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COMMENTARY
Mar 19, 2007

Security panel's birth pangs

Under the initiative of the Prime Minister's Office, the government is moving to establish a national security council that will formulate Japan's diplomatic and security strategies. On the basis of a Feb. 27 report submitted by an expert panel, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is hoping to inaugurate the council...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2007

Nakai resubmits funds report; utility expenditures now zero

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Hiroshi Nakai said his 2005 political funds report, which was filed with a huge amount in the utility expenses column for an office that had no utility bills, has been corrected and resubmitted to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 4, 2007

Nanae Aoyama: Office worker takes exalted literary status in her stride

Nanae Aoyama only turned 24 in January, but already she has won literary prizes for each of the two books she has published.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2007

Is environmental protection in the (pay-per) bag?

Like many other customers at the OK Jumbo Sagan supermarket, Kumiko Fujimoto saves at least 6 yen by taking her own bag to the Tokyo store.
EDITORIALS
Feb 22, 2007

'Secrets' with a public interest

The Self-Defense Forces' investigation of an SDF member in connection with a news report of an accident in a Chinese Navy submarine in 2005 raises concerns regarding people's right to know and the freedom of the press. It could lead to limits on basic rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution....
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2007

Recognize us and apologize, ex-wartime sex slave tells Tokyo

Tokyo should officially recognize the women Japan forced into sexual slavery for the Imperial army in the 1930s and '40s and formally apologize, a South Korean former "comfort woman" demanded Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2007

Dignity for disabled people

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 13. The convention, which covers rights to education, health, work, cultural activities, etc., is the first human-rights treaty of the 21st century....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2007

Lawmakers' posh digs on cheap criticized

Starting April 1, House of Representatives members will be able to take up residence in three-bedroom luxury apartments in a new, 28-story complex in the upscale Akasaka district in the heart of Tokyo, a 10-minute walk from the Diet.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 29, 2007

Same hot buttons a hundred years later

NEW YORK -- What was the world like 100 years ago? That was not the question I had in mind when I idly wondered if I could find exactly how French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) had described British playwright/novelist Oscar Wilde on one special occasion. As this is the age of the Internet, I quickly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 25, 2007

Dairakudakan dancers play with Josef Nadj

Speaking in Tokyo a year ago, Josef Nadj, one of the most respected choreographers in the contemporary dance world, said that for his next project in Japan he wanted to create something playful for the audiences in collaboration with Japanese dancers and Japanese culture. The 49-year-old Yugoslav-born...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 23, 2007

Gender identity transformed from 'freak' into rights issue

'When I was a child, I had a feeling I wasn't satisfied with being a human being. To be a human being didn't seem like a beautiful existence to me," says Otojiro Toriyama.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 9, 2007

Picking up the pace of urban life

There are mile markers in life, and an impending 40th birthday recently forced me to take stock of my health. I had put on weight while at culinary school and, being a complete nonathlete, I never managed to lose it. I had a gym membership, but the only sweat I ever worked up was in the sauna. Running...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 7, 2007

Yoshiharu Habu: Japan's king of the board

Yoshiharu Habu shocked the shogi (Japanese chess) world when, on Feb. 14, 1996, at the age of 25, he won his 7th title to become the only person in the history of the ancient board game to simultaneously possess all seven titles -- Meijin, Ryuo, Kio, Oza, Kisei, Oi and Osho.
EDITORIALS
Jan 1, 2007

A political showdown year

Mr. Shinzo Abe's administration at first seemed to have smooth sailing. By visiting China and South Korea and holding summits with their leaders, the prime minister managed to improve Japan's relations with the two neighbors. The relations had soured as a result of his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi's...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2006

Cultural attitudes in Japan spell few adoptions

Couples looking to start a family naturally want their own children. But amid the recent debate over whether to legalize surrogate births in Japan, one question has largely been overlooked: What about adoption?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2006

Watanabe named new reform chief

A day after one of his Cabinet members resigned over a political funding scandal, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday appointed Yoshimi Watanabe as the new administrative reform minister.
EDITORIALS
Dec 26, 2006

Nuclear pragmatism

A merican President George W. Bush has signed legislation that lets his country and India cooperate on civilian nuclear-energy programs. The move is likely to be one of the legacies of Mr. Bush's presidency: It is the cornerstone of his attempt to forge a new relationship between the two countries.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2006

Besieged tax chief Honma steps down

Tax Commission chief Masaaki Honma, under fire over allegations that he used his government apartment to house a lover but yet advocated the selloff of such state-subsidized properties, resigned Thursday, dealing another blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's falling approval ratings.

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