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JAPAN
Jan 23, 2008

Fukuda hints at second override

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda hinted Tuesday that he would again use the ruling coalition's two-thirds majority in the Lower House to override the Upper House if it fails to pass budget-related bills — including one on the gasoline and other auto-related taxes.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2008

An idea whose time has gone

LONDON — Back in the 1970s a political idea became very fashionable in Western Europe, and especially in Britain. This was the concept of multiculturalism — the belief that different immigrant and ethnic groupings, who were then pouring into the region, should be left to their own devices and allowed,...
Reader Mail
Jan 20, 2008

No need to speed our own extinction

I have been following recent incidents regarding whaling protesters. I have also read the information regarding the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources with specific note of the role that whales play in the marine ecosystem.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2008

Ambassador upbeat on gas row progress

Japan and China may be able to resolve their dispute over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea even before the expected visit to Japan by Chinese President Hu Jintao in April, the Chinese ambassador to Japan said in an interview Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2008

Serbia to choose EU orbit or isolation

MAYNOOTH, Ireland — On Saturday, Serbs go to the polls for the first round of a presidential election that may decide the country's future for decades to come.
EDITORIALS
Jan 18, 2008

Reality check in the Middle East

American President George W. Bush has just completed his first extended Mideast trip of his presidency. The visit was remarkable on two counts. First, there is the fact that Mr. Bush has not been to the region before despite its centrality to U.S. foreign policy in general and his administration's policies...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2008

Hypocrisy weakens West's whaling protests

PRINCETON, New Jersey — Thirty years ago, Australian vessels, with the government's blessing, killed sperm whales off the West Australian coast. Last month, Australia led international protests against Japan's plan to kill 50 humpback whales. Japan, under mounting pressure, announced that it would...
EDITORIALS
Jan 17, 2008

Small-scale consolidation plan

The government has adopted a plan to consolidate and streamline its 102 independent administrative agencies. Six entities will be abolished or privatized and 16 others will be integrated into six entities. Many of the entities affected are small, like research institutes. The government should continue...
COMMENTARY
Jan 14, 2008

Public's will to bear the cost

Most Japanese industry executives contend that the proposed environment tax should not be introduced on the grounds that it would slow the growth of gross domestic product. In my opinion, this argument is totally mistaken.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 13, 2008

Media pundits ponder Japan's prospects for year ahead

With the yearend summaries behind us and the stockpile of New Years' TV variety specials exhausted, the media turns its attention to the business of looking at Japan's future. It's an annual ritual that rarely results in anything edifying, but 2008 may turn out to be a watershed year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Jan 12, 2008

Language partners turn life partners

Information-technology engineer Rodion Moiseev was alone when he traveled from Moscow to England at the age of 14 to attend high school, and he believes those early experiences in a new land made him open to foreign cultures. It may well be one of the reasons for his interest in Japanese culture, particularly...
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2008

MSDF bill step closer to ruling bloc's ultimate OK

An opposition-controlled Upper House panel Thursday rejected a special antiterrorism bill to enable the Maritime Self-Defense Force to resume its refueling operations in the Indian Ocean, in a last-minute bid to block its expected passage Friday in the ruling bloc-dominated Lower House.
COMMENTARY
Jan 10, 2008

Mistaken economic policies

Another year, another budget. And yet another increase in public debt as tax revenues yet again fail to provide the funds needed even for the budget's highly restricted outlays.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2008

Fukuda, Ozawa hold first Diet faceoff

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda maintained his humble tone Wednesday in his first one-on-one debate with Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa.
COMMENTARY
Jan 9, 2008

Preventing teenage pregnancy in China

NEW YORK — Parallel to its economic revolution, China is now undergoing a sexual revolution, particularly among youth, that is having far-reaching consequences on their health and quality of life. The response to this challenge will determine how, or whether, young people can overcome serious problems....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2008

Day-care centers for sick kids few, strapped

It's a dilemma many working parents face when their children fall ill.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 8, 2008

What are your New Year's resolutions?

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 8, 2008

Following in our fingerprints

It was a quarter of a century ago on an autumn day in 1982 that I decided to engage in a small act of civil disobedience by refusing to give my fingerprint. Little did I realize I was stepping into a decades-long controversy that would be both an education and a circus.
Reader Mail
Jan 6, 2008

When writing about things Japanese

Regarding Akita Kimi's Dec. 27 letter, "Another way of writing names": In response to Mikami Takashi's Dec. 20 reasoned plea for limiting Japanese names to surname-first usage in English, Akita's argument -- that it can be "confusing" for those who do not know Japanese -- would be patronizing were...
COMMENTARY
Dec 31, 2007

Censorship serves to flag our own limits

LOS ANGELES — It appears that many mainland Chinese moviegoers are traipsing over to Hong Kong in droves to view the uncensored version of Ang Lee's latest blockbuster, "Lust, Caution." With their feet, in effect, they are voting for lust — and as if wishing for official Beijing caution to be gone...
COMMENTARY
Dec 30, 2007

Living with war and a warmer planet

LONDON — 2007 was the year in which global warming finally began to be taken seriously. Climate-change deniers were in full retreat, and the realization that we face a long and grave crisis was finally dawning on the general public. However, it remains to be seen whether the world will agree on effective...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2007

New pact to make EU more democratic, transparent

A landmark treaty to reform decision-making in the European Union stands a good chance of being ratified by all 27 member states by the end of 2008, a top EU diplomat to Japan told a recent seminar in Tokyo.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 25, 2007

Whaling — for nationalism or science?

When it comes to whaling, Japan digs in its heels, as do antiwhaling nations and conservation groups.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 25, 2007

Whaling — for nationalism or science?

When it comes to whaling, Japan digs in its heels, as do antiwhaling nations and conservation groups.
Reader Mail
Dec 23, 2007

Sinister nationalism holds sway

In the Dec. 18 letter, "Skaters should highlight Japan," Nozomi Mizuno bemoans an apparent lack of patriotism exhibited by Japanese figure skaters. That Japanese either lack or do not vociferously enough express patriotism in comparison to foreigners is a widely held opinion in Japan. It is also diametrically...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 22, 2007

Tokyo American Club prepares to move

Michael Bumgardner is not only the general manager of Tokyo American Club; he's a "keeper of trees," as his ancestral German name Baumgartner suggests.
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2007

'The Bulldozer' wins in Seoul

South Korea has a new president. As anticipated, former Hyundai CEO Lee Myung Bak won a landslide victory in Wednesday's election. A conservative, Mr. Lee has promised to re-examine many of the policies of his predecessors. His presidency offers Japan a chance to rebuild a crucial relationship that has...
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2007

Stupid waste of helicopter fuel

Last Friday (Dec. 14) all train services to and from Sapporo station were suspended for several hours; the exact cause could not be identified. In my opinion it was big news since it was the first time in the 17 years that I've lived here that all lines had been...

Longform

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