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COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2010

Troubling China-India ties

NEW DELHI — The already fraught China-India relationship appears headed for more turbulent times as a result of the two giants' failure to make progress on resolving any of the issues that divide them. Earlier this month, during the first visit in more than four years of a Chinese leader to India,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2010

Carbon dioxide is threatening our fisheries

SINGAPORE — Since the industrial revolution began over two centuries ago, the oceans have absorbed an estimated 500 billion tons of carbon dioxide. This is about a quarter of the total amount spewed into the atmosphere as the burning of coal, oil and natural gas gathered pace and agriculture replaced...
COMMENTARY
Dec 26, 2010

Growing a world-class university in Arabia

DUBAI — From the Malay Peninsula to the Arabian Peninsula, it is the wise ruler who knows two of the most basic rules of modern economic development.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Dec 24, 2010

'The World of Red and White'

Hasegawa Machiko Museum Closes Feb. 13
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 24, 2010

Why not spend New Year's Eve totally soba?

The yearend period, called shiwasu, is a really hectic time in Japan. Think of it as spring cleaning, Thanksgiving and the usual end-of-year activities all rolled into one.
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2010

Moderation is for losers

NEW YORK — "Given his druthers (U.S. President Barack) Obama will pursue the most left-leaning course he can get away with."
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 21, 2010

Deadbeat dads, navy abuse case, visas and Futenma: readers' views

The other side of the fence Re: "Japan must end the scourge of parental child abduction" by Amy Savoie (Hotline to Nagatacho, Nov. 9):
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Dec 16, 2010

Kiribi

Dear Alice
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2010

The Kremlin resets Russian foreign policy

2010 has seen a change in Russia's relations with the West. The Obama administration came to office promising a "reset" in relations with Moscow, and in the past year, this new mood of cooperation has begun to deliver tangible results. Moscow and Washington are working together to reduce their nuclear...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 14, 2010

Doing Japan in a van: highs, lows, dos, don'ts

Oh, the pros and woes of responding to your queries. Great advice, personal experience — even the odd wakeup call. Here are some responses to our Nov. 16 column on "How to do Japan — in a VW camper van":
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Dec 14, 2010

For writer, languages are his 'darling'

Writer Tony Laszlo, 50, has a strong passion for languages. He speaks 10, including English, Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Turkish and French. As a writer, he uses both English, his mother tongue, and Japanese.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 14, 2010

Mail-order buyer, be aware

In retrospect, I didn't really need a new baseball cap. But this one, advertised by the publisher of a nationally circulated magazine, had a humorous logo in Japanese that tickled my fancy, making it — like much of the merchandise sold via mail order — a novelty item not sold in stores.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 12, 2010

Wartime Japan celebrates

In 1940, amid war in China and growing tensions with the United States, Japan celebrated the 26th centennial of the founding of the Empire of Japan and the "unbroken" imperial line.
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2010

A Tokyo subway merger?

This year saw author, social critic and Tokyo Vice Gov. Naoki Inose call for uniting Tokyo's two subway systems, Tokyo Metro and the city-run Toei subway. The two sides have entered talks but are still far from agreement.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2010

Know them by their bliss

NEW YORK — What's the best way to really know someone? Is it to uncover their daily worries, hassles or fears? To discern what traits they most hide from others, and perhaps even from themselves?
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2010

North Korea evokes pity and condemnation

UNITED NATIONS — Amid severe food shortages affecting up to a quarter of the population, horrific human rights abuses, and an expanding and costly nuclear weapons program, the United Nations has tried to respond to North Korea with a combination of carrots and sticks.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2010

UNESCO selects Nicol woodland

The UNESCO branch in Japan announced Wednesday that writer and environmentalist C.W. Nicol's Afan Woodland Trust has been registered as one of its "future heritage sites."
COMMENTARY
Nov 29, 2010

Trigger-happy Indian cops cut corners to deliver quick justice

CHENNAI, India — India's democracy is being increasingly tarnished by its police force, which uses brutally illegal methods to deal with crime. Some officers are staging incidents to murder people who have been arrested on suspicion of committing particularly heinous offenses.
JAPAN / Media
Nov 28, 2010

Nicholas Bornoff, Japan Times writer and author of 'Pink Samurai,' dies aged 61

Nicolas Bornoff, who died of cancer in London on Oct. 30, was my predecessor as a film critic at The Japan Times, starting in the late 1970s and continuing for nine years. His style, in contrast to fellow reviewer Andy Adams' slangy journalese, aimed for the elevated and authoritative, which made me,...
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Nov 28, 2010

Eats, shoots and leaves in Hakusan

It's hunting season in Tokyo. I kit up and trek out to the Hakusan area of Bunkyo Ward, hoping to shoot (with camera) the wild shades of autumn.
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 2010

NATO's Afghan nightmare

The agreement at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit meeting in Lisbon on a transition plan to help end the war in Afghanistan within the next four years raises troubling questions about regional security and the global fight against transnational terrorism. As the United States and...
CULTURE / Film
Nov 26, 2010

Radcliffe, Watson prepare to graduate from Hogwarts

HOLLYWOOD, California — W hen asked about longtime "Harry Potter" costar Emma Watson, with whom he stars in the penultimate film of the blockbuster movie franchise, actor Daniel Radcliffe says: "She's great. She'll go far, professionally and educationally."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 26, 2010

Reel in the catch of the season

The long, record-breaking hot summer hasn't been good for sanma, or Pacific saury. Catches of this normally inexpensive fixture of the fall dinner table in Japanese homes have been so poor that its prices have skyrocketed — if you can find any to buy at all. Another popular fish that is in peak season...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Nov 25, 2010

Showa Women's University President Mariko Bando

Mariko Bando, 64, is the president of Showa Women's University in Tokyo. She is also a best-selling author with more than 30 books under her belt, including "The Dignity of a Woman," which has sold over 3 million copies. An advocate of women's rights, Bando is director of the Japan National Committee...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2010

China and India exposed

BERKELEY, Calif. — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's forthcoming trip to India, following hard on the heels of President Barack Obama's recent visit, will provide another opportunity for the media to gush about the growing global economic clout of China and India. We can be sure that the soft underbellies...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 25, 2010

Mozart's growing influence on food

Although the claim that listening to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's complicated scores can boost your IQ has been debunked, its effect on bananas has yet to be disputed. So in July, the Hyogo Prefecture-based fruit company Toyoka Chuo Seika shipped out its first batch of "Mozart Bananas" to supermarkets in...
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 2010

Always expect the unexpected in politics

LOS ANGELES — Sometimes truly strange things happen in life. For those of us on America's West Coast, who would have thought that Jerry Brown would become governor of California again? His first time out as our chief state executive (in his 30s, and full of rather unconventional ideas), they called...
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2010

Let trade transform Burma

NEW DELHI — The election process in Burma has altered its political landscape, giving birth to new institutions and players, triggering a generational change in the armed forces, bringing to power the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), and facilitating the release of prodemocracy...

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake