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EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2009

Reaching out to the Muslim world

Few speeches in recent history have been as widely anticipated as the June 4 address of U.S. President Barack Obama to the Muslim world. The speech, delivered in Cairo, was the high point of a four-nation trip to the Middle East and Europe. The speech is intended to signal a "new beginning between the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2009

A turning point in Japan for the right to equality?

A year ago this week, the Supreme Court of Japan issued a judgment that struck down a clause in the Nationality Act as being a violation of the Constitution. There are good reasons for everyone in Japan to celebrate that decision. While little noted outside of specialized legal journals at the time,...
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2009

First son says younger sibling being groomed

A man believed to be the eldest son of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Il said in a TV Asahi interview aired Tuesday he thinks reports that his youngest brother will become the North's next leader are true.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2009

Tech expo: Never send chef to do robot's job

Japan's state-of-the-art robot technologies have reinvented factory assembly lines and wowed the world with humanlike androids, but wider applications loom and a Tokyo exhibition that kicked off Tuesday will serve some of them up — literally.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 9, 2009

Narita airport — worth long struggle to build?

Narita International Airport has played a key role in the aviation industry since it opened in 1978.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 9, 2009

Easter answers; credit crunch

The letter published in April about Easter in Japan — or rather the lack of it — provoked quite a response. The general consensus appears to be that Easter is too hard to pin down on the calendar for commercialization. Here are a couple of responses:
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2009

Educating Americans about Muslim voices

NEW YORK — President Barack Obama has extended an open hand of friendship in his landmark Cairo speech to the Muslim world — seeking to engage Muslims with a commitment of mutual respect. No one can doubt his sincerity. From his first days in office, he has emphasized the importance of embarking...
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2009

What price victory?

The world welcomes the end of the civil war that has ravaged Sri Lanka for decades. Unfortunately, questions have emerged about how the conflict was brought to a close and whether war crimes were committed in the final bloody days of fighting. The Colombo government has dismissed the allegations as unfounded;...
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2009

Feasible anti-emission goal

In July 2008 the Japanese government adopted a target for 2050 of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 60 to 80 percent from 2005 levels. At the same time, a special panel was created to deliberate midterm reduction goals (through 2020).
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2009

Build poor countries with trade

David Howell's May 28 article, "West resembles Mr. Jellyby," would have to be one of the most perceptive articles on (foreign aid) that I have seen to date. Quite apart from recycling the old saying "charity begins at home," it correctly points out that the continuing pouring of that commodity into struggling...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 7, 2009

Apichatpong Weerasethakul: No ordinary Joe

Perhaps no Asian film director since Akira Kurosawa has received the critical attention bestowed on 39 year-old Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul. His "Blissfully Yours" won a major Cannes Festival prize in 2002; "Tropical Malady," took the 2004 Jury Prize and the Tokyo FilmEx first prize; and...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Jun 7, 2009

Grand Prix assignments signal start of Olympic season

The ice on the blades had barely melted from the World Team Trophy in Tokyo, just seven weeks ago, when the moves that precede the Olympic season began kicking into gear.
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2009

More lawyers needed

In the past, court-appointed lawyers, who are paid with public money, were assigned to represent indicted defendants who couldn't afford to hire a lawyer. In October 2006, lawyers started being appointed to represent suspects even before indictment in cases involving serious crimes such as murder and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2009

Occupation orphan traces roots

For New Yorker Demian Akhan, 60, his recent visit to Japan marked the end of a decades-long journey to discover his roots.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2009

Refugees having big impact on North society

North Korea may be a hardline communist state, but it hasn't succeeded in eliminating the public's desperate urge for Hollywood entertainment.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?