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EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2007

Dignity for disabled people

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 13. The convention, which covers rights to education, health, work, cultural activities, etc., is the first human-rights treaty of the 21st century....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 14, 2007

Eyewitness to slaughter in Taiji's killing coves

Almost every day, pods of dolphins ply their way across Hatagiri Bay near the whaling town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, central Japan. It's a scenic, serene area on the beautiful Kii Peninsula. But death haunts two pristine coves adjacent to Taiji's whale museum.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2007

Japan ready to renew whaling push

Japan will host an international conference this week to push its campaign to allow commercial whaling, but some of the world's most influential antiwhaling nations -- including the U.S. -- plan to boycott the meeting.
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 11, 2007

Vitriol vies with science

For journalists used to the smooth diplomatic hum of the global conference circuit, covering the poisonous annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is akin to being slapped in the face with a slab of week-old minke bacon.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 11, 2007

Mammon and myopia: Japan's governing '70s legacy

Over the past three weeks I have looked back in this column at the decades leading up to the 21st century, which has to date seen a marked shift in Japanese domestic and international policy back toward a not-so-new form of nationalism. In this last article I discuss the 1970s, when critical decisions...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 11, 2007

Gore's charge unlikely to skewer Japan's traffic plans

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore was in Japan a few weeks ago promoting "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary film version of his traveling power-point presentation on the dangers of global warming. He made the rounds of the news shows at the time, but due to the extra time required to edit entertainment...
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2007

Economy can support higher wages: Rengo

, is interviewed in Rengo's head office in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2007

Good bosses key to more career women: speaker

Training both men and women to be better managers is the key to encouraging women to pursue lifelong working careers, according to Victoria Bolam, head of a Tokyo-based corporate personnel training firm.
COMMENTARY
Feb 8, 2007

Asia's transformation and the future of Japanese diplomacy

Prior to World War II, Japan's position in the international community was dependent on its power and status in Asia. From the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it was essential for Japan to have considerable stature within Asia so that the country could associate on equal terms with Western nations...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 8, 2007

Rejecting kawaii culture

Momoyo Torimitsu (b. 1967) is a little tired of being remembered for Jiro Miyata, a life-size robot she created based on a middle-aged salaryman in 1994. But who could forget? Miyata, which Torimitsu had crawl around the streets of Tokyo, Paris, New York and other cities, so brilliantly embodied the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Feb 7, 2007

A short essay on seeming rugged

My eldest daughter Miwako visited me from Canada recently, bringing with her a large cardboard box full of old letters, field notebooks and field logs that had been stored away somewhere. The oldest of the notes was the log of my first expedition into the High North of Canada in 1958. I was 17 when I...
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2007

Japanese interest in Macau reaches new heights

MACAU, China -- Macau is definitely a hot spot these days, not just as a tourist destination but also as a focal point for international diplomacy and security.
Reader Mail
Jan 28, 2007

Why are young adults so glum?

An international survey conducted recently in different countries revealed that only 8 percent of Japanese between the ages of 16 and 34 think that they are happy with their lives. Japan occupied the last position on the list. I was dumbfounded by these statistics because people in this age group are...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 24, 2007

One dive at a time

They say time and tide wait for no man, and it's safe to say that few people understand this truism as well as diver and explorer Dr. Greg Stone, one of 12 individuals recently named a National Geographic Adventure Hero of 2006.
LIFE / Language
Jan 23, 2007

Translations blunted by discarded 'somethings'

One of the great pleasures of life in a country not your own is savoring its literature in the original language.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 23, 2007

'Listen' to your nose: sniff out a calming custom

Swing by any variety store and you will notice how popular aromatherapy has become. There you will find a wide variety of shiny little bottles containing oil extracts of rose, lavender or sandalwood. Along with foot massage, onsen (hot springs) and the music of Mozart, inhaling aromas has in recent years...
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2007

Unshackling Japan's defense

On Jan. 9 the Defense Agency was upgraded to full ministry status. At a ceremony marking the change, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it was a major step from the "postwar regime" toward a foundation for national rebuilding.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2007

Holding off on a rate hike

The Bank of Japan's Policy Board has decided to maintain the overnight call rate, the key short-term interest rate, at 0.25 percent -- the rate it adopted last July when it scrapped its zero interest rate policy. The final conclusion of the Policy Board's discussions last week departs somewhat from BOJ...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 19, 2007

'Marie Antoinette'

A recurring scene in "Marie Antoinette" shows the young princess (or "Dauphine" as she was referred to in the Versailles Court) with her head leaning against the window of her carriage, looking out at the passing scenery, or craning her neck to look at the sky. She doesn't speak, and the soundtrack is...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 18, 2007

Automakers target emissions as way to stay ahead

The growing gap in profitability among the world's automakers is becoming more apparent, as seen in the contrasting fortunes of Toyota Motor Corp., whose sales have been growing strongly, and ailing U.S. giant General Motors Corp., which is struggling to stem a tide of red ink.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2007

Gore in town to push global-warming fight

Midway through a visit to Tokyo to promote his environmental documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth," former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Monday made sure to praise Japan as the birthplace of the Kyoto Protocol.

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