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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2009

Key gripes converge in Tokyo poll

With the July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election drawing near, opposition parties are beginning to attack the contentious policies endorsed by the bureaucracy and Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2009

High court OKs Sugaya retrial

The Tokyo High Court said Tuesday a retrial will be held for Toshikazu Sugaya, who was released from prison earlier this month after new DNA evidence contradicted initial tests that led to his conviction in the 1990 murder of a 4-year-old girl in Tochigi Prefecture.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2009

The deficits of democracy

LONDON — Britain and Japan have prime ministers who have not been endorsed by the electorate in a general election. Both are hanging on to power and argue that it is their right as prime minister to choose the date for the next election. Under our constitutions this is a valid claim, but is it in accordance...
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2009

Unreasonably light sentence

Regarding the June 4 AP article "Ozeki Kaio says harsh treatment is integral": I am an avid fan of sumo and have been watching the televised bashos for almost 10 years now, five of them while in Japan. I have great liking and respect for sumo veteran Kaio, basically because of the way he conducts himself...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
May 26, 2009

Peru's Fujimori gets his: readers reply

Readers' responses to Debito Arudou's May 5 Just Be Cause column headlined "Fujimori gets his; Japan left shamed":
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
May 20, 2009

Tokyo Photojournalist

Journalists everywhere are facing the twin challenges of recession and rapidly changing technology. With his blog, Tokyo Photojournalist, Tony McNicol showcases his work as a Japan-based freelance journalist and discusses photojournalism in the age of Flickr and Twitter. In this interview with The Japan...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 19, 2009

Weight of Imperial world on Princess Masako

Observers often liken Crown Princess Masako to Britain's Princess Diana. They both embody the fairy tale gone tragically wrong — women outside the royal circle wooed by the heir to the throne, only to end up clashing with the establishment and surrounded by controversy and speculation that has made...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CITIZEN JUSTICE
May 12, 2009

Day of public reckoning in criminal trial process looms

First in a series
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Mar 22, 2009

Holm on the rebound with Sendai after tough year

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which began its fourth season in October. Chris Holm of the Sendai 89ers is the subject of this week's profile.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 15, 2009

Japan's 'silly couple' reunite despite domestic violence

For the past few weeks, America's showbiz media has lingered over the alleged beating that R&B star Rihanna received at the hands of her boyfriend, the equally popular singer Chris Brown. Below the titillating layer of scandal is the story's more sobering subtext of domestic violence (DV), a social problem...
Reader Mail
Mar 8, 2009

Student individuality gone to seed

The Feb. 5 opinion-page article "Why can't Japanese kids get into Harvard?" explains why it is more difficult for Japanese people to get accepted at Harvard University than for Korean people. The article says it is partially because of culture and partially because of education.
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2009

Release of Guantanamo prisoners

Regarding Michael Richardson's Feb. 4 article, "Guantanamo closure raises key issues for U.S.": I do not perceive the purpose of Richardson's reciting well-known facts without rendering an opinion. One has to interpret his opinion from his stress on the negative implications of President Barack Obama's...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2009

Diet poised to OK second extra budget

The Diet was set Monday to approve over the strong protests of opposition parties a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 that includes Prime Minister Taro Aso's controversial ¥2 trillion cash handout.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 25, 2009

A herring fishery shows that the big picture can be elusive

Nearly all the herring roe now used to make the Japanese new-year delicacy kazunoko comes from North America's west coast. The ocean-living herring go there in huge numbers to spawn in March, and are met by ranks of predators, including cormorants, terns and gulls, bald eagles, ospreys, dogfish sharks,...
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2009

Cabinet OKs diluted tax reform bill

Prime Minister Taro Aso got a little breathing room Friday after the Cabinet approved his modified tax reform bill, which now offers an open-ended clause for a future consumption tax hike, while mending an internal rift over the issue in his Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY
Dec 8, 2008

Mumbai and Kashmir: What goes around, comes around

We were all shocked, rightly, by the Islamist attacks in Mumbai. But how many or us were equally shocked by earlier reports about the discovery of unmarked graves in Kashmir?
Reader Mail
Dec 7, 2008

'Civilian control' misinterpreted

Regarding the Nov. 28 article "SDF's rise in '90s behind Tamogami's challenge": I'd like to point out that "civilian control" has been wrongly interpreted — by the media, government bureaucrats, politicians and the like in Japan — ever since the end of World War II to curtail the freedom of speech...
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 2008

Opposition to dam plan

The governors of Osaka, Kyoto, Shiga and Mie prefectures have called on the government to cancel its plan to build a dam on the Daido River, part of the Yodo River system, in Shiga Prefecture. They said its priority is low and that the dam should not be included in a development program to construct...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 17, 2008

LDP split on when to fight

A serious schism has developed within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Taro Aso between those who demand an early general election and those who favor waiting for the political and economic situation to improve so that the party has a better chance of winning.
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2008

Mr. Obama wins

The senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, made history Tuesday when he was elected the 44th president of the United States. The scale and sweep of his victory are nothing short of breathtaking: Not only did he win a landslide in the electoral college, but he rode a Democratic wave into Congress. He should...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 21, 2008

How well does Japan look after the needs of its disabled population?

JAPAN
Sep 23, 2008

Aso elected LDP leader in landslide

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party chose Taro Aso as its 23rd president Monday, hoping to regain public popularity and win the next general election.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 23, 2008

Readers get last word on 'gaijin' tag

The Community Page received another large batch of e-mails in response to Debito Arudou's followup Sept. 2 (Sept. 3 in some areas) Just Be Cause column on the use of the word "gaijin." Following is a selection of the responses.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2008

Self-styled hawk Aso displays a dovish side on foreign policy

Following back-to-back prime ministerial resignations by conservative star Shinzo Abe and political dove Yasuo Fukuda, where does the new president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party rate on the hawk-dove scale?
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2008

Forum addresses public's aversion to China

Chinese and Japanese political, economic and academic leaders shared their apprehensions about the ever-growing aversion to China among the Japanese public when they met for a two-day forum in Tokyo starting Tuesday.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 10, 2008

War and reconciliation: a tale of two countries

On July 7, 2008, officers of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force visited Nanjing, the ancient capital of China, for an artillery demonstration — a visit barely mentioned in the Chinese media, even though it was the first time Japanese soldiers returned to the scene of the crime — the Nanjing massacre...
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 2008

An outbreak of nationalism

The issue of Scottish nationalism has again come to a head, and is raising serious political issues for all of Britain. The situation has been sparked by the outcome of a recent parliamentary by-election which, to general surprise, the Scottish Nationalist candidate won.

Longform

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