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EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2009

The climate in Copenhagen

The U.N. Climate Change Conference is under way in Copenhagen with more than 15,000 participants, including delegates from 192 countries, attending. Its original goal was to conclude a new treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol and to set a global framework to curb greenhouse gas emissions between 2013...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2009

Turkey aims to reconnect with its neighbors

ANKARA — Nowadays, the international media are obsessed with the question of who "lost" Turkey and what that supposed loss means for Europe and the West. More alarmingly, some commentators liken Turkey's neighborhood policy to a revival of Ottoman imperialism. Recently, a senior Turkish columnist went...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 8, 2009

Ichihashi trial key test of legal reforms

In March 2007, the Japanese police came under intense scrutiny at home and abroad after Tatsuya Ichihashi escaped barefoot from under the noses of a group of officers at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. The body of British Nova teacher Lindsay Hawker was found shortly after partially buried...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2009

Inside Thailand's hidden separatist war

LEEDS, England — Thailand's former prime minister, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, recently ignited a furor when he proposed that the separatist campaign in his country's Muslim-majority southern provinces might be solved politically, with a form of self-rule. Thailand's ruling Democrat Party immediately called...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 8, 2009

Can Tatsuya Ichihashi get a fair trial under the new lay-judge system?

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 8, 2009

Ichihashi trial key test of legal reforms

In March 2007, the Japanese police came under intense scrutiny at home and abroad after Tatsuya Ichihashi escaped barefoot from under the noses of a group of officers at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. The body of British Nova teacher Lindsay Hawker was found shortly after partially buried...
JAPAN / COP15 COPENHAGEN SPECIAL
Dec 7, 2009

A brief history of climate talks: looking back, looking forward

Industrialization in the 19th century brought many of the benefits we enjoy in the modern world, changing the structure of society, industry and economy. But nearly two centuries later, one of the downsides of the Industrial Revolution is gaining more attention: global warming.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 5, 2009

Tom-san, the big man in kids' soccer

So who is the most famous soccer coach in Japan? Well, it could be Japan team coach Takeshi Okada or maybe Gamba Osaka's Akira Nishino. On the other hand, it may be someone many adults have never heard of: Tom-san.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2009

Realizing an assertive post-American Europe

PARIS — As U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Sweden to collect his Nobel Prize, the celebrations expose an awful truth: Europe's admiration for its ideal of an American president is not reciprocated. Obama seems to bear Europeans no ill will. But he has quickly learned to view them with the attitude...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
Dec 2, 2009

Polls' built-in bias may skew climate views

Last in a series
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 1, 2009

What should the new government do to improve life for foreign residents?

COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 1, 2009

Yet more readers weigh in on child abduction, custody

Following are a further selection of readers' responses to the Zeit Gist articles on child custody and parental child abduction by Colin P. A. Jones (Oct. 20, Nov. 17, Nov. 24) and "Richard Cory" (Nov. 3):
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 1, 2009

Yet more readers weigh in on child abduction, custody

Following are a further selection of readers' responses to the Zeit Gist articles on child custody and parental child abduction by Colin P. A. Jones (Oct. 20, Nov. 17, Nov. 24) and "Richard Cory" (Nov. 3):
Reader Mail
Nov 29, 2009

Nice scientific change of pace

I found Jeff Ogrisseg's "Our growing Earth?" (and related articles) on Nov. 22 particularly interesting as they presented a theory largely discredited by mainstream science — due to the natural bias of the scientific community — despite the fact that the theory explains a number of existing phenomena...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2009

Entrepreneurs lack serious support

Entrepreneurship must be encouraged more if Japan is to play a key role on the global stage, and foreign entrepreneurs are in a great position to lead the way, experts said at a recent conference in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2009

Tokyo's urban design role

The Hatoyama government's ambitious carbon reduction goals position Japan for leadership in the postindustrial global economy. Less discussed is Tokyo's remarkable energy efficiency, urban ecology innovations, and its potential for playing a leading role in the next decade's biggest environmental challenge:...
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
Nov 26, 2009

U.S.-China relations shifting

Observers analyzing the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to China, not unnaturally, looked for signs of a shift in the world balance of power — and they found them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 25, 2009

U.S. online strategy holds clues for Tokyo

Imagine befriending Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Facebook. Or getting "tweets" from Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Twitter. It could happen if Tokyo follows Washington's lead.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 24, 2009

Every husband a potential 'abuser'

Before the Christopher Savoie case hit the news, Japanese commentators on the Hague Convention on international parental child abduction had already begun fretting over the completely unsubstantiated assertion that "almost all" instances of children being brought to Japan involve a Japanese mother fleeing...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 24, 2009

The tale of K.M. and the missing koseki

An American by birth, K.M. found the inquiry in our Oct. 20 column about koseki tohon, or family registration, very interesting.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Nov 24, 2009

Parental child abduction and custody: readers respond

The following are a selection of readers' responses to the recent Zeit Gist articles on child custody and parental child abduction by Colin P. A. Jones (Oct. 20, Nov. 17) and "Richard Cory" (Nov. 3):
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 24, 2009

How can the government encourage more tourists to visit Japan?

Midori Tsunekawa, 59 Housewife (Japanese)Tourist organizations in every prefecture should offer free or low-cost English-speaking guides. They could show visitors around and help them experience Japan, while teaching them about our culture and customs.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 24, 2009

Every husband a potential 'abuser'

Before the Christopher Savoie case hit the news, Japanese commentators on the Hague Convention on international parental child abduction had already begun fretting over the completely unsubstantiated assertion that "almost all" instances of children being brought to Japan involve a Japanese mother fleeing...
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 2009

Overhaul the privacy law

The intentions behind the Personal Information Protection Law, which went into effect in April 2005, are good, but it has contributed to a tendency for organizations to withhold benign information that has significantly useful social value. Ms. Mizuho Fukushima, state minister in charge of consumer affairs,...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2009

Ramping up hope for Roma with education

BRUSSELS — Hated, alienated and shunned as thieves and worse, the Roma have for too long been easy and defenseless targets for disgruntled racists in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and other European countries.

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