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COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2010

EU consumers to foot bill for protectionism

LONDON — The European Union imposed 89 new trade barriers in 2009 and rounded off the year by prolonging tariffs on shoes from China and Vietnam, originally due to expire in 2008. The EU needs to understand that trade barriers limit growth and economic recovery — as well as harming its own companies...
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 2010

Learning from tragedy

Fifteen years have passed since the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit Kobe and adjacent areas on Jan. 17, 1995. The magnitude-7.3 quake originated in the northern part of Awaji Island. In Kobe, the seismic intensity measured seven on the Japanese scale, the highest level. The quake took the lives of more...
EDITORIALS
Jan 18, 2010

More trade 'noodles'

Little noticed at the beginning of the year was the introduction of several more strands into the "noodle bowl" of Asia-Pacific trade agreements. On Jan. 1, several new free trade agreements went into effect. These trade deals are by no means perfect. In fact, they represent distinctly second- or even...
EDITORIALS
Jan 17, 2010

Japan's cultural heritage

Japanese traditional culture received a big boost late last year when UNESCO added 13 Japanese cultural assets to its Intangible Cultural Heritage List. This worldwide list details cultural arts, traditions and practices that deserve safeguarding for humanity's future. Japan should be proud that it has...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 17, 2010

Time is now for MLB, NPB to act on 'True World Series'

The proposal by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to Nippon Pro Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato for a "True World Series" seemed to come out of the blue but is a most welcome idea and, as many would say, it is about time.
TENNIS
Jan 16, 2010

Agassi's book disappoints Sampras

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Pete Sampras would like a sit-down with longtime American rival Andre Agassi away from the tennis court to discuss Agassi's harsh words about the 14-time Grand Slam champion in his recent autobiography, "Open."
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2010

Hope and peril for Sudan

ALGIERS — The future of Sudan hangs in the balance. National elections are due in April. A referendum on the future status of the south of the country is supposed to follow in 2011. Both were key ingredients of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended 20 years of civil war between north...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 16, 2010

Calm reflections on a turbulent life

In a diminutive wooden house tucked behind the tile-topped white walls surrounding Tenryuji Temple, a World Heritage site in Kyoto's Arashiyama district, lives Henry "Seisen" Mittwer, 91, a Japanese-American Buddhist priest, author, ikebana and ceramic artist.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2010

Airport wars roil Kansai region

OSAKA — Two years into his term, Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto continues to enjoy high popularity among voters, with some local media polls showing his approval rating at almost 70 percent, due largely to his personality and cost-cutting steps.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 15, 2010

'Kondo wa Aisaika'

Japanese film marriages are as diverse as the real things, ranging from the uncommunicative couple of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Tokyo Sonata" (2008) to the doting pair of the "Tsuri Baka Nisshi" ("Dairy of a Fishing Fool") series (1988-2009), though the easy-going wife of the fishing-mad salaryman hero has...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 15, 2010

Dorantes performs original take on flamenco

You might be forgiven for thinking the primary instrument for flamenco is guitar. David Pena Dorantes, however, creates the music with a piano.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 8, 2010

A feast for film buffs

The Japanese film industry, at least the top end where Toho and its media partners dwell, is looking forward to a prosperous 2010, with a lineup of crowd-pleasers that should thump the Hollywood competition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 8, 2010

Ghent's Das Pop goes overground

His upbringing pretty much ensured that the thought of being in a band was the farthest thing from Bent Van Looy's young mind.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 8, 2010

Yang Fudong on the beauty of living

Based in Shanghai, Chinese artist Yang Fudong has gained worldwide recognition for his multimedia installations incorporating material shot on richly textured, black-and-white 35 mm film. His five-part film cycle "Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest" (2003-07) was one of the defining works in the...
JAPAN / LOOMING CHALLENGES
Jan 6, 2010

Japan urged to exploit its tech, pop culture

Last of five parts
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2010

Tourism 'czar' aims high, targets Chinese

The newly appointed commissioner for the Japan Tourism Agency said he wants to raise the number of foreign visitors to more than 10 million annually during his two-year term, with special emphasis on the Chinese market.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Jan 3, 2010

Tropicana turns 70 with kitsch, showgirls

HAVANA — When the Tropicana nightclub and casino opened its doors in a leafy Havana garden on Dec. 30, 1939, World War II was raging in Europe, "Gone With the Wind" had just hit U.S. theaters and a rebellious youngster named Fidel Castro had just turned 13.
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2009

Fukushima strives to carve a pacifist path for the SDP

After being handed a fourth term as president of the Social Democratic Party without a vote, Mizuho Fukushima on Dec. 4 took her seat at the SDP's headquarters in Tokyo and faced reporters to give her victory speech.
COMMENTARY
Dec 30, 2009

A decade of Western losses and Asian gains

Decades don't usually have the courtesy to begin and end on the right year. The social and cultural revolution that Western countries think of when they talk of the " '60s" only got under way in 1962-63, and didn't end until the Middle East war and oil embargo of 1973-74.
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2009

The past year of newness

The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation's annual kanji of the year for 2009 is, appropriately, " " (shin), meaning "new." This kanji, chosen by national ballot and announced in December at Kyoto's Kiyomizu temple, reflects the win of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which ended a half-century...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 27, 2009

Wendy's decision triggers memories of a unique pre-game tradition

A brief news article on Page 1 of the Dec. 12 edition of The Japan Times reminded me of former Yakult Swallows and Rakuten Eagles pitcher Kevin Hodges. "Wendy's pulling out of Japan by end of month," read the headline above the story about the U.S. hamburger chain ending its operations in this country....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 26, 2009

Storyteller of implausible success

Imagine this: An Indian diplomat in London churns out his first novel during a two-month hiatus before his next posting. The novel becomes an international best-seller and is translated into 42 languages. Before the book is even printed it has been optioned for a film, which goes on to win eight Academy...
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2009

Contrite Hatoyama refuses to resign over scandal

, Daisuke Haga (below) KYODO PHOTO

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick