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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 29, 2009

Brahman

You might expect a band named after the Sanskrit term for "absolute reality" to be a bit, well, pretentious. But if their moniker is evocative of patchouli, long beards and even longer guitar solos, Brahman's music remains firmly grounded.
EDITORIALS
May 26, 2009

Pyongyang rolls the dice again

North Korea has announced that it successfully carried out another underground nuclear test on Monday. The nuclear explosion came on the heels of the North's April 5 launching of a long-range rocket, which drew condemnation from the United Nations Security Council in the form of a presidential statement....
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 25, 2009

Paying Aso back with praise

Ranking officials at the Foreign Ministry appear more preoccupied with presenting Prime Minister Taro Aso as dexterous at diplomacy than promoting the national interest. One official has confided that it is now their turn to return the favor given to them when Aso was foreign minister.
LIFE
May 24, 2009

Traders' plans pay off in Motomachi

What was supposed to be a day spent savoring the delights of Motomachi Shopping Street for our Timeout Yokohama feature soon took on the nature of a quest.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2009

California crisis imperils Obama's agenda

BERKELEY, Calif. — While the new Obama administration is commanding global attention, America's future may be written — as so many times before — in and by its largest state. Once the lodestar for American optimism and achievement, California now illustrates the difficulties confronting the United...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 18, 2009

Will second wave of 'price destruction' finally spur change?

A major wave of what could perhaps be called the second round of "price destruction" is accelerating in Japan.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2009

Sign of weakness in Pyongyang?

North Korea, which was condemned in a statement by the United Nations Security Council's president for its April 5 launch of a long-range rocket, has taken a provocative attitude of late. It has announced its withdrawal from the six-party talks for the denuclearization of the country and kicked out International...
JAPAN
May 13, 2009

Okada, Hatoyama top picks in DPJ field

Former Democratic Party of Japan leaders Katsuya Okada and Yukio Hatoyama emerged Tuesday as the most likely replacements for President Ichiro Ozawa ahead of the pivotal general election later this year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CITIZEN JUSTICE
May 12, 2009

Day of public reckoning in criminal trial process looms

First in a series
JAPAN / Q&A
May 12, 2009

Historic change puts justice in public hands

With the "saibanin" lay judge system set to take effect May 21, Japan is gearing up for an important transition in its judicial system, in which citizens begin serving as de facto jurors in district court trials involving serious crimes.
LIFE
May 10, 2009

Playing the party odds for love

In Japan, women are traditionally subservient to men and — like children in the West — have long been schooled to be "seen and not heard." But in matters of the heart and homemaking, and in these times of increasing sexual equality, Japan's females — who were formerly hunted romantically — are...
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2009

World press freedom

In the middle of the Golden Week Holidays, newspapers around the world recognized their own special day on May 3: World Press Freedom Day. Officially established in 1993 by the U.N. General Assembly and organized annually by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), the day offers an annual report on...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 9, 2009

In search of picture-perfect Tokyo

Tokyo is infested with camera bugs. I can identify three species, at least.
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2009

Bluesman Robert Cray plays it with soul

Robert Cray last performed in Japan 13 years ago at the Japan Blues Carnival — an experience that for him is now a bittersweet memory.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2009

Nuclear spin in Indian polls

DELHI OPINION ASIA — As elections progress, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Congress party are in more trouble over the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal than they will readily acknowledge, with the distinct possibility of losing power.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 5, 2009

Google crosses line with controversial old Tokyo maps

When Google Earth added historical maps of Japan to its online collection last year, the search giant didn't expect a backlash. The finely detailed woodblock prints have been around for centuries, they were already posted on another Web site, and a historical map of Tokyo put up in 2006 hadn't caused...
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2009

World's biggest shock absorber

MUNICH — Since last autumn, Germany has been accused by a number of Anglo-American economists, above all by the 2008 Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, of not doing enough to combat the world economic crisis and of free-riding on other countries' stimulus programs.
EDITORIALS
May 2, 2009

Consider the budget deficits

The Diet has started deliberations on the fiscal 2009 supplementary budget, which, with ¥14 trillion in spending, is a record economic stimulus. The government hopes that the extra budget will help pull the Japanese economy out of the recession. Since the main and supplementary budgets for fiscal 2009...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2009

Machimura bides his time

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura revealed that he has ambitions to someday lead the nation, but said that as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction, his present role is to give full support to Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Apr 23, 2009

Stylish ways to organize clutter, keep time, track burned calories and send letters

A stylish plug
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 19, 2009

Eagles ace Iwakuma handcuffs Buffaloes

Hisashi Iwakuma turned in another stellar performance at Tokyo Dome.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 19, 2009

A plea to address pro basketball's future in Japan

Dear Prime Minister Aso,
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2009

Record-breaking stimulus

The government has compiled the largest-ever economic stimulus package in the form of a fiscal 2009 supplementary budget, involving actual spending of ¥15 trillion. This is much larger than the past biggest stimulus package of ¥7.6 trillion, which the Obuchi administration compiled as a third supplementary...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 14, 2009

So, you wanna be a Johnny?

What do the most popular male celebrity in Japan and a star of Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" have in common?
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2009

Slow train coming in Shizuoka

Standing on the platform at Kanaya Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, the enthusiastic crowd — myself included — watches with fascination as the train pulls in. Because this train is different. It's not a sleek, aerodynamic bullet train; nor is it one of the ubiquitous, striped JR jobs. Rather, the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2009

Slow train coming in Shizuoka

Standing on the platform at Kanaya Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, the enthusiastic crowd — myself included — watches with fascination as the train pulls in. Because this train is different. It's not a sleek, aerodynamic bullet train; nor is it one of the ubiquitous, striped JR jobs. Rather, the...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 11, 2009

Hiddink a good bet to remain with Chelsea

LONDON — For reasons best known to the Dutch, Guus Hiddink is knows as "Lucky Guus" in Holland.
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2009

Municipalities for the people

A government panel on the local autonomy system is discussing what should be the ideal form of municipal government. Through their welfare and education services and community revitalization programs, etc., municipalities are the closest governments to citizens. The panel's discussion focuses on whether...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2009

Otsuka seen leading race to find TB cure

Hiroshi Ishikawa spent half of his career searching for a tuberculosis cure. Now, after a quarter century, he may have the drug industry's most effective weapon to fight resistant strains of the deadly lung disease.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 29, 2009

Searching for a sense of 'home'

The first I knew of the actress Ri Koran, otherwise known as Yoshiko Yamaguchi, was in 1985, while staying in a grubby hotel in Beirut. An old face-cream advertisement for the cosmetic company Shiseido had been tacked onto the bedroom wall. The image showed a woman with jade earrings dressed in a silk...

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it