This move came against the backdrop of a deterioration in the country's dietary culture, which traditionally has been considered well-balanced and healthy.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 26, 2009

The quirky terrain of an otaku mind

"Otaku" is one of those Japanese words that has no precise equivalent in English. "Geek" translates the knowledgeability as well as the social ineptness of the stereotypical otaku, but not quite his (and, more rarely, her) intense interest in what so-called serious adults regard as trivial pursuits:...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 26, 2009

Myth-buster points the way to Japan's role as 'credit-crunch' pioneer

T here are five myths circulating the globe regarding the financial crisis that has it in its grip. This is the view of Pavel Minakir, director of the Institute of Applied Economic Research in Khabarovsk, Russia. His fascinating and sobering assessment of these myths appeared in a recent issue of the...

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat