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EDITORIALS
May 30, 2011

Not the time for infighting

Voices critical of Prime Minister Naoto Kan appear to be getting louder within the Democratic Party of Japan. One cannot give high marks to Mr. Kan for his performance as the nation's leader in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Reader Mail
May 29, 2011

An unimaginable commitment

The advice that Kotaku Wamura, former mayor of Fudai, Iwate Prefecture, is quoted as giving at his retirement — "Even if you encounter opposition, have conviction and finish what you start. In the end, people will understand" (May 18 AP article "How one village defied the tsunami") — reminds me of...
Reader Mail
May 29, 2011

Aussie treasurer should lead IMF

Kevin Rafferty's May 19 article, "Top vacancy looms in IMF," raises questions about Europe's 65-year rule at the International Monetary Fund. Its 24-person board has a chance to acknowledge the new world economic order and the emerging economies in its appointment of the new IMF managing director. It...
Reader Mail
May 29, 2011

Japan's return to the leading edge

Regarding the May 25 front-page article "Tepco admits two more meltdowns": In recent times Japan has been viewed globally as being on the leading edge and as forward-thinking. The disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has changed the image. The only way for Japan to regain that image is to phase...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 29, 2011

The hot, sticky summer of our discontent

Last summer went on record as Japan's hottest ever, as the daytime mercury seemed stubbornly stuck in the 33 to 36 degrees Celsius range while at nighttime it usually refused to budge to below the 25 C mark.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
May 29, 2011

G-8 differ in reactions to Fukushima

While the Group of Eight wrapped up their two-day summit in Deauville, France, by agreeing on the need to better define international standards for nuclear safety, its member nations differ in their reactions to the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
COMMENTARY
May 27, 2011

Dalai Lama's words open door for Beijing

The election of Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard Law School scholar, as prime minister of Tibet's government-in-exile was followed immediately by China's rejection of any talks with him on the future of Tibet.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 27, 2011

Niigata brings down curtain on Hirose era

After 11 seasons at the helm, Masaya Hirose's tenure as Niigata Albirex BB coach has ended.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2011

Japan's nuclear conundrum

Concerns regarding nuclear power in Japan following the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are fueling debates on a possible reformulation of the country's energy policy.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 23, 2011

Long hot summer on track

Fears of unbearable heat this summer for train commuters in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area are mounting for two reasons: (1) Electric power shortages triggered by the accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station may force East Japan Railway Co. (JR East), the major operator of commuter trains,...
Reader Mail
May 22, 2011

Can't beat interactive approach

Regarding the May 16 article: "Study: It is not the teacher but the method that matters": I have been a teacher of English for nearly 12 years. My specialty is early childhood education, though I now mainly teach junior high and high school children.
Reader Mail
May 22, 2011

'Edo Period' energy outlook

Regarding Eriko Arita's May 14 article, "": I find the comments of Tetsunari Iida (executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies) very interesting, but I have the following questions:
Reader Mail
May 22, 2011

Village mayor with foresight

Regarding the May 18 AP article "How one village defied the tsunami": How is it that the tiny fishing village of Fudai in Iwate Prefecture could anticipate the threat of a major earthquake/tsunami? How did this tiny fishing village have the resolve and foresight to build a sea wall and floodgates at...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 21, 2011

'Koala crisis' is prompting zoos to accelerate their breeding efforts

In another 20 years, koalas may disappear from Japanese zoos.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
May 21, 2011

Pact is welcomed but abuse concerns raised

Parents who can't see their children after an international divorce will welcome Japan's latest moves to revise its laws on returning children taken across borders while hoping that enforcement of the legal revisions will be swift.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 20, 2011

Disaster makes the heart grow fonder, but potential marriage partners still need cash

More people are looking to get hitched since the March 11 earthquake, but will it change the criteria for selecting partners?
Reader Mail
May 19, 2011

Lack of details worsens situation

As a resident of Koto Ward in Tokyo with an infant son, I am very concerned when The Japan Times publishes vague articles about highly radioactive ash being found in Koto Ward ("Radioactive ash found in Tokyo after March 11").
Reader Mail
May 19, 2011

More Tepco-government victims

Regarding the May 13 article "Kan orders slaughter of all livestock in 20-km hot zone": At first the government had said that farm animals would be transferred to other prefectures after they were decontaminated. Was that just a lie?!
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
May 18, 2011

Japan, the Twitter nation

According to Twitter's official blog (blog.twitter.com), when the clock stuck midnight last New Year's Eve, Japanese Twitter users went crazy, recording 6,939 tweets per second—a new record at the time. In fact, globally 14 percent of all tweets are in Japanese—second only to English, with 50 percent—which...
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2011

Democracy's dawn in Middle East?

With protests fading in Tunis and seeming to have peaked in Cairo, it is time to ask whether Tunisia and Egypt will complete democratic transitions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 17, 2011

When it comes to mighty Tepco, pride goes before the fall

Until quite recently, landing a job at Tokyo Electric Power Co., Japan's largest and most powerful electric utility, meant a lifetime of steady employment and generous paychecks, a status envied and often likened to that of a civil servant.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 16, 2011

The new enervated Tepco

With the onset of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant crisis following the March 11 Tohoku-Pacific earthquake, radioactive substances continue to seep into the sea, air and soil. Residents within a designated proximity of the plant will likely have to live away from their homes a long time. The prospect...
COMMENTARY
May 16, 2011

Rebel conductor making music for peace

He has been called "a real Jew hater" and a "real anti-Semite" by former Israeli Education Minister Limor Livnat. However, few musicians have done as much for peace between Israelis and Palestinians as Daniel Barenboim, the noted Argentine-born Israeli orchestra conductor. It will be only through efforts...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
May 16, 2011

NBA veteran Satterfield making impact on Evessa

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Kenny Satterfield of the Osaka Evessa is the subject of this week's profile.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 16, 2011

BOJ chief sees only bubbles on horizon

With his nation's economy contracting under disaster damage of as much as ¥25 trillion ($310 billion), Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa is signaling that his biggest worry is inflation.
Reader Mail
May 15, 2011

Political 'gains' cost the country

Regarding the May 11 Kyodo article "Opposition rejects Kan's recovery efforts": It seems that the opposition parties are seeking political gains from the disaster caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. They completely forget that they are the ones that created the framework for the current energy...
Reader Mail
May 15, 2011

MAD: If not broken, don't fix it

Regarding Project Syndicate writer Sergei Karaganov's April 30 article, "The end of mutually assured destruction": The doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD) was the best American policy initiative to come out of the 1960s. It represents realpolitik at its finest with an emphasis on maintaining...
Reader Mail
May 15, 2011

Little comfort for disaster victims

Regarding the May 7 Kyodo article from Manila, "DPJ crisis exec found playing golf": I found Democratic Party of Japan Vice President Hajime Ishii's comments, made after he was caught playing golf in the Philippines, to be darkly comic.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 14, 2011

Disasters reached Brazilian 'bento' firm in Tokai

At 8 a.m. one day in April, three workers at FujiNippon Refeicoes, a catering company serving Brazilian workers in Japan, were filling boxed lunches with freshly made Brazilian dishes on a large kitchen counter.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2011

Bin Laden's bizarre death

Osama bin Laden is dead, but the troubling questions continue. It's far too early to declare an end of the war against terror. Bin Laden was only the ugly face of a hydra-headed terror monster that has been spreading tentacles in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Europe and America. But governments...

Longform

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