Search - question

 
 
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Dec 11, 2012

Do Japan a favor: Don't stop being a critic

Remember grade school, when the most demanding question put to you was something as simple as "What color do you like?" Choose any color, for there is no wrong answer.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 11, 2012

Privacy debate surrounds U.S. electronic spying law

A measure granting the government expansive power to intercept electronic communications in the United States without a warrant is set to expire this month, setting up a sharp debate in the Senate over how to balance privacy against national security.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 9, 2012

"Give it a try!"; A Matsumoto mystery; CM of the week: Pizza Hut

Celebrity couples are very popular among variety-show producers, but in recent years they have shown more interest in another two-for-one bargain: the parent-child pairing. This week a special two-hour edition of the consumer challenge show, "Otameshi Ka!" ("Give It a Try!"; TV Asahi, Mon. 7 p.m.) will...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2012

'Frankenweenie'

Director Tim Burton started out as an animator at Disney, and after working on such milquetoast projects as "The Fox and The Hound" and "The Black Cauldron" he was greenlighted to develop some of his own stuff. After a few animated shorts, he made his first live-action film at age 25 in 1984, "Frankenweenie."...
LIFE
Dec 4, 2012

'Were we marines used as guinea pigs on Okinawa?'

Newly discovered documents reveal that 50 years ago this week, the Pentagon dispatched a chemical weapons platoon to Okinawa under the auspices of its infamous Project 112. Described by the U.S. Department of Defense as "biological and chemical warfare vulnerability tests," the highly classified program...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2012

Sacred India's Chinese flavor

More than a billion small lamps lit the evening sky and hand-held sparkler fireworks added to the dancing light, while firecrackers boomed almost as if a war was going on. In hundreds of millions of homes, people chanted the sacred mantras and called upon the gods to help good defeat evil, and light...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2012

Buffett's spending goal won't bring U.S. renewal

I hate to pick a fight with the sage of Omaha, but in an otherwise admirable New York Times Op-Ed that offered a new version of his idea for a minimum tax for the wealthy, Warren Buffett embraced (inadvertently, I'm guessing) spending and revenue goals for the federal government that would kill any agenda...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 4, 2012

'Were we marines used as guinea pigs on Okinawa?'

Newly discovered documents reveal that 50 years ago this week, the Pentagon dispatched a chemical weapons platoon to Okinawa under the auspices of its infamous Project 112. Described by the U.S. Department of Defense as "biological and chemical warfare vulnerability tests," the highly classified program...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2012

Ceasefire tests five leaders

The diplomatic activities under the current Gaza ceasefire will test whether a quintet of leaders — each with his own domestic critics — can find a peaceful rather than a military solution to the Palestinian situation. The ceasefire language was direct but ambiguous: "Israel should stop all hostilities...
Reader Mail
Dec 2, 2012

Usual 'decency' is not enough

In his Nov. 29 letter, "Opportunists pervert ideologies," Percival Constantine may fail to appreciate that, historically, the vast majority of "decent, upstanding citizens" went along with the Inquisition, pogroms, the gulags and so on.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Dec 2, 2012

Players give ultimatum to Oita, plan appeal to FIBA

Like a veteran boxer with 75 bouts on his resume, the Oita HeatDevils' American quartet —Wendell White, Matt Lottich, Taj Finger and Cyrus Tate — is not going down without a fight.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2012

U.S. Senate passes Senkaku backing

The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously approved an amendment to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that is designed to counter attempts by China to challenge Japan's administration of the Senkaku Islands but sidesteps the question of who has ultimate sovereignty over the disputed territory....
Dec 1, 2012

Hamas out to undermine Israel with media blitz

What makes better headlines? Is it numbing figures such as the 8,000 Palestinian rockets fired at Israel since it unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and the 42.5 percent of Israeli children living near the Gaza border who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder? Or is it high-resolution images...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 1, 2012

'Old Canyon' theory divides geologists

To stand on the South Rim and gaze into the Grand Canyon is to behold an awesome immensity of time. The serpentine Colorado River has relentlessly incised a 450-km-long chasm that in some places stretches 28 km wide and more than 1½ km deep. Visitors to Grand Canyon National Park will encounter an exhibit...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 1, 2012

Media grill party chiefs in televised debate

With campaigning for the Lower House election set to kick off in a few days, the leaders of 11 parties gathered for a televised discussion Friday that saw most of the questions thrown at Liberal Democratic Party chief Shinzo Abe, whose party leads the opinion polls.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Nov 30, 2012

Oita defaults on player salaries, asks league to intervene

The Oita HeatDevils assembled one of the league's top rosters, a smart collection of veterans, and produced nine victories over their first 14 games, fewer wins than only one club in the 10-team Western Conference — the perennial powerhouse Ryukyu Golden Kings. More of the same appears impossible....
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2012

New global energy picture

Anew report hails a crucial shift in the global economy. If current trends continue, the United States will surpass Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer by 2020. This development will not only transform the world's energy picture, but geopolitics as well.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2012

Making the most of Russia's European prospects

In 1966, French President Charles de Gaulle's vision of a Europe "that stretched from the Atlantic to the Urals" was provocative. Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin has advanced an even more ambitious goal: "a common market stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 27, 2012

Ink doesn't always cause a stink at the onsen

In response to our Nov. 6 column ("If you need to bring drugs to Japan, sort out the paperwork — or else"), regarding how to find tattoo-friendly onsen, a few readers wrote in with their public bathing experiences.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2012

Assad's ability to retain power questioned after rebel advances

Syrian rebels are making significant advances in their battle against government forces, raising new questions about President Bashar Assad's ability to hold onto power and adding urgency to the quest by the international community for a unified and effective political opposition that could take control...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPAN-U.S. SEMINAR
Nov 24, 2012

U.S. ties depend on Tokyo's initiative, leadership

Japan-U.S. relations during the second four-year term of U.S. President Barack Obama will depend much on the stability of political leadership in Tokyo, a leading American expert on Japan said during a recent seminar in Tokyo.
SOCCER
Nov 24, 2012

Chelsea owner Abramovich rules with Iron fist

The dismissal of Roberto Di Matteo was as brutal as it was predictable and unpopular, but let nobody think that Roman Abramovich gives a damn about public opinion. The saddest part about the serial sacker's methods is, that if success is the yardstick, Abramovich's way works as Chelsea has won 10 trophies...
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 2012

Mr. Obama's focus on Asia

U.S. President Barack Obama has concluded a three-country Southeast Asia tour designed to punctuate his administration's intention to focus on Asia. The intentions are good and the strategy is correct: Asia deserves a more prominent place in U.S. thinking and planning.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2012

Abe economic policy raises serious questions

Not satisfied with bending Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to its will for a snap election, the Liberal Democratic Party has set its sights on Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa, at No. 36 the highest-ranked Japanese on Forbes magazine's 2011 list of the world's most powerful people. (Noda was ranked...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2012

'Alien' Hatoyama left wacky legacy

Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who announced Wednesday he is retiring from politics, is leaving behind a series of quotes that at times hindered bilateral ties with the U.S. and other remarks that were borderline wacky.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat