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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 15, 2009

Do Japanese yet realize that culture's acquired, not in the blood?

There's no doubt that Japanese people's attitudes toward foreigners, and the ways they relate to them, have changed markedly in the 40-odd years since I first arrived here. But is this change we can believe in?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WEEK 3
Feb 15, 2009

Keio's man ahead of his time

Next time you come by a ¥10,000 bill, take a look at the face of Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835-1901) that appears on the front, for he was a most remarkable man.
COMMENTARY
Feb 12, 2009

Secretary Clinton's No. 1 mission is to reassure allies

HONOLULU — We welcome the news that Hillary Clinton's first overseas trip as U.S. secretary of state will be to Japan, Korea, Indonesia and China. While her visit to Beijing will likely garner the lion's share of attention and her visit to Indonesia will generate the most speculation (can a visit by...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Feb 12, 2009

State minister Seiko Noda

Seiko Noda, 48, is Japan's state minister in charge of science and technology policy, food safety, consumer affairs and space policy. As a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and of Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet, she is entrusted with running 21 different departments. Not one to crack under...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 10, 2009

Recession won't sour Valentine's

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and stores are geared up to cater to that special time when women give their romantic others a sweet treat and, in the Japanese workplace, offer colleagues tasty tidbits out of gratitude.
EDITORIALS
Feb 8, 2009

NHK 24 hours worldwide

NHK last week began its new worldwide 24-hour all-English TV service. The expanded broadcasting will now extend into some 70 countries via satellite, cable and the Internet. That means more people in more places will now be seeing Japan much more of the time.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 8, 2009

Burmese junta fuels influx

In 2008 there was a sharp spike in the number of people seeking asylum in Japan, and although only 6 percent of those processed were recognized by the government as refugees, they totalled 57 compared with 41 the year before.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 7, 2009

Float this stimulus package

For years Japan has struggled with the question of how to revive the countryside. With few jobs and an aging population, the countryside isn't much of a draw for anyone under the age of 80.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 7, 2009

Stripped of stereotypes

If you ever have the chance to meet Lu Nagata, you will never forget her style and determination.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Q&A
Feb 4, 2009

Postal hotel 'fire sale' draws flak

Orix Corp.'s purchase of 70 Kampo no Yado hotels from Japan Post Holdings Co. for the fire sale price of ¥10.9 billion has been making headlines for the past month and drawing the scorn of internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 3, 2009

What would the locals do?

In Japan, paper advertisements hang from the ceilings of train cars. In how many other countries would that be a viable advertising option? Certainly not in my hometown of Melbourne. Back in Australia, the majority of those ads would not survive any given Saturday night.
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2009

Aso deserves high praise

Allow me to cite from a private conversation held with former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi around the summer of 2004, following the the Upper House election in July and ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle in September. I had made two requests of Koizumi: Revise the government's interpretation of the Constitution...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Feb 3, 2009

Finding the silver lining

The difficulties encountered as a foreigner can be sources of ideas for business opportunities. This belief is demonstrated by Park Tae Moon's 18 years in Japan — and his successful transition from a newspaper delivery worker to the owner of a 20-staff magazine publishing/consulting business.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 31, 2009

Car crazy and lovin' the fast lane

Simon Sproule appreciates the benefits of globalization. "The world has globalized so much since I left the U.K. in 1998 that I can get access to British media or Marmite on toast almost anywhere, anytime," he says, referring to the popular yeast extract spread.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2009

Brazilians in need of vocational training, language courses

The government should provide vocational training and language support to Brazilian workers who have lost their jobs as manufacturers streamline operations, Brazilian Ambassador Luiz Augusto De Castro Neves said.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2009

Joint project with China

In June 2008, Japan and China agreed on gas development and production projects in the East China Sea by shelving differences over the demarcation of exclusive economic zones (EEZs). Although the agreement was supposed to contribute to building stable bilateral ties, friction has cropped up between the...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2009

NHK to launch global 24-hour news channel

NHK will launch Japan's first 24-hour international broadcasting service on Feb. 2.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2009

Tamogami out of ASDF, not out of range

Based on his controversial essay that blamed Franklin D. Roosevelt for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, one would expect retired Gen. Toshio Tamogami to be a hardcore rightist unwilling to allow a counterargument in edgewise.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2009

Soft power beckons as time comes for academia to act sustainably

As I am for the most part an optimist, it seems only right to kick off 2009 with an upbeat column and, as an educator, one area I believe offers great promise is education.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 25, 2009

Larrikin notions of civilization

TRAVELS IN ATOMIC SUNSHINE: Australia and the Occupation of Japan, by Robin Gerster. Scribe Publications, 2008, 336 pp., $49.95 (cloth) Robin Gerster is a respected university- based researcher into recent Australian history. This, his latest book, is a very well-written and very detailed account of...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 25, 2009

Larrikin notions of civilization

Robin Gerster is a respected university- based researcher into recent Australian history. This, his latest book, is a very well-written and very detailed account of Australia's brief attempt (1946-1952) to occupy and "civilize" its large northern neighbor, Japan. The result, needless to say, was less...
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2009

Broth in translation

Although she was born in 1977 (in Atlanta, Georgia), Brittany Murphy is a show-business veteran who grew up fast.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2009

Broth in translation

Although she was born in 1977 (in Atlanta, Georgia), Brittany Murphy is a show-business veteran who grew up fast.
COMMENTARY
Jan 20, 2009

Obama and the alliance

Under the Bush administration, the Japan-U.S. alliance has undergone a quiet but important transformation in the eyes of most Japanese people: It has become a global alliance instead of a regional or bilateral one.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2009

Strategist puts stock in future of women

Ranked tops in equity strategy by Institutional Investor magazine in 2000, 2001 and 2006, Kathy Matsui has a new challenge: empowering Asia's women.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2009

U.S. business envoy warns against protectionism amid economic woes

Japan should steer clear of protectionism and use its extraordinary wealth to stimulate its economy and become a much larger player in the global trading system, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Friday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 16, 2009

Japanese wine: unadulterated and ready to go abroad

The image most people have of Japanese wine is of the ¥500 plonk sitting next to the synthetic beer and sickly sweet chu-hi cocktails on the shelves of their local convenience store; of the cheap and decidedly dismal stuff of lost weekends and discarded personal dignity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2009

If you can't sell designer bags, rent them

Japanese consumers are renowned for their appetite for luxury brands, hence Georgio Armani and other high-end labels opened their largest outlets in the world in the glitzy Ginza district in Tokyo.

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