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CULTURE / Music
Nov 12, 2010

Preaching to the converted

Nicky Wire is reminiscing. For the self-professed "nerdy historian" of Manic Street Preachers, the wistfulness is not misplaced. New album "Postcards From a Young Man" is Manic Street Preachers' 10th: a landmark under any criterion, but Wire is keen to accentuate what a milestone it is for a group of...
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2010

Ministers unite against new trade barriers

YOKOHAMA — Foreign and trade ministers meeting in Yokohama on Wednesday agreed to fend off protectionism by extending an existing ban on new trade barriers among member states by at least three years, until 2013.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Nov 11, 2010

New inroads for Louboutin, Rag & Bone, Nike-Undercover, K-Swiss

Louboutin digs his signature heels into flagship Ginza space Christian Louboutin, arguably the most famous shoe designer in the world, was in Tokyo early this month to christen the opening of his very first free-standing boutique in Tokyo and Japan. The space is a three-story building that fits snugly...
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2010

No end in sight to Ryoma craze

From Prime Minister Naoto Kan to Sapporo Beer, lawmakers and companies are invoking the image and legacy of Sakamoto Ryoma, the 19th century samurai who helped overhaul Japan's government and economy. Kan mentioned Ryoma in a speech June 8, the day he became prime minister, drawing comparisons between...
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2010

Asia warily watches China

Asia's festering Cold War-era territorial and maritime disputes highlight the fact that securing long-term regionwide peace depends on respect for existing borders. Attempts to disturb Asia's territorial status quo are an invitation to endemic conflict — a concern that led Asian states to welcome the...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 31, 2010

Hearing China's take on Senkakus

The most recent territorial dispute over the Senkaku (Japanese name)/Diaoyutai (Chinese name) Islands, located southwest of Okinawa (or north of Taiwan if you prefer), was triggered on Sept. 7 when a Chinese trawler attempted to ram two Japanese Coast Guard vessels. The blurry details of the collision...
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2010

COP10 flirts with Copenhagen funk

NAGOYA — As the COP10 biodiversity conference headed into its second week Monday with no sign of accord on the key issues dividing delegates, participants feared the same failure that befell last year's climate change talks in Copenhagen.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 24, 2010

Biodiversity inspiration

The value of biodiversity can be argued from various perspectives. Foremost, in practical terms, there's its ecological service value, as we depend on it to provide us with breathable air, useable water and productive soil, for filtration of global gases and liquids, and as the resource for all of our...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2010

The return of Musharraf

LAHORE, Pakistan — Pakistan's former president, Pervez Musharraf, has decided to return to Pakistani politics, if not quite to Pakistan. He announced his decision at London's National Liberal Club, an institution founded in the 19th century by William Gladstone and other stalwarts of Britain's parliamentary...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2010

India grappling with the China syndrome

LONDON — A two-week standoff between China and Japan over a boat collision has once again underlined the communist state's penchant for bullying its neighbors, and might have done more harm than good for the emergence of China as the leader in the region over the long term.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2010

Panel's decision on Ozawa flawed: professor

The decision by an independent judicial panel to indict Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa has crucial procedural flaws that could damage its credibility, Meiji University professor Nobuo Gohara said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Oct 5, 2010

Mr. Kan, stop wasting time

It has taken the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) two long months to settle on the continuation of Kan Naoto as prime minister. Whatever past grudges or future intricacies might exist, the Kan Cabinet must get down to work without further delay.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2010

N.Y. gets 'one hand clapping' Zen debut

NEW YORK — The publication of J.D. Salinger's "Nine Stories" introduced a new generation of Americans to a Zen Buddhist koan roughly translated as, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
COMMENTARY
Oct 1, 2010

The center of Asia's divide

NEW DELHI — Japan may have created the impression of having buckled under China's pressure by releasing the Chinese fishing trawler captain. But the Japanese action helps move the spotlight back to China, whose rapid accumulation of power has emboldened it to aggressively assert territorial and maritime...
COMMENTARY
Sep 30, 2010

What China has joined together

SINGAPORE — China takes pride in the way science and technology have been used to modernize its armed forces.
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 26, 2010

The return of Lafcadio Hearn

I came to Japan in '90 — 1890, that was — died 14 years later, and here I am again after more than a century, exploring my old haunting ground just like in the good old days.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 17, 2010

New exhibition anticipates a design museum for Japan

In March, with the opening of the Design Museum Holon, Israel added its name to a long list of countries that have at least one full-fledged museum dedicated to design. Japan, despite its reputation as a design powerhouse — hard-earned during the 20th century by innovative work such as Sony's Walkman,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2010

Action on yen may bolster China's currency stance

Japan's first intervention in the foreign exchange market in almost six years may undermine calls for China to let its currency appreciate.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2010

Why Putin is good for Japan

For Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, it has been a hectic summer. He took a spin across 2,100 km of the Siberian tundra in a Lada, was initiated into the Hell's Angels, fired darts at gray whales with a crossbow and still found time to jump into the cockpit of a Be-200 jet to extinguish the wildfires...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Sep 14, 2010

Is racism coloring debate on Japanese whaling?

Following is a selection of readers' responses to the Aug. 17 Zeit Gist columns headlined "Racist undercurrents taint whaling rhetoric" by Dougal McNeill and "Appeals to culture, tradition ignore the historical facts" by Chris Burgess:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2010

'Zero: An Investigation of 9/11'/'Micmacs'

Nine years on from the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, doubts persist as to the true nature of what took place on that fateful day in September. While there's no shortage of conspiracy theories on just about anything these days — Colorado gubernatorial candidate Dan...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Aug 30, 2010

Japan, Germany face less size and clout as anniversary nears

Japan and Germany will celebrate the 150th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2011. The first commemorative events will kick-off this October, with the grande finale planned to take place in October 2011 in Yokohama.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?