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COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2009

EU cyclone belts the left

BRUSSELS — The only results to cheer in the recent European Parliament elections came from Greece, where PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) went up to nine seats, and Ireland, where the financial crisis and public re-evaluation of regulation saw the Irish Labour party win two to three seats. Meanwhile,...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 2, 2009

Gonzalez enjoying early-season resurgence with Giants

On Opening Day, Yomiuri Giants pitcher Dicky Gonzalez was laboring away in the minors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 22, 2009

Collector steps into the void

How a psychiatrist from Yamagata came to possess one of the world's most important collections of Japanese contemporary art — meaning art made in the last 15 years — is almost embarrassingly simple. Ryutaro Takahashi had the savings and liked the art, so he bought it. As far as the 62-year- old is...
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 15, 2009

Media fret risk of biasing lay judges

Fourth in a series
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2009

Going back to Mr. Keynes

James M. Buchanan, a renowned anti-Keynesian economist, has attributed the fall of the legendary city of Camelot associated with King Arthur to gross intellectual errors. Camelot is an ideal city that appears in a chivalric tale. But legend has it that it collapsed because the inherent nature of human...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CITIZEN JUSTICE
May 12, 2009

Day of public reckoning in criminal trial process looms

First in a series
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 8, 2009

Sweet wines starting to trickle out of Romania

Since ancient times, wave upon wave of foreign conquests have washed over Romania, changing — sometimes obliterating — parts of the region's cultural identity.
EDITORIALS
May 6, 2009

Obstetricians in harsh conditions

In a recent lawsuit, two obstetricians at Nara Prefectural Hospital asked for retrospective overtime pay of about ¥92 million for their hours on night and holiday shifts in 2004 and 2005. The Nara District Court in late April ordered the prefectural government to pay them some ¥15 million.
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2009

'Goemon'

Big, original, visionary films are rare in today's Japanese film industry, which overwhelmingly prefers sure bets developed from hit manga, anime, TV dramas, novels and other media properties.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2009

172 teachers lose suit over 'Kimigayo'

The Tokyo District Court rejected a damages suit Thursday filed by 172 teachers who were punished for refusing to sing the "Kimigayo" national anthem at school events.
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2009

Perks of the warring states

WATERLOO, Ontario — Since the end of World War II, America, Britain and Israel have been among the countries most heavily involved in war and armed conflict. Don't expect to see any of their political or military leaders in an international criminal dock anytime soon.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 24, 2009

Punishing foreigners, exonerating Japanese

Examine any justice system and patterns emerge. For example, consider how Japan's policing system treats non-Japanese. Zeit Gist has discussed numerous times (July 8, 2008; Feb. 20 and Nov. 13, 2007; May 24, 2005; Jan. 13, 2004; Oct. 7, 2003) how police target and racially profile foreigners under...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2009

DS sales top 100 million in record time

Global sales of the Nintendo DS hand-held topped 100 million in four years and three months — a milestone reached at the quickest pace for any video game console — the manufacturer said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2009

Iraq is stable enough for U.S. troops to leave

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration's decision to withdraw the bulk of U.S. troops from Iraq over the next 19 months has sparked fears that Iraq will once again plunge into the wide-scale and debilitating violence that it endured from 2004 to 2007. Those fears are, for the most part, overblown. There...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Mar 6, 2009

Temp pioneer still going strong

Yoshiko Shinohara, president of staffing firm Tempholdings Co., has received numerous awards both in Japan and abroad.
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...
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2009

'Halfway'

"Halfway" ("Harufuwei") has one of those katakana titles that is supposed to sound vaguely exotic and mysterious to its intended audience — Japanese of about the same age as its teenage protagonists — but may strike native speakers as prosaic, even boring.

Longform

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