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EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2007

From awareness to action

It was almost anticlimactic when Mr. Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) last week won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Climate change has steadily climbed the global public policy agenda, and is now the first action item at most international gatherings. Some would call this...
EDITORIALS
Oct 13, 2007

Empty gestures on climate change

U.S. President George W. Bush has been hailed for a decisive change in his thinking about climate change. After rejecting the Kyoto treaty early in his presidency, he no longer questions the fact of "climate change" and has attempted to claim a leading role in the international fight to combat this problem....
COMMENTARY
Sep 27, 2007

Hype on nuclear power is misleading

NEW DELHI — Talk of a "global nuclear renaissance" remains just that — all talk. Notwithstanding the strong public relations campaign by the nuclear power industry and its powerful lobbying groups, nuclear energy is hardly the answer to the twin challenges of carbon mitigation and energy security...
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2007

Bullet trains get ¥200 billion boost

Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) and West Japan Railway Co. will spend a combined ¥200 billion more on new bullet trains than originally planned as they move to adopt more fuel-efficient cars, the two companies said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2007

More mysteries in Russia

The appointment of Mr. Viktor Zubkov, an obscure official, as the new prime minister of Russia has many analysts yearning for the old days of Kremlinology. Then, at least, it was possible to figure out how powerful someone was by their relative position on the seating chart or the dais.
EDITORIALS
Sep 22, 2007

Aiming for the moon

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the "Kaguya" (Shining Princess) lunar exploration probe Sept. 14. It is now on its way to the moon, 380,000 km away. Kaguya marks the biggest moon mission since the 1969-72 U.S. Apollo flights. It is hoped that the probe, launched by an H-IIA rocket,...
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2007

Ever ambivalent APEC

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), once derided as "four adjectives in search of a noun," is a study in frustration. APEC's strongest asset is also its greatest weakness. The group is made up of 21 member economies that account for 41 percent of the world's output and 50 percent of world trade....
EDITORIALS
Sep 2, 2007

Credible anti-warming tieup

In their meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to cooperate in creating an effective, post-Kyoto Protocol framework to fight global warming, in which all major greenhouse gas-emitting nations participate.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2007

Merkel, Ozawa clash on MSDF mission

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa clashed Thursday over the Maritime Self-Defense Force's mission to provide logistic support for the NATO-led antiterrorist campaign in Afghanistan, with Merkel urging Japan to extend the operation.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2007

Abe, Merkel pressure DPJ on MSDF mission

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday emphasized the importance of the Maritime Self-Defense Force mission in the Indian Ocean in support of the NATO-led antiterrorist campaign, putting pressure on the Democratic Party of Japan to cooperate in renewing it.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2007

Wynn, 'pachislo' wizard Okada await casino boom in Japan

Steve Wynn turned to Kazuo Okada when the gambling magnate needed cash to fund his namesake Las Vegas casino in 2000. Now, Okada could be the ace up Wynn's sleeve in the Japanese businessman's home market.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2007

Toyota, Isuzu to develop diesel engines for Europe

Toyota Motor Corp. and its Japanese partner truck maker, Isuzu Motors Ltd., will develop and produce small diesel engines together for the European market, both sides said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2007

Abe to lead huge biz entourage to India

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who says relations with India may become more important than Japan's links with the U.S. or China, will lead his biggest corporate mission to the South Asian country Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2007

Chinese hurt by abandoned arms lose redress on appeal

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday reversed a lower court ruling and rejected a damages lawsuit filed by 13 Chinese against the government for injuries and death caused by weapons abandoned by the Japanese military in China at the end of the war.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2007

'The Fountain'

Is it possible to feel a love so great that the chains of death cannot bind it? Of course we don't know, but the feeling of love — that one, true love — can be so powerful that it's tempting to think that two souls, so united, will meet again. Whether that's in this world or the next, nobody knows,...

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake