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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.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2009

Volcano alert system successful

The Meteorological Agency managed to issue a warning to municipalities about 13 hours before the eruption early Monday of Mount Asama, boasting its first successful alert since it started up the system in December 2007.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2009

MSDF's hands tied on antipiracy tour

With Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada's orders to prepare the Maritime Self-Defense Force for dispatch Wednesday, the government has officially given the green light to an antipiracy mission around the Horn of Africa.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2009

Tamogami out of ASDF, not out of range

Based on his controversial essay that blamed Franklin D. Roosevelt for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, one would expect retired Gen. Toshio Tamogami to be a hardcore rightist unwilling to allow a counterargument in edgewise.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2009

Vienna's Arming strikes the right note

"During these five years, we have often tackled contemporary works," says Austrian conductor Christian Arming, music director of the New Japan Philharmonic (NJP) since 2003. "I believe that broadened our horizon."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2009

Vienna's Arming strikes the right note

"During these five years, we have often tackled contemporary works," says Austrian conductor Christian Arming, music director of the New Japan Philharmonic (NJP) since 2003. "I believe that broadened our horizon."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2009

Temps in manufacturing: Safety valve, but no net

A day before Christmas, temporary worker Yoshinori Sato, 49, received his dismissal notice from Isuzu Motor Co.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2008

More parents send kids to Indian, Chinese schools

As China and India increasingly flex their muscles as economic powerhouses, many Japanese parents are beginning to send their children to international schools run by Chinese and Indian educators with hopes of churning out more competitive kids.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 28, 2008

Place your wager on Macau

A charitable take on Tokyo's landfill projects would have them simply extending the city's alluvial plains into Tokyo Bay. Given another millennium or two, natural siltation might end up doing the same thing.
EDITORIALS
Dec 26, 2008

Replacing nuclear reactors

Chubu Electric Power Co. has announced a plan to decommission two aging reactors at its Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station in Shizuoka Prefecture and build a new reactor as a replacement. The decision to decommission the No. 1 and No. 2 boiling water reactors with a combined output of 1.38 million kW is reasonable....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2008

Frogman's unique slant on politics

Animator Ryo Ono, a 37-year-old Tokyo native, achieved his dream of making films by changing his career as a movie production assistant.
JAPAN / Q&A
Dec 25, 2008

Temps a threatened species as job cuts bite

Last of two parts

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it