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JAPAN
Apr 11, 2010

LDP defectors launch new political party

Former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma and four other ex-Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers launched a new party Saturday in a bid to create a viable alternative to the dominant players ahead of this summer's Upper House election.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2010

White Beach proposal never official: Hirano

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano on Friday denied reports that the government has abandoned a plan to partially relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to White Beach in eastern Okinawa Island, claiming such a proposal was never officially made in the first place.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2010

Afghanistan's fate depends on governance

NEW YORK — President Barack Obama's recent trip to Afghanistan highlighted the growing American and international perception that without better governance Afghanistan will fail.
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2010

No excuse for wasting food stocks

I agree with the March 24 editorial "Japan must change tune on tuna." A few years ago a sushi bar in Osaka boasted on television about the "freshness" of its sushi. If the sushi was not sold in 40 minutes, it was put on the rotating conveyor. Was it thrown away after that if it didn't sell soon? I felt...
COMMENTARY
Apr 1, 2010

The single-currency disease

It seems only yesterday that leading Japanese industrialists who had heavy (and very welcome) investments in the United Kingdom were calling for the pound to merge with the euro in one grand continental currency.
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2010

Budget passed, but battles ahead

The fiscal 2010 budget and related bills were enacted Wednesday with their passage through the Upper House. The budget is the fifth-most quickly enacted in postwar history. Still, the Hatoyama administration has many problems left to solve.
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2010

Early peek at postal plan

Postal reform minister Shizuka Kamei on Wednesday unveiled, rather prematurely, an outline of a bill meant to change the postal privatization plan. The proposed bill would increase the government's control of Japan Post group — a distinct departure from the full-privatization policy pushed by previous...
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2010

Speaking truth to power

In a last-minute move, the Democratic Party of Japan on Tuesday abandoned a plan to remove Mr. Yukio Ubukata, a vice secretary general of the party, from his post. The removal of Mr. Ubukata, a Lower House member, had been planned as punishment for his public criticism of DPJ Secretary General Ichiro...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 21, 2010

Profile of Rakuten founder Hiroshi Mikitani; CM of the week: Nemurete'masu ka?

This week's edition of the business-related nonfiction series "Rubicon no Ketsudan" (The Rubicon Decision; TV Tokyo, Thurs., 10 p.m.) covers the rise and rise of Hiroshi Mikitani, the man behind the so-called Internet Mall, Rakuten Ichiba, and, according to Forbes magazine, the sixth richest man in Japan....
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2010

Nago protests hit-and-run to U.S. ambassador

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) The Nago Municipal Assembly unanimously adopted Friday a resolution protesting a recent hit-and-run incident involving a U.S. military vehicle, which allegedly struck a car carrying a man and his two sons in the Okinawa city.
JAPAN / GOVERNMENT DEBT CRISIS
Mar 19, 2010

DPJ caught on the horns of a fiscal dilemma

While the Democratic Party of Japan-led government secured the passage of the ¥92.3 trillion fiscal 2010 budget this month, the party still faces a fiscal dilemma given its election pledge to realize ¥16.8 trillion worth of policy measures at a time when social security costs are ballooning.

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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