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COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2009

Rudd wrestles with refugee crisis

SYDNEY — Just when links between Indonesia and Australia were looking good, along come Sri Lankans fleeing in leaky boats. Suddenly the Indian Ocean marks a diplomatic and humanitarian standoff of grim proportions.
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2009

Commonwealth reaches out

Every two years the heads of government of the 50-plus states of which the Commonwealth consists, embracing almost a third of the planet's entire population and several of its most dynamic economies, meet to discuss issues of common concern.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 2, 2009

Signing Iverson would be mistake for Philly

NEW YORK — Other than generating some desperately (the operative word) needed excitement among the missing masses and possibly selling enough tickets for the remainder of the 76ers' 5-11 season to rationalize investing in a pro-rated $1.3 million veteran minimum contract, I can't visualize anything...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 29, 2009

Benitez under gun as Mourinho speculation swirls

LONDON — Sunday sees the most significant day of the season so far. It is a time for football lovers to encourage the wife to go shopping, ensure the fridge has sufficient supplies and then sit back to enjoy a feast on the box.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2009

Glimpse of justice at retrial

The retrial of Mr. Toshikazu Sugaya will hopefully reveal how and why a false charge was made against him that resulted in him serving 17 1/2 years of a life sentence for the May 1990 murder of a 4-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi, Prefecture. He was released last June after a new DNA test revealed...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2009

LDP calls Hatoyama to account

Revelations that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama received ¥900 million from his mother — allegedly as a loan — has put the Democratic Party of Japan on the defensive, as opposition parties, the ex-long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in particular, seek to grill the fledgling administration over the...
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 2009

9/11 trials a victory for justice

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that it will prosecute the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, and four accused conspirators, in a New York City courtroom. That decision has triggered a firestorm in the United States, with critics...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 27, 2009

'Black Gaisha ni Tsutometerundaga mo Ore wa Genkai Kamo Shirenai'

Films about Japanese organization men, from bureaucrats to salarymen, have long broadly divided into two categories — the serious ones, that portray work life as a sort of holy war, fought by loyal, self-sacrificing blue-suited soldiers, and the comic, whose characters range from pompous idiots to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 27, 2009

'8 Days' that shook Japan's art world

In the chronologies you find appended to Japanese art books, it looks something like this: Title: "Joseph Beuys Exhibition"; Dates: June 2 — July 2, 1984; Venue: Seibu Art Museum, Tokyo
Reader Mail
Nov 26, 2009

Mountains of tectonic evidence

Regarding Jeff Ogrisseg's Nov. 22 article "Our growing Earth?" and related articles: I am extremely disappointed in The Japan Times' decision to run a nearly two-page spread on the scientifically bereft growing Earth hypothesis. Ogrisseg's credulous account of this hypothesis uses the same old tired...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2009

The irresistible rise of the Chinese renminbi

BEIJING — China is making a big push to encourage greater international use of its currency, the renminbi. It has an agreement with Brazil to facilitate use of the two countries' currencies in bilateral trade transactions. It has signed renminbi swap agreements with Argentina, Belarus, Hong Kong, Indonesia,...
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2009

Hatoyama silent on funds probe

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama remained mum Tuesday on his ever-widening fundraising scandal, saying he trusts prosecutors to judge whether he is liable for any misconduct.
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2009

Two smart guys trying to figure it all out

LOS ANGELES — The two looked over the precipice and gasped at the steepness of the drop. They looked down at a desert of dashed hopes and old skeletons, scraping the bottom of the canyon.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 22, 2009

Obsessed with 'ugly' women

When I read the news item in early November about the three men in Tottori Prefecture whose mysterious deaths were linked to a woman already under arrest for fraud, I associated them with the similarly mysterious deaths of several other men linked to a Tokyo woman who was under arrest for swindling....
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Nov 21, 2009

Frontale, Antlers, Gamba taking J. League title race down to wire

The 2009 J. League title race looked like it would turn into a cakewalk when Kashima Antlers stretched ahead of the pack earlier in the season, but history tells us nothing can ever be taken for granted.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2009

Hatoyama to U.S.: turn over suspect

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama called on U.S. military authorities Thursday to pressure a suspect to report for police questioning in connection with a fatal hit-and-run in Okinawa on Nov. 7.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2009

Slowly, secret U.S. nuke deals come to light

Decades since Washington and Tokyo reportedly crafted secret agreements to allow U.S. nuclear weapons in Japanese territory, declassified documents from the U.S. detailing its nuclear presence in Okinawa and elsewhere in Japan during the postwar period are slowly coming to light.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2009

Rediscovering Rebecca Horn

If you've been paying attention to recent contemporary art, both in Japan and abroad, you might be struck by the question "Why now?" during a visit to German artist Rebecca Horn's survey at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOT), Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 20, 2009

'2012' star tells of being John Cusack

HOLLYWOOD — The year 2012, according to the ancient Mayas, is the year Earth destructs and a new cycle of life begins. (The Aztec and other pre-Columbian American calendars also held a cyclical view of the universe, sort of a reincarnation of planets at the end of each eon). So leave it to Hollywood...
Reader Mail
Nov 19, 2009

Distortions of Pakistan's reality

We are somewhat disappointed that your esteemed newspaper has encouraged Indian professor Harsh V. Pant to write negatively about Pakistan's nuclear assets and to question their security in the wake of alleged Talibanization in Pakistan. The Nov. 15 article "Embedded malcontents of nuclear Pakistan"...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 18, 2009

Let's kensaku — searching the Web in Japanese

Has this ever happened to you? A friend in another country e-mails a plea for help in finding information in Japanese due to their encountering any one of several obstacles. For instance, the operating system or software on the computer they are using might not be able to input Japanese or read it. Or...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Nov 18, 2009

Orser provides insight into making of a champion

Those who have had the chance to see a young athlete come into their own can tell you it is truly a sight to behold.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2009

Obama touches most bases in well-received Asia speech

U.S. President Barack Obama's first big speech on Asia, delivered Saturday morning in Tokyo, had a little something for just about everyone. He was tough on North Korea and Myanmar, but offered a way back to the fold.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2009

Embedded malcontents of nuclear Pakistan

BANGALORE, India — A government unable to control large parts of its territory, a military in disarray, loss of control over nuclear assets, radical Islamists intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction — that's the stuff nightmares are made of, at least for the West. Pakistan's current turmoil...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 15, 2009

Will Segway sci-fi ever be everyday fact?

When the Segway first appeared, in 2001, it seemed like science fiction had sprung to life. Quiet, compact, efficient, and utterly mesmerizing with its ability to self-balance on two wheels, the U.S.-made "personal mobility device" promised to revolutionize transportation as we knew it.
LIFE / Travel / WEEK 3
Nov 15, 2009

Opening a 'window' to Japan

As a seven-year veteran at the Narita Airport Tourist Information Center, Yuka Tsujimura is at ease handling all kinds of questions and requests for help from inbound tourists who have just set foot in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2009

LDP loss media's fault: Mori

The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party's historic defeat in the August general election can in part be blamed on the media and its manipulation of public opinion, LDP heavyweight Yoshiro Mori told The Japan Times in a recent interview.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
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