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EDITORIALS
Mar 2, 2009

Unconvincing pension forecast

The welfare ministry has made public the results of a once-every-five-year review of the financial status of the nation's pension system. Under the basic scenario, the ratio of corporate employees' pension benefits to their after-tax salary is forecast to drop from 62.3 percent in fiscal 2009 to 50.1...
Reader Mail
Mar 1, 2009

Unfortunate katakana shortcuts

The Feb. 18 Kanji Clinic article, "A rainbow of kanji brightens Japan's palette of colors," was very interesting and delightful news. As a former teacher in Japan, I used to struggle with getting my students to forget about those hideous katakana. I still don't understand why Japan's education system...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2009

Pope should reflect on his universal mission

HONG KONG — Is the pope Catholic! This, of course, is a fabled American rhetorical expression, usually used sarcastically and meaning, how could you be so stupid as to doubt something?
CULTURE / Books
Mar 1, 2009

Importance of being a top middleweight

Reviewed by Anthony Fensom Striking with a magnitude of 6.8, the severe earthquake that struck Niigata Prefecture and its surrounds on July 16, 2007, left a trail of destruction in its wake, killing seven people, injuring over 830 and destroying 500 homes.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 1, 2009

Obama please note: Those who fail to 'master the past' are guilty, too

In "Guilt About the Past," based on guest lectures that Bernhard Schlink gave at Oxford University last year, the University of Berlin law professor describes the "long shadow" cast by the perpetrators of war crimes on their descendants.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2009

Nissan rethinking designs as elderly flourish

ATSUGI, Kanagawa Pref. — To understand what it's like for a 70-year-old person to get around, Nissan designers are donning an "aging suit," complete with a 1-kg vest, uneven shoes that make walking a precarious hobble and belts that strap knees so they can't bend.
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2009

Mr. Obama's vision

Technically speaking, U.S. President Barack Obama's address to a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday was not a state of the union speech. The president has been in office a little more than a month and he felt that was not enough time to render a judgment on the state of the nation. In fact, the speech...
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2009

Nakasone to seek 'gyoza' poisoning update on China trip

Japan will seek an update from Beijing on its probe into last year's food poisonings linked to frozen "gyoza" dumplings made in China, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2009

Lower House passes ¥88 trillion budget

The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc passed the ¥88 trillion fiscal 2009 budget bill and related legislation Friday through the Lower House, paving the way for implementing the biggest initial budget ever by the March 31 end of the fiscal year.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2009

Aso short of excuses for delaying election

Friday's passage of the fiscal 2009 budget and related bills through the Lower House was bittersweet for Prime Minister Taro Aso, who still faces the dilemma of when to call a general election.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2009

Softbank to offer free iPhones, cut fee

Softbank Mobile Corp., the only Japanese mobile phone operator selling Apple Inc.'s iPhone, will begin offering on Friday the multimedia gadget for free and slash Internet connection fees to attract more customers, the company said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 27, 2009

Mr. Aso goes to Washington

Prime Minister Taro Aso met with U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday in Washington, just a week after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, during her visit to Tokyo, invited him to meet with the president as the first foreign leader to be invited to the White House since Mr. Obama came to...
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2009

A year in, Osaka Gov. Hashimoto on a roll

After more than a year in office, Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto enjoys approval ratings Prime Minister Taro Aso can only dream of, and he's wielding his popularity to push budget cuts and sweeping fiscal and economic reforms on the way to what he eventually hopes will be a semiautonomous Kansai region.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 27, 2009

One pricey bowl of soup noodles

A bowl of noodles at a typical Tokyo ramen joint is cheap — usually around ¥800 — and served in a convenient location. Fujimaki Gekijo, situated between Nakameguro and Yutenji in Meguro Ward, is neither. And the owner and chef, Shoichi Fujimaki, would have it no other way.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 27, 2009

One pricey bowl of soup noodles

A bowl of noodles at a typical Tokyo ramen joint is cheap — usually around ¥800 — and served in a convenient location. Fujimaki Gekijo, situated between Nakameguro and Yutenji in Meguro Ward, is neither. And the owner and chef, Shoichi Fujimaki, would have it no other way.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Feb 27, 2009

Party time at the Royal Park

The Royal Park Shiodome Tower has put together a party package at its 24th-floor restaurant Harmony, which commands views of Hama-rikyu Garden and Tokyo Tower from 113 meters above the capital.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2009

TGE turns down Tocom merger

The Tokyo Grain Exchange, which forecasts a net loss this year, is rejecting proposals to merge with other bourses and will boost product offerings to revive profit, according to Chairman Yoshiaki Watanabe.
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2009

Liberal Democratic parties: up and down?

Big crises like the current recession change a lot of things that once seemed to be a permanent part of the landscape. In Japan the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed the country for all but nine months of the past half-century, is about to go over a cliff.
EDITORIALS
Feb 26, 2009

Kudos to Japan's Oscar winners

"Okuribito" ("Departures"), a film directed by Mr. Yojiro Takita, has won the Oscar for best foreign-language film, and "Tsumiki no Ie (The House of Small Cubes)," directed by Mr. Kunio Kato, has won the Oscar for best animated short film at the 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony, marking the first...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2009

Expos showcase future of renewable energy

One of the few bright spots in the dark days of the global economic downturn is the field of renewable energy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2009

DPJ seeking alliance of equals with U.S.

The Democratic Party of Japan, which has a good chance of winning power in this year's election, will seek an alliance with the United States that is less subordinate than that of the last 50 years, a senior DPJ lawmaker said.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2009

January trade deficit worst on record

Exports plunged 45.7 percent in January from a year earlier, resulting in a record trade deficit as the recession in the United States and Europe smothered demand for cars and electronics.

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?