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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Sep 28, 2010

Building a world without barriers, borders

One afternoon in the mid-1980s, Hiroko Kimura was taking a rest from sightseeing on a park bench in Adelaide, southern Australia. As she was enjoying the warm sunshine, she spotted the words "Japs go home" carved into the wood. This was the height of the bubble years and Kimura was aware that some people...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2010

Ending the secret life of the death penalty

Japan's former Justice Minister Keiko Chiba surprised many people when she ordered the hanging of two convicted killers at the end of July.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2010

The Icarus of currencies?

HONG KONG — My old friend Yoh Kurosawa just threw his head back and laughed: "How can you say that the rising yen is a danger. It proves we are strong, the world regards us as best."
EDITORIALS
Sep 25, 2010

Student loan blues

A business report for fiscal 2009 of the Japan Students Services Organization (JASSO), a student loan provider under the wing of the education ministry, shows that many borrowers are having difficulty repaying their debts, apparently because of the economic downturn, which makes it difficult for graduates...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Sep 25, 2010

Ichiro's achievement testament to his drive

Baseball is the ultimate numbers game. Always has been, always will be.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 24, 2010

No need to feel sorry for the Incubator babies

Will the fail of the Incubator Bank have a chilling effect on 'high risk-high return' investments? Care to make a wager?
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 24, 2010

Burns makes sequel

When Ken Burns decided to update his epic documentary "Baseball" to chronicle the tumultuous developments since it first aired in 1994, he knew that he didn't want to make a movie of the Mitchell Report.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 24, 2010

Hard-knock life leads to magic music

In 2004, Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye ditched their respectable jobs in France and headed to Kinshasa. In the ruined capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country just emerging from one of postcolonial Africa's worst conflicts, they felt strangely at home. "We were like mad dogs in...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Sep 24, 2010

Sakamoto impressing with show of power

For pitchers facing shortstops, usually the main worry is letting them get on base, where their speed can create problems.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Q&A
Sep 23, 2010

Japan-China island tensions rise

Tensions are growing daily over Japan's arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain following his ship's collision with Japan Coast Guard vessels in the East China Sea.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2010

Arrest of a public prosecutor

On Sept. 10 the Osaka District Court acquitted Ms. Atsuko Muraki, a former welfare ministry's bureau chief, of instructing her subordinate, Mr. Tsutomu Kamimura, to fabricate and issue a certificate that recognizes an organization as a group for the disabled, thus enabling it to use a postage discount...
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2010

China's hardening attitude

Relations between Japan and China are worsening over the arrest of the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with two Japan Coast Guard patrol boats on Sept. 7 inside Japanese territorial waters of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Both Tokyo and Beijing must prevent nationalistic...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2010

Exposure abroad key to success for youths

As universities struggle to enroll more foreigners and internationalize their student bodies, some are raising concerns about a growing number of Japanese who are choosing to stay closer to home rather than studying abroad and tackling new challenges.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 18, 2010

Is one subway system better than two?

Would merging the Tokyo Metro and Toei produce a profit, or more importantly, lower fares for commuters?
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2010

Incubator Bank lessons

The government and the Deposit Insurance Corp. of Japan, the state-appointed administrator of the Incubator Bank of Japan, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 10, have invoked the limited deposit protection plan for the first time since it was introduced in 1971. That means that deposits of...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2010

Kan taps Okada for party's No. 2 post

Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday tapped Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada as the party's secretary general, in what amounts to a test of whether Kan can achieve party unity after Tuesday's presidential election.
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2010

Currency intervention at last

The government and the Bank of Japan sent a strong message to foreign currency markets Wednesday by intervening in the currency trade for the first time since March 2004, to stem the rise in the value of the yen against the dollar. This was a surprise move because Prime Minister Naoto Kan had been considered...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 17, 2010

Noodles stir up instant indie rock on latest album

"In the beginning, I had no interest in touring abroad," says Yoko, guitarist and vocalist with indie-rock outfit Noodles, who have toured the United States nine times over the last seven years. "Then in 2003, we opened for The Breeders in Osaka, and they told us, 'You really should come to play in the...
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,...

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