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BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2009

Budget big but little in remedial terms

The all-time high fiscal 2010 budget draft approved Friday casts considerable doubt on whether the country can sustain its finances or if through such spending it can buy its way out of the economic slump, experts warn.
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2009

Japan pressed on Futenma

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki to the State Department on Monday for an unscheduled meeting. She reportedly called for Japan to promptly implement the 2006 bilateral accord to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2009

Hatoyama support rate plummets

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday the sharp dip in the public support rate for his administration, as shown in opinion polls over the weekend, means he must work harder.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2009

Hatoyama one out of two on policy vows

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama decided Monday to stick with one of his key policy pledges but to abandon another, saying the government will not set an income cap on the child-care allowance but will maintain the current gasoline tax rate.
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2009

No such thing as classless

According to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the taxation policies of the Tory (Conservative) Party were decided on the playing field of Eton (one of Britain's top private schools). Thus, Gordon Brown, whose Labour government trails in the opinion polls behind the Conservative opposition, seemed from this...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Dec 21, 2009

Press club system a domestic dilemma begging for change

In January, the European Business Council in Japan will launch a new magazine called eurobiz japan. This magazine will address topics of special interest to European firms here, including the press club system — an issue that continues to rankle foreign business circles.
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2009

An abuse of intelligence

The U.K. government has been under pressure for some years to hold an inquiry into British participation in the Iraq war and on the events that led up to the decision to go to war. The various previous inquiries were seen by many as inadequate or whitewash. The government eventually conceded that once...
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2009

Devolution via Mr. Hatoyama

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama held his first meeting with the nation's prefectural governors in late November and laid down the principle of devolution. Under the principle, local governments would decide on and carry out policies closely related to their residents and the central government would help...
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2009

Futenma's fate back to the future

The coalition government of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party and the New People's Party have put off until next year a decision on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in the central part of Okinawa Island. The government will seek possible alternatives...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2009

Moody's prods Japan on debt

Japan should set a "well-articulated" target to reduce government debt that is already the largest in the world, according to Moody's Investors Service.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2009

Politics and the Emperor

The government's decision to let Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping have an exceptional audience with the Emperor Tuesday made many people wonder whether the government, especially Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, has a correct understanding of the constitutional order with regard to the position of the...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2009

Futenma decision shelved till 2010

The Democratic Party of Japan-led ruling coalition said Tuesday it will put off resolving the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma until next year, effectively prolonging an issue that has raised tension between Tokyo and Washington as well as within the ruling coalition.
COMMENTARY
Dec 16, 2009

Saving the U.K. economy

Frequent comparisons are made these days between the plight of the British economy and the state of the Japanese economy. But in reality the two situations are very different.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2009

Xi says he wants to improve ties

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrived Monday in Japan where he stressed the importance of the "friendly" ties between China and Japan and vowed to do his best to further develop the relationship.

Longform

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