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JAPAN
Jul 1, 2008

Prime ministers should serve four-year terms, Nakagawa says

The prime minister should serve a four-year term instead of the current situation in which the post sometimes seems like a revolving door, Hidenao Nakagawa, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, said Monday.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jul 1, 2008

Foreign reporters covering G8 face harassment: media group

When Chu Hoi Dick arrived at Narita International Airport last Thursday to cover events related to next week's Group of Eight summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, he never imagined it would take nearly 20 hours to clear Immigration and set foot on Japanese soil.
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2008

Taiwan's way with dignity

The inaugural address that Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou gave was titled "Taiwan's Renaissance." It was well-composed, reflecting the president's views clearly while not evoking excessive alarm or expectations on complex and sensitive issues. These include the future of Taiwan's democracy, relations...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jun 30, 2008

Justices made right call on habeas corpus

Among the commentaries I've read about a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the one from George F. Will (The Japan Times, June 24) surprised me. The conservative columnist for The Washington Post upbraided Sen. John McCain for condemning Boumediene v. Bush — which upheld the right of habeas corpus...
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2008

A new prescription

The government's regulatory reform panel has recently proposed improvements in the screening process for new medicinal products. Currently, most new drugs, even those with approval overseas, can take up to four years to be approved in Japan. Under the new proposal, that screening time will be reduced...
MORE SPORTS
Jun 30, 2008

Kobayashi claims 5,000-meters win

KAWASAKI — Yuriko Kobayashi zoomed to the finish line for a victory in the meet-concluding women's 5,000-meter race on Sunday in the Japan Athletics National Championships.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 30, 2008

What gold is telling us about global economy

Look at these numbers: 21, 35 and 1,000. What kind of vital statistics would you say these were? The amount of calories you need to deny yourself to get back into shape? The number needed on your point card to earn the cash back you covet at your local supermarket?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 29, 2008

286 reasons to reflect on a Japan long gone, but worthy of reflection

I recently gave a talk on Japanese culture to a group of foreign students at Tokyo Institute of Technology. They hailed from a variety of places, including Scandinavia, the United States and Asian countries. I began by asking them to give me a keyword or two that they thought characterized Japanese life...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 29, 2008

David Bull: In the wake of Hokusai

From behind his shaggy beard, affable British-born Canadian woodblock printmaker David Bull ended our interview at his studio in western Tokyo with what sounded like a challenge.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 29, 2008

Hiroshige's colorful world of Edo

HIROSHIGE: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, by Melanie Trede and Lorenz Bichler. Taschen (ISBN978-4-88783-357-9), 294 pp., 2008, ¥15,750 (paper, with presentation box)
TENNIS
Jun 29, 2008

Gimelstob's comments cause stir

WIMBLEDON, England — Justin Gimelstob's disparaging comments about Anna Kournikova have created a stir at Wimbledon, where World Team Tennis teammate Serena Williams denounced the remarks as unprofessional.
Reader Mail
Jun 29, 2008

Theory full of logical fallacies

I was quite surprised to see John Spiri's June 17 Zeit Gist article, "Lawmaker takes 9/11 doubts global," because, despite Yukihisa Fujita's credentials as a Diet member, he is simply repeating the tired intonations of completely discredited theories regarding the events of 9/11.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 28, 2008

Verifying North report crucial: G8

KYOTO — The Group of Eight foreign ministers ended their meeting Friday in Kyoto by stressing the importance of ensuring that North Korea abandons its nuclear activities.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 28, 2008

Tamesue, Murofushi qualify for Olympics

Dai Tamesue and Koji Murofushi qualified for the Beijing Summer Olympics, winning their respective events on Friday in the Japan Athletics National Championships at Todoroki Stadium in Kawasaki.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2008

Third-grade English may get test run in fiscal 2009

The education ministry wants to start teaching English to third-graders on a trial basis at several hundred elementary schools nationwide in fiscal 2009, a ministry official said this week.
EDITORIALS
Jun 28, 2008

Make North Korea accountable

North Korea has filed a declaration of its nuclear programs with China, which chairs the six-party talks, and the United States has started a procedure to remove the North from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2008

Japan clarifies tax rules to help attract offshore investors

Japanese regulators are seeking to make taxation rules more transparent for overseas investors in the world's second-biggest economy in a bid to attract more funds from abroad.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2008

Mitsubishi buys 34% stake in Cima

Mitsubishi Corp., the nation's biggest trading company, bought a 34 percent stake in Houston-based natural gas and oil wholesaler Cima Energy Ltd. to tap demand in the world's biggest energy market.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 27, 2008

Teenage pop stars know how to operate

"It's kind of embarrassing," says Taylor Henderson, violinist with teen sensations Operator Please, as she recalls the Australian release of the Queensland band's breakthrough single, "Just a Song About Ping Pong."
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2008

LDP's future as dicey as Humpty Dumpty's

BRUSSELS — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has been in office less than 12 months, yet polls show popular support for his administration running around 20 percent. Fukuda and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) face a bleak future.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.