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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 23, 2010

Higher education: opening up or closing in?

First in a two-part series
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 22, 2010

A haphazard approach to making foreign policy

"I wonder to what extent the Hatoyama administration relies on bureaucrats for its foreign policy," a diplomat from a Middle Eastern country said recently. "It has not expressed its own messages on issues such as Iran's nuclear weapons programs and the Mideast peace process. That makes me wonder who...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2010

Reinterpretations of modern history

One of Japan's pre-eminent contemporary artists, Yasumasa Morimura is known for his gender-bending self- portraits reinterpreting canonical works of Western art history. His works combine aspects of painting, sculpture, set design, performance and photography, and often use humor to subvert revered icons....
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2010

Afghanistan lost without better governance

NEW YORK — The United States and its Afghan and NATO allies have demonstrated unmistakable progress in Afghanistan this year. The ongoing Marjah campaign, the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and two Taliban "shadow governors" in Pakistan, and the recent drone strike hitting top leaders of the...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2010

White Beach base site said credible

OSAKA — The proposal to build a replacement base for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma off the Katsuren Peninsula in central Okinawa Island, stretching from the White Beach Naval Facility to a nearby small island, is the latest idea to be floated in the contentious relocation abyss.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2010

Rudd stakes job on health care

SYDNEY — It's a big gamble, but Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is ready to take it. He will go into an election on the strength of his stance on, of all things, health care.
COMMENTARY
Mar 16, 2010

Obama needs a push to normalize Cuba ties

NEW YORK — Several years ago, during my first visit to Cuba to attend a health-related meeting, I witnessed a demonstration. As friends and I walked into the Bodeguita del Medio, a traditional restaurant famous for the number of illustrious visitors who had dined there over the years, a young Cuban...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Mar 16, 2010

Political hopeful eyes tax law changes

Citizens of the United States living overseas of working age are required to file a U.S. Internal Revenue Service tax form every year, and if they have incomes, may have to pay U.S. income taxes, on top of any levies they also face in their place of residence.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 16, 2010

What's the most interesting thing you've seen in Japan?

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 16, 2010

Guerrilla comics wage war on the humdrum

If you'd gone down to Shimokitazawa that day — the Saturday before Christmas, around 3 p.m. — you'd have been sure of a big surprise. No, not a teddy bears' picnic, though in Shimokita you never know; instead, among the usual bustling crowds of hipsters, a load of people just stopped moving. For...
EDITORIALS
Mar 14, 2010

Don't exclude 'Chosen' schools

The Diet is deliberating on a bill to make public high school tuition free and provide ¥120,000 yearly to those attending private schools or certified educational institutions. But Mr. Hiroshi Nakai, minister in charge of the North Korean abduction issue, aired the view in February that pro-North Korean...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 14, 2010

Beauty transformation, documentary on working poor; CM of the week: Kirin's Sekai no High Ball

The makeover variety show "Kasupe! Beauty Colosseum" was a weekly series up until a few years ago, and its return to Fuji TV this Tuesday at 7 p.m. is for a 2-hour " kiseki no daigekihen " (miracle super change) special.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 12, 2010

'Bruno'

After the success of "Borat," people wondered what comedian Sacha Baron Cohen could do next. His comedy derived from launching his over-the-top Kazakh character into situations where people weren't in on the joke, yet a blockbuster hit obviously makes it harder to find willing dupes.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2010

70 immigration detainees on hunger strike

OSAKA — At least 70 detainees at the West Japan Immigration Control Center, which has long been criticized by human rights groups and Diet members, have been on a hunger strike since Monday, center officials and volunteers helping them confirmed Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2010

IMF flunks good governance

HONG KONG — On Feb. 26, International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn put forward a bold-sketch map for what he called "an IMF for the 21st century," but in the very same week he and two key members of the fund, China and Japan, flunked the most important test for the future...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Mar 10, 2010

Admitting worst-kept secrets all about timing?

The Democratic Party of Japan-led government effectively dragged the skeletons in the closet of postwar Tokyo-Washington diplomacy out into the light Tuesday, in the process exposing the hollowness of its predecessor administrations' long denials.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 9, 2010

What would you miss most about your homeland if you lived abroad?

COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Mar 9, 2010

Belt up — protect our children

To the ministry of education,
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 9, 2010

Detainees allege abuse at Kansai holding center

The only way to see or speak to Moses Ssentamu is through a Plexiglas window at the West Japan Immigration Center in Ibaraki City, so there is no independent way to verify his claims of physical and psychological abuse. But if true, they raise serious concerns about Japan's treatment of visa overstayers...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2010

Myth of Palestine's economic development

AL-BIREH, West Bank — A serious misconception is being propagated by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. Media, international organizations, foreign governments and Palestinians at large are being coaxed into believing that the flurry of economic activity in the West Bank is economic development...
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2010

Laying the foundation of an intellectual property bridge

The Internet may arguably be the pre-eminent example of how recent technological developments have made life more convenient.

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