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COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Aug 29, 2011

The feudal lords of power

The inherently arrogant nature of the electric power industry in Japan came to light recently when Kyushu Electric Power Co. tried to influence a public hearing on whether to allow the company to resume operation of its Genkai nuclear power stations in Saga Prefecture. Kyushu Electric urged its employees...
Reader Mail
Aug 28, 2011

U.S. response will cause chaos

Regarding Barry Eichengreen's opinion article, "What can take the dollar's place?": The naivete of the American consumer and the greed of international corporations allowed the accumulation of dollars in Japan and China, which were used to further the economic needs of those outside the United States...
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2011

Mr. Maehara enters DPJ race

Former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara decided Tuesday evening to run for the Democratic Party of Japan presidential race to choose a successor to Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Mr. Maehara, sure to become a strong candidate, should present a clear future vision of Japan and a direction it will take because...
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2011

India scores a wrong-sided goal — again

Presented with a golden opportunity to rise and shine, India has an unmatched capacity to look prosperity firmly in the face, turn around, and walk off resolutely in the opposite direction.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2011

New foreign policy for Obama

When President Barack Obama announced the beginning of a drawdown of U.S. forces from Afghanistan last month, he offered a memorable justification: "America, it is time to focus on nation-building here at home."
COMMENTARY
Aug 22, 2011

Lessons from the affairs of Cuban crocodiles

The recent finding that the seriously endangered Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer) has been hybridizing in the wild with the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) offers a sobering lesson. It shows that there is no real antagonism between Cuban and American crocodiles, something that policymakers...
Reader Mail
Aug 21, 2011

No country for Asian refugees

Regarding the July 6 article "UNHCR exec lauds refugee strides, urges more": In the 1970s, Japanese vessels in the South China Sea rescued a lot of boat people who hoped to live in Japan. After several years, though, most of them left for the United States and other Western countries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 19, 2011

Pitt, Penn heap praise on Malick's 'real world'

Terrence Malick kicks off his new film, "The Tree of Life," with a bang. The Big Bang, actually. Over the next 138 minutes, the viewer witnesses a journey through history that ends up in a small town in Texas. Critics seem to agree that you'll either love it or hate it.
Reader Mail
Aug 14, 2011

Cracks in foreign press reports

If I had not been to China, I would probably agree with Brahma Chellaney's assessment of rising social unrest in Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia (Aug. 6 article, "Cracks in the Chinese wall").
CULTURE / Books
Aug 14, 2011

Japan through the eyes of Richie

VIEWED SIDEWAYS: Writings on Culture and Style on Contemporary Japan, by Donald Richie. Stonebridge Press, 2011, 264 pp., $16.95 (paper)
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2011

Japan Times not just wartime mouthpiece

Many journalism scholars have long viewed The Japan Times as a mouthpiece for the Imperial government's wartime propaganda.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 12, 2011

'The Tree of Life'

When "Days of Heaven" was finally released in 1978 (see last week's review) after two years of perfectionist fiddling in the editing room, director Terrence Malick was given a blank check by his patron at Paramount, industrialist Charles Bluhdorn, to develop his next project. Malick assembled a small...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2011

Vested interests may stymie energy bill: Kono

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's plan to shift Japan toward renewable energy in light of the Fukushima disaster faces resistance from politicians who have been compromised by their close ties to utilities, an opposition lawmaker said.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 9, 2011

Upcoming legal reforms: a plus for children or plus ca change?

Those focused on the government's stumbling efforts to protect the children of Fukushima from radioactive contamination may find this hard to believe, but Japanese family law just got more child-friendly — maybe. If Japan finally signs the Hague Convention on child abduction, as it appears it will,...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2011

China could fill Af-Pak vacuum left by U.S.

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have continued to fray since a U.S. Special Forces team killed Osama bin Laden in a comfortable villa near a major Pakistani military academy. But the tit-for-tat retaliations that have followed the raid reflect deeper sources of mistrust and mutual suspicion....
Reader Mail
Aug 7, 2011

Failure of idealized relationships

In my opinion, the July 31 editorial, "Rise in single-member households reflects concerns about income," has highlighted only one side of the problem. Today's society has seen a manifold increase in our expectations and ambitions.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2011

Panel to probe NISA's alleged opinion manipulation

Kyodo Industry minister Banri Kaieda said Friday a third-party panel has been set up to investigate allegations that the nuclear safety agency asked utilities to dress up public symposiums on atomic energy to make communities appear supportive of atomic power plants.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2011

Nuclear policy trio face ax

Industry minister Banri Kaieda announced Thursday he is firing three senior nuclear officials over the mishandling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2011

Energy policy revised to cut nuclear role

The government officially shifted its energy policy away from nuclear power Friday with the release of an interim report vowing to pare reliance on atomic energy.
Reader Mail
Jul 24, 2011

Life in the 'middle-income trap'

Regarding the July 20 opinion article "Navigating the road to riches": I am not an economist by practice, and my credentials do not come anywhere close to those of writer Otaviano Canuto, the World Bank vice president for poverty reduction. As a historical economics hobbyist, my impression is that the...

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?