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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2009

ASEAN response to nuclear risks

LONDON — As the nuclear renaissance comes to Southeast Asia, the countries of the region face an important turning point. Decisions taken today will help determine whether nuclear energy will play a positive role in their economic development, or whether a shadow of nuclear danger will accompany the...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2009

EU making the world safer

BRUSSELS — 2009 is a landmark year for the European Union's role in the world. It marks 10 years of the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), during which the EU became a global provider of security, making a real difference to people's lives all over the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 9, 2009

Education chief takes liberal path

New education minister Tatsuo Kawabata says he will give more control of schools to local governments and increase practical learning, indicating a turn away from the conservative policies of previous administrations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 9, 2009

LDP exec mulls novel notion: fielding opinions

Ryotaro Tanose, new chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's General Council, says good policies can only come from heated discussions among lawmakers, adding he will work to promote precisely such an environment.
BUSINESS
Oct 9, 2009

Takefuji looks to scrape up ¥42 billion

Consumer lender Takefuji Corp. plans to raise ¥42 billion through bank loans and sales of stocks, two sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Oct 8, 2009

Yen rise aiding S. Korea rivals: Sony

Sony Corp. said the yen may strengthen, threatening to push Japanese electronics makers further behind South Korean competitors, particularly Samsung Electronics Co.
EDITORIALS
Oct 8, 2009

Depression and suicide

More than 30,000 suicides have been committed in Japan in each year since 1998. Although the number of suicides in 2008 dropped by 844, or 2.6 percent, from 2007 to 32,249, this year's trend is troubling. From January through August, 22,362 people took their own lives, a rise of 971 or 4.5 percent from...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2009

Concept cars showcase Toyota's green drive

Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled two new concept models Tuesday that it hopes will highlight its "green" technology.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Oct 7, 2009

White comes through in crunch time to help Phoenix top Apache

Wendell White showcased his shooter's touch in crunch time on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Oct 5, 2009

New Japan in sight as mind-sets, economy approach crossroads

There is little doubt that the Democratic Party of Japan's Lower House victory and the election of Yukio Hatoyama as prime minister are the most significant political events Japan has experienced in the past 20 years. After decades of behind-closed-doors policymaking and stagnant growth under the conservative...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 4, 2009

Positive take on Japan's supposed dark age

THE EDO INHERITANCE, by Tokugawa Tsunenari. I-House Press, 2009, 200 pp., ¥2,500 (hardcover) The Edo Period (1603-1868) is frequently regarded as a dark, repressive age, when Japan was held in an iron grip by a military government that had closed its borders to the outside world. "The Edo Inheritance"...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Oct 4, 2009

Mamoru Mohri: A spaceman speaks

When future historians document the story of Japanese space exploration, 2009 will likely figure as the year when the nation put two high-profile rocket launch failures, in 1999 and 2003, firmly behind it and, quite literally, took off.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 4, 2009

Diving with dolphins in the Izu Islands

It's Saturday morning and I'm sitting on the beach, struggling to strap on a pair of oversize flippers. When they are securely in place, I waddle down to the water's edge and gingerly step into the sparkling, crystal ocean lapping Miyake Island.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 4, 2009

Japan's gender equality may be 'insufficent,' but it's surely coming

As the vast majority of societies worldwide are male dominated, one of the most contentious issues they face as they evolve centers on the status of women.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 4, 2009

Japan's gender equality may be 'insufficent,' but it's surely coming

As the vast majority of societies worldwide are male dominated, one of the most contentious issues they face as they evolve centers on the status of women.
BUSINESS / Q&A
Oct 3, 2009

Devil's in the details on debt relief

To rescue cash-strapped small firms and households, financial services minister Shizuka Kamei is preparing to submit a bill at the extraordinary Diet session this month that will pressure financial institutions to ease loan conditions for borrowers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2009

Bike-share project kicks off

Japan's first community bicycle program kicked off on an experimental basis in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district Thursday with 50 bikes at five locations.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2009

Some taxi firms go that extra mile

Aya Ito takes a taxi every day to bring her twin 1-year-old boys to a nursery at her workplace thanks to a cab company that is friendly to mothers and the elderly.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Oct 1, 2009

Pedal power in Marunouchi

Unsupervised bicycle rental around the Marunouchi district in Chiyoda-ku gets a push-start.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2009

Global slump hits Tokyo Motor Show

The shock waves from the global economic crisis have reached this year's Tokyo Motor Show.
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 27, 2009

Let's Bike!

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama could have made a stronger impact at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in New York last week had he trumpeted another environmentally laudable proposal in addition to his declared goal of Japan cutting its greenhouse-gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels...
COMMENTARY
Sep 23, 2009

Time to boost Japan-EU ties

CINDERFORD, England — Yukio Hatoyama and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) have finally taken up the reins of power after their stunning election victory Aug. 30. The promise of their manifesto is change. With politicians on top and bureaucrats on tap, Japan is to develop a proactive autonomous foreign...
COMMENTARY
Sep 22, 2009

Is Earth's methane a time bomb?

SINGAPORE — Developed and developing countries continue to haggle over terms of a new pact to limit global warming gases. With only 15 full negotiating days scheduled before a climate change summit convenes in Copenhagen at the end of the year, the next round of negotiations in Bangkok (Sept. 28-Oct....

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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