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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2012

Is it an Arab spring for new borders?

Two things stand out in the Middle East since the Arab Spring began — one that happened, and one that did not. What happened was that for the first time in modern Arab history, authoritarian regimes and rulers were toppled, or seriously challenged, by popular demonstrations, not — as in the past...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 30, 2012

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the sakura

Until The New York Times pointed it out earlier this month, I had failed to notice, alas, that Tokyo had given cherry trees to this city as it did to Washington, D.C., 100 years ago ("Gifts From Japan, Less Celebrated in Manhattan," April 12).
CULTURE / Books
Apr 29, 2012

Mapping out Asia's future

China or Japan: Which Will Lead Asia?, by Claude Meyer. Columbia University Press, 2011, 195 pp., $35.00 (hardcover) The title poses a question with an obvious answer; a rising China is increasingly eclipsing Japan and seems destined to become the hegemonic power in Asia. So why read this book about...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 28, 2012

Mashiko-based U.S. potter vows he'll not be defeated by 3/11 destruction

Harvey Young, a ceramic artist for over 40 years who has spent nearly three decades in Mashiko, Tochigi Prefecture, knows a thing or two about shaping beauty out of chaos — and about the sudden misfires life can bring. Even his early love for pottery warped and melded with other interests until it...
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2012

Metro government, Tepco's top investor, demanding sweeping changes at the utility

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government flexed its muscles Friday as the top shareholder in besieged Tokyo Electric Power Co. by demanding that Tepco carry out extensive reforms, including slashing operating costs and making its management transparent.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 27, 2012

Jury out on if inquest system lived up to role

The prolonged trial of former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa marked the first time a Diet member has been tried after being subjected to mandatory indictment by a panel of ordinary citizens who received authorization to review a case prosecutors gave up on.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 27, 2012

'Last Night (Japan Title: Koi to Ai no Hakarikata'

You know how it goes: An attractive married couple go out to a party one night wreathed in smiles but return some hours later in stony silence. The shot of the two of them in bed, backs turned toward each other and mutual profiles radiating dissatisfaction in the dark as sirens blare from the street,...
EDITORIALS
Apr 27, 2012

Mr. Ozawa's bittersweet court victory

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday acquitted former Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa of charges he violated the Political Funds Control Law. But the ruling shows that it is a bittersweet victory for Ozawa. He needs to pay careful attention to his behavior as a politician, and make every...
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2012

Tsuruga plant may sit atop active fault

Reversing an earlier assessment, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency admitted an active and dangerous fault may be lurking directly beneath one of the two reactors of the Tsuruga nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2012

Pyongyang's next move after the missile fizzle?

In the bizarre ritual of North Korea, a recent rocket launch was intended to put the icing on the dynastic cake of the centennial birthday celebrations of the late dictator Kim Il Sung. The world press had been invited to the reclusive neo-Stalinist state, and the stage was aptly set for the kind of...
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2012

Amid restart protests, Kansai leaders offer fuel storage

Opposition among Kansai leaders to restarting reactors 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture remains strong.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2012

Capitalistic consensus moved Brazil investors

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's visit to Washington earlier this month offers an occasion to consider how some once-poor countries have broken out of poverty, as Brazil has. Development institutions like the World Bank have advocated improving business law as an important way to do so. Are they...
Japan Times
TENNIS
Apr 23, 2012

In-form Japan secures return to Fed Cup World Group

Ayumi Morita clinched victory for Japan with a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over Belgium's Tamaryn Hendler in the opening reverse singles match of their Fed Cup World Group playoff on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 23, 2012

Neglect of nuclear regulation

The Nuclear Regulatory Agency was originally scheduled to be set up on April 1. Although the Noda Cabinet endorsed a bill to establish the agency on Jan. 31 and send it to the Diet that day, the Diet has yet to start deliberating on it. The legislature should be strongly censured for its neglect.
Reader Mail
Apr 22, 2012

Fitting analogy for health debate

Yoshi Tsurumi's April 16 article, "Supreme Court is destroying U.S. democracy," shows the writer's lack of understanding of the American system. No one is saying health care isn't a mess, but the protest is against President Barack Obama's plan that, in effect, makes it a crime, punishable by a fine,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 21, 2012

Incredible images capture surreal disaster zone

Twisted wreckage thrown against the pastoral countryside, surreal scenes of the elements of everyday horribly juxtaposed, a world exploded yet eerily calm in its chaos. The photos are at once deeply disturbing and uncomfortably captivating. Rich colors, uncanny detail and stunning skies brought out by...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2012

New Olympus picks defeat protests

Olympus Corp. won approval Friday to appoint new management, including Yasukuki Kimoto as chief executive officer and Hiroyuki Sasa as president, despite opposition from foreign shareholders.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2012

Doubt in Kansai grows over plant restarts, blackout predictions

Distrust of the central government's conclusion that the Oi No. 3 and No. 4 reactors are safe to restart and doubts over Kansai Electric Power Co.'s predictions of possible blackouts without them have grown in Kansai this week.
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2012

Dam-building disputes roil Asia

Dam building on shared rivers has emerged as the leading source of water disputes and tensions in Asia, the world's driest continent whose freshwater availability is less than half the global annual average of 6,380 cubic meters per inhabitant. Dam-building activities by China and Central, South and...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 18, 2012

Governor seen as goading administration into action

Though quick to get a reaction from experts and lawmakers Tuesday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's intention to purchase the Senkaku Islands will likely have little impact on the territorial dispute between Japan, China and Taiwan.
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2012

Mr. Noda's taxing problem

One-on-one Diet debates between Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and opposition leaders held on April 11 primarily concerned Mr. Noda's plan to raise the consumption tax from April 2014. The prime minister has stated that he will stake his political life on the tax hike plan, and added that he will tackle...
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2012

Myanmar business leader woos investors

At a symposium in Tokyo Saturday, a Myanmar business leader encouraged Japanese companies to keep pace with their Chinese and South Korean rivals who are investing in the newly democratizing country or risk missing out on prime opportunities before the 2015 elections.
COMMENTARY
Apr 16, 2012

Look at Social Security for what it is: welfare

Would Franklin Roosevelt (the 32nd U.S. president) approve of Social Security? The question seems absurd. After all, Social Security is considered the New Deal's signature achievement. It distributes nearly $800 billion a year to 56 million retirees, survivors and disabled beneficiaries.
Reader Mail
Apr 15, 2012

The hunt for Japan's civilization

The perennial debate on the death penalty again reared its head with Cesar Chelala's excellent April 11 article. But I fear that his exhortations will once again fall on the deaf ears of those who kill in the name of the state, both in Japan and in the United States.

Longform

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