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CULTURE / Books
Sep 5, 2010

Glass ceiling has not budged for many of Japan's working women

As we enter the third decade of the "lost decade," there is much to despair about the state of Japan. There has been a sharp increase in the number of working poor, mostly due to the spread of nonregular employment, which now involves 34 percent of the workforce, nearly double the level of the asset-bubble...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2010

DPJ, like voters, too flighty: Kabashima

Kumamoto Gov. Ikuo Kabashima feels what is lacking in politics is patience, both by the Democratic Party of Japan and voters.
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE TROUBLE AT TOYOTA
Sep 3, 2010

Driver error findings valid: expert

The U.S. auto safety regulator's recent interim report that found driver error to be the probable cause of most of the sudden acceleration accidents it probed involving Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles confirms the warnings of an American psychologist and ergonomist that motorists failed to use the brakes....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2010

Kan, Ozawa kick off DPJ poll race

Campaigning officially kicked off Wednesday for the Sept. 14 Democratic Party of Japan presidential election, with Prime Minister Naoto Kan trying to keep the helm and DPJ kingpin Ichiro Ozawa seeking to wrest it from him.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2010

Race is on: Ozawa to challenge Kan

Democratic Party of Japan heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa confirmed Tuesday he will run for DPJ president and thus prime minister, dashing party hopes that an internal power struggle can be avoided before the Sept. 14 election.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 31, 2010

Fingerprint all Japanese, for safety's sake

If you're a noncitizen and have entered or re-entered Japan in the last couple of years, you've undoubtedly been invited to participate in the wonderful, fun-filled world of biometrics. It's safe to say that many of you felt as though you were being treated like criminals — not to mention the humiliation...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Aug 30, 2010

Chinese labor strife frames larger fight over ideology

Since May, a number of factories in China have been hit by strikes and other forms of labor disputes, and an end seems to be nowhere in sight. Most of the plants targeted by the strikers are subsidiaries of overseas corporations. Especially hard hit have been the subsidiaries of Japanese companies, including...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 29, 2010

Saved by a few — and a fierce typhoon

In 1993, when large tracts of wilderness on the Kagoshima Prefecture island of Yakushima were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, environmentally minded observers the world over celebrated. But the real battle to save the island's forests had been fought — and won — a decade earlier. One of the...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 28, 2010

Transfer hopefuls refusing to play disgraceful

LONDON — Two Premier League players refused to play for their clubs this week — Liverpool's Javier Mascherano and Asmir Begovic, the Stoke reserve goalkeeper.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 25, 2010

Late heroics carry Giants

Chunichi Dragons manager Hiromitsu Ochiai didn't watch Michihiro Ogasawara's last at-bat from the dugout. He didn't need to either. The cheers of the Yomiuri faithful told him all he needed to know.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2010

Globalization's benefits are moot unless everybody gets to play

One aspect of the globalized world today is that the world has plunged into fast-paced, turbulent times where everyone is connected — so much so that British sociologist Anthony Giddens has been compelled to write of today's age as one where "the local and the global are inextricably intertwined."...
EDITORIALS
Aug 23, 2010

Political dues of scorched earth

The consequences of Russia's hottest summer in 130 years, which has caused forest fires and severe drought, have been devastating. More than 50 people have died and thousands of people have lost their residences to fire.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 22, 2010

Uneasy neighbors across the sea

August 22 is the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Annexation between Japan and Korea that came into effect on Aug. 29, 1910 — commemorated now in North and South Korea as a day of shame.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 22, 2010

Families dictate Japan's economic fate

Though everybody saw it coming, the announcement last week that China's economy supplanted Japan's as the second largest in the world shocked many people. It matters little that China's sheer size makes its dominance inevitable. What matters is that Japan's 42-year run as the world's No. 2 is over, and...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 21, 2010

Man United's Scholes aging like a fine wine

LONDON — Sir Alex Ferguson has always placed his faith in youth during his 24 years as Manchester United manager.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2010

Hostility against Jews increasing in Sweden

VIENNA — Last month, firecrackers were thrown at the only synagogue in the Swedish city of Malmo, breaking three windows. The day before, a bomb threat had been left at the building, warning of what was about to happen. Two weeks earlier, another attack was launched against the same synagogue.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2010

It's wrong to backpedal on nonnuclear principles

The prime minister's advisory panel on national security has recommended a reconsideration of Japan's adherence to the so-called three nonnuclear principles. The panel specifically urged that the third principle, the prohibition on the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan (which forbids not only...
EDITORIALS
Aug 17, 2010

Salaries of public servants

The National Personnel Authority on Aug. 10 recommended cutting the salaries of national public servants by an average 1.5 percent, or ¥94,000 yearly, and reducing their annual bonuses to 3.95 months worth of salary from the current 4.15 months.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 17, 2010

Appeals to culture, tradition ignore the historical facts

In the upcoming Australian general election, there is one issue that the major parties unanimously agree on: opposition to Japanese whaling. Voters are overwhelmingly antagonistic to whaling and Australian politicians have demonstrated an increasing willingness to listen to public opinion.
COMMENTARY
Aug 11, 2010

Can Japan's politics change people's despair to hope?

The outcome of the July 11 Upper House election symbolized voters' distrust of national politics in Japan. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan led by Prime Minister Naoto Kan took only 44 of the 121 contested seats against its pre-election share of 54 seats due for contention and the DPJ-led coalition...
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2010

Budget cutters target JET

Every year for the past two decades, legions of young Americans have descended on Japan to teach English. This government-sponsored charm offensive was launched to counter anti-Japan sentiment in the United States and has since grown into one of the country's most successful displays of soft power.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 7, 2010

The strategy behind non-alcoholic beer

Non-alcoholic beers have been a big hit for beer makers in Japan, especially when you factor in the fact that they aren't taxed.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 5, 2010

Guillen tries to clarify comments

DETROIT (AP) Ozzie Guillen says his comments about Latin American baseball players have been taken out of context.

Longform

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