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EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2005

A debate-challenged legislature

The Diet has extended its regular session by 55 days through Aug. 13 to continue the debate on proposed postal reforms. The extension gives Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi a make-or-break opportunity to realize his cherished dream of putting the unwieldy postal system under private management.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 19, 2005

Interleague action rates a good grade in first year of play

Japan pro baseball's fist interleague season will wrap up this weekend, as soon as they can make up a few games previously rained out.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2005

Chinese, S. Koreans overwhelmingly oppose Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni

More than 80 percent of Chinese and South Korean respondents to a recent survey oppose Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine and Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 18, 2005

'Testament': Poems that speak of life's dark side

I meet two men in one: Tomonori Saito, who works for a shipping company in Tokyo's Shinagawa district, and Saion, the nom de plume of a young Japanese poet.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2005

Koizumi nixes Yasukuni replacement

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday rejected a suggestion that the government set up a new war memorial as a substitute for Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2005

Japan seeks to fatten ODA budget

The government wants to hike the official development assistance budget to 0.7 percent of gross national income but ignore swelling social security costs, according to the final draft of its 2005 economic and fiscal policy guideline.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 14, 2005

Cyber war grips Asia

If comments on bulletin boards were bullets and hacking attacks real skirmishes then East Asia would probably be a war zone now.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2005

Man to sue TV Asahi over report he smuggled guns

A Japanese man now serving a 15-month sentence in the United States will seek 5 million yen in damages from TV Asahi for defamation for airing a report that he was illegally selling guns.
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2005

Poor losers fan Filipino disenchantment

MANILA -- To characterize the public mood in the Philippines as depressed is no exaggeration. According to recent surveys, pessimism about economic prospects is on the rise, and a majority of Filipinos believe their quality of life has deteriorated in the past year. A recent Asian Development Bank survey...
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2005

Hilariously ineffective charm offensive

LOS ANGELES -- Watch out, the Chinese oil-saboteurs may be coming. Hold on to your derricks! Western newspapers are reporting that the giant China National Offshore Oil Corp. may make a bid to acquire the U.S. oil group Unocal. If the effort is successful (note: the U.S. oil giant Chevron may have a...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2005

Hardest steps to harmony

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The recent turmoil in Sino-Japanese relations has caused anxiety in Thailand. People here would clearly prefer a calmer atmosphere between the two giant powers of East Asia, as their future is linked to both and they stand to lose if there is a collision. Many believe that the...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2005

Panel gets qualified OK for female on the throne

Three of four academics told a government panel on Imperial succession Wednesday it would be acceptable to revise the current law to allow females to sit on the Chrysanthemum Throne, although two said males should be given preference.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2005

Tojo a scapegoat, granddaughter charges

The Tojo family had kept silent for a long time. But not any longer.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2005

Getting Japan off their back

SYDNEY -- Japanese whalers are coming and there appears no way of stopping them. Worse, their harpoons are about to slaughter more of the ocean mammals than ever.
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2005

'Europe' on the ropes

To no one's surprise, the Netherlands this week rejected the proposed European Union constitution. Coming on the heels of the French "no" last weekend, the EU now faces a serious reckoning. European leaders insist that the ratification process should proceed on schedule, but the resounding verdicts by...
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2005

EU elites missing the signals

LONDON -- The "no" vote that seems to have blown apart the whole European project is a crisis of the elites and institutions of Europe, not of the people. In fact, if the jubilant faces of many French people on Monday was a true signal, it might be taken as a triumph for the citizens against those elites,...
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

Koizumi cites 'creed' as defense for remarks on shrine visits

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday brushed aside criticism of his earlier remarks urging other countries not to interfere with his contentious visits to Yasukuni Shrine and said the trips are based on his "creed."
COMMENTARY
Jun 2, 2005

Chirac gambled and lost big

PARIS -- The polls, for once, were right: Sunday the French rejected the draft European constitutional treaty by nearly 55 percent. This outcome was all the more significant because no less than 70 percent of eligible voters took part.
COMMENTARY
May 31, 2005

Pyongyang eyes nuclear test

The issue of North Korea's nuclear-weapons development could reach a critical stage in June, one year after the suspension of six-party talks. U.S. intelligence says Pyongyang might conduct a nuclear test that month.
COMMENTARY
May 30, 2005

Japan's paradox of wealth

On his first visit to Japan in 1995, French sociologist Jean Baudrillard came up with a paradoxical hypothesis that Japan was affluent because Japanese were poor. Acknowledging that he was not an expert on Japanese affairs, Baudrillard made the suggestion in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun after...
Japan Times
Features
May 29, 2005

Aftershocks in Sri Lanka

HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka As the sun sets on another sultry Sri Lankan day, a small crowd gathers outside tent No. 68, home of Thuwan Rashid Kaseer and his three children. The 45-year-old carpenter is well known in the southern town of Hambantota for his fine, emotion-filled voice, and this evening his song...
EDITORIALS
May 24, 2005

Breaking the legislative logjam

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's campaign to privatize the postal-services system has entered a crucial stage now that the Lower House has set up an ad hoc committee on government-sponsored privatization bills. The establishment of the panel attests to the prime minister's resolve to get the package...
EDITORIALS
May 19, 2005

A victory of sorts for Mr. Chen

The people of Taiwan put a damper on "mainland fever" last weekend. In elections to create a special assembly that would amend the island's constitution, President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a plurality of votes. The results are more an endorsement of the status quo, though,...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 17, 2005

Valentine living it up in Japan as Marine faithful think pennant

Bobby Valentine isn't interested in talking about when or if he'll make a return to the major leagues. The former New York Mets manager is perfectly happy here in Japan.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 15, 2005

Race not a factor in Nash's MVP victory

NEW YORK -- Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard played the race card last week and, despite the fact there was no one else sitting at his table, he couldn't resist dealing from the bottom of a deck obviously not near full.
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2005

The meaning of triumph over evil

Sixty years ago, Nazi Germany was defeated. World leaders gathered in Moscow this week to commemorate that victory over evil. Many will wonder why that celebration was held in Moscow. That such a question could be asked is a stark reminder of the speed with which the past is receding. It is reveals why...
Features
May 8, 2005

How to look hot or not

Dressing properly for a barbecue party is a daunting task.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
May 7, 2005

Bush finds social security plan a hard sell

WASHINGTON -- One hundred days into his second term, President George W. Bush seems a bit adrift. He has dipped below the 50-percent level in approval ratings (47 percent). His "60 stops in 60 days" campaign to promote his program to reform Social Security has boomeranged, with fewer people supporting...
COMMENTARY
May 3, 2005

University gap set to widen

One year has passed since Japan's national universities gained corporate status. How have they changed? Following are my personal views on the merits and demerits of some of the changes.
COMMUNITY
May 1, 2005

Memories are made of . . . history managed and manipulated?

Way back in 1964 and 1965 I made extended trips to and around the Soviet Union. Memories that are 40 years old are hard enough to relate to the reality of the present, let alone when they are of a country that has ceased to exist. This, though, is precisely what I aim to do.

Longform

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