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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.
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2009

Goldman to trim equity research team as demand for analysis dips

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which has cut 10 percent of its global workforce in the past year, will trim its equity research team in Japan as early as this week, two sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2009

JLPT to be conducted twice a year

The nonprofit Japan Foundation has announced it will hold the Japanese Language Proficiency Test twice a year in Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea to cope with sharply rising demand.
BUSINESS / U.S. DIPLOMACY SYMPOSIUM
Feb 24, 2009

Introspective Europe may find it difficult accepting U.S.'s wider world view

Despite widespread public enthusiasm in Europe for the new U.S. administration of President Barack Obama, long-term worrying trends remain that confront the trans-Atlantic relationship, said James Goldgeier, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2009

Unbalanced bargaining game with China

SINGAPORE — The territorial dispute in the South China Sea — referred to as the Spratly Islands dispute — used to be described as a major regional security flash point. Although core issues remain unresolved, economic integration and globalization, since the beginning of this decade, have temporarily...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 24, 2009

What do you make of former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa's performance at the G7 summit in Rome?

Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2009

Women forsake frills but spare no expense for skin

When Miwako Taniuchi's income slumped 30 percent last year, out went the expensive dinners and new Gucci and Louis Vuitton handbags. One purchase that didn't get axed: a skin cream worth its weight in gold.
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 2009

Crisis hits the weak spots

The worst crisis in a century is eroding the Japanese economy as a growing number of "nonregular" workers lose their jobs. The unemployment rate in December reached 4.4 percent, up 0.5 percentage point from the previous month — the steepest increase ever. The labor ministry estimates that by the end...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2009

Success of Kosovo is Europe's responsibility

PRAGUE — On Feb. 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence and has so far been recognized by more than 50 countries representing close to 60 percent of the world's economic power. Interethnic violence — which many feared — has largely been avoided and the mass exodus of Serbs that some also predicted...
Reader Mail
Feb 22, 2009

Contrast in political behavior

Regarding the Feb. 18 articles "Nakagawa resigns after G7 disgrace," and "Japan, U.S. sign accord on forces" with a photo of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Prime Minister Taro Aso: It has been said that Japanese people are indifferent to politics. But after watching many times on...
Reader Mail
Feb 22, 2009

Shameful focus on student trivia

Regarding the Feb. 16 article "Kyoto Univ. law student busted for pot": It seems shameful that both the United States and Japan still criminalize the use of marijuana while dispensing by prescription horrible and lethal drugs to their citizens. Does anyone do anything about it until people die? I, for...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 22, 2009

'Sustainability' in a Japanese way

Takeshi Hara is an accomplished journalist, author and educator, and at 70 years of age he could easily choose to rest on his laurels.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Feb 21, 2009

Holtz happy to coach Notre Dame alumni in 75th anniversary game

What a summer it will be for American football fans in Japan.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2009

Pot crimes hit new record

Cannabis-related crimes have surged to a new record, stoking public interest following a spate of high-profile arrests related to marijuana use.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 21, 2009

Manchester United looking like a juggernaut

LONDON — It is not so much a question of when Manchester United will lose again in the Premier League, as when it will even concede a goal.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2009

Envoy lauds role of ODA in Azerbaijan's development

Official development assistance may be on a long-term decline, but its effectiveness remains integral to Azerbaijan's development, the country's deputy foreign minister said Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2009

Infants at risk as government drags feet on vaccines

Kenta Morioka, 4, died last year from suffocation caused by a bacterial infection. But the vaccine that could have saved his life, in use for 16 years and offered in 120 countries, wasn't available in Japan.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji