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Japan Times
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Mar 6, 2008

Lee promises to look to future in his relationship with Japan

President Lee Myung Bak will seek a "mature" relationship with Japan that prioritizes economic ties and diplomatic cooperation, rather than focus on emotional issues linked to the past Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean journalists told the Feb. 22 symposium.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 5, 2008

Marion bashers refuse to exit shadows

NEW YORK — Sorry, but no Shawn Marion column today, as advertised, on the grounds one and all insisted on anonymity with regards to his debatable trade for Shaquille O'Neal.
COMMENTARY
Mar 2, 2008

Will 'rebirth' of China level the field?

HONG KONG — At precisely eight minutes past 8 p.m. on Aug. 8 — the eighth day of the eighth month of the year 2008 — the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, this year's summer Olympics, will officially open in Beijing. It is widely seen as China's debut party after an eclipse of a couple of centuries....
Reader Mail
Mar 2, 2008

Time for a town beauty contest

Regarding Kevin Rafferty's Feb. 28 article, "Why's Japan grown so ugly?": I love the idea of starting a competition for the most picturesque town/village in Japan. Somebody, hopefully including The Japan Times (as suggested by Rafferty), needs to do it! A community can work together to make their environment...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2008

Second Harvest gives YMCA school kids food for thought

If you're getting enough food to eat each day, consider yourself lucky. Many others, even in wealthy countries like Japan, routinely go hungry.
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2008

Reforming the public servant system

The government has drawn up the draft of a bill to reform the national public servant system. While based on a proposal by a private advisory panel for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, it somewhat deviates from the proposal. Instead of creating a Cabinet agency to consolidate government personnel affairs...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2008

Bangladesh's female workforce powers silent revolution

DHAKA — The women of Bangladesh are a force to be reckoned with.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2008

JR Tokai generates friction with costly maglev train

Concerns about huge estimated costs and future profitability are casting a shadow over Central Japan Railway Co.'s long-term project to build a magnetically levitating train system.
Reader Mail
Feb 26, 2008

Reflecting on 'Sorry Day'

Regarding Alan Goodall's Feb. 18 article, "Australia's historic apology": Goodall's rendition of the mood of the "Sorry Day" apology by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was apt. Although the reply by the opposition leader Brendan Nelson was criticized by some, it provided the balance that many thought was...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA / STYLE WISE
Feb 26, 2008

Harajuku's "Style Deficit Disorder," model Irina Lazareanu gets wicked and more

Cure for disorder The popular fashion hub Harajuku is the subject of a fascinating new book by Tokyo-based editor and creative consultant Tiffany Godoy. Rich in detail and accompanied by some remarkable images, her book, "Style Deficit Disorder" (Chronicle Books), documents the history of the area from...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Feb 24, 2008

Persistence helps Lawrence extend career, connect with heritage

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which is in its third season. Aaron Sakai Lawrence of the Saitama Broncos is the subject of this week's profile.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 24, 2008

New values rise from the ashes of conformity

Second of two parts
COMMENTARY
Feb 22, 2008

'Asian Arc' doomed without Australia

HONG KONG — Kevin Rudd, the non-Chinese world's first Chinese-speaking prime minister, has dealt a lethal blow to a budding "Asian Arc of Democracy" that was actively pushed by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a notion that appeared designed to isolate Beijing.
COMMENTARY
Feb 22, 2008

Beware Kosovo's offspring

Last Sunday, Kosovo formally declared independence to the accompaniment of festive celebrations by the good citizens of the world's newest country. We can but wish them well as they chart a new course inside a new Europe free of the distracting conflicts that had ravaged the continent until the middle...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2008

European Union's catalyst for Kosovo

PRAGUE — Kosovo's declaration of independence has put stability in the Western Balkans back on Europe's agenda. Unless the European Union acts quickly, the whole region could slide backward, with dire social, economic and security consequences. The EU needs a comprehensive regional approach, focusing...
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2008

Obstacles to overcome in the development of a concert of Asia-Pacific democracies

NEW DELHI — The new Australian government is signaling a wish to turn its back on an initiative bringing four major democracies of the Asia-Pacific together, even as U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has vowed to institutionalize that venture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 19, 2008

Sitting out but standing tall

In "Japan at War: An Oral History," Hideo Sato recalls being forced to hoist the Hinomaru flag in tandem with the playing of the "Kimigayo" — "His Majesty's Reign," the Japanese national anthem — as a schoolchild in the 1940s. If the flag reached the top of the pole too early the teachers would beat...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2008

English-language papers offer unique take on Asia

English-language newspapers in East Asia provide unique perspectives on political, economic and cultural news in the region to a global community where English is the dominant tongue, speakers at a Tokyo symposium said Saturday.
Reader Mail
Feb 17, 2008

U.S. needs to work on its PR

As an American living in Japan, I found the reports of this incident very disturbing. For once I would like to see headlines that say "U.S. Military Contributes to Rebuilding Post-Typhoon Damaged Areas," or "U.S. Military Seen as a Positive for Local Communities," or, better yet, "U.S. Military Officers...
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2008

Death of a terrorist

Mr. Imad Mugniyeh, one of the world's most wanted men, was killed this week in Damascus. Mr. Mugniyeh, a commander of Hezbollah, the militant Islamist group, has been sought for his role in a series of terror attacks around the world that killed hundreds of people. Although no group claimed responsibility...
COMMENTARY
Feb 15, 2008

U.S. campaign fires up Brits

LONDON — "A woman president, a black president or the oldest president — which would you prefer?"
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2008

Chinese views on North Korea

In recent years, issues pertaining to North Korea have been hotly debated by Chinese institute researchers. The publication of conflicting views in authoritative media suggests that these debates are sanctioned by the Chinese leadership.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2008

Wise man from Japan now the black pope

HONG KONG — An American Maryknoll priest in Hong Kong preached that the greatest blessings in life come when you least expect them, a rain shower on a hot day, a friend unexpectedly turning up, remission in a crippling illness, an inspiring idea just when your brain seemed to have turned into blancmange....
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 10, 2008

A 'Wonderland' where monks call for foreign air strikes

Burma is a topsy-turvy sort of place, where surprises lurk and suddenly jump out at you.
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2008

Research in and out of Japan

A recent survey by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry revealed that a record 140,000 researchers went abroad in fiscal 2005. This is the largest number of Japanese scholars and scientists ever sent abroad to investigate the world outside Japan. These researchers, 10 percent more than in 2004,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 10, 2008

Kurosawa cohort tells illuminating Showa tails

Alongside great artists are those who witness their triumphs and setbacks, recording behind-the-scenes episodes that illuminate the processes of art.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2008

Japan losing place on world stage, business leaders warn

KYOTO — Kansai's annual gathering of business leaders closed Friday in Kyoto, wrapping up two days of warnings that Japan is losing its place on the world stage due to the country's political situation and because its people have become too inward-looking.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2008

'The Kite Runner'

Horror movies, especially those of the J-Horror kind, often try to scare us with vengeful ghosts. The real ghosts in our lives, though, aren't those who crawl out of TV screens but the ones who haunt our memories. These ghosts exist as regrets, and trying to exorcise them can be a long and painful process....

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