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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2008

What is needed to make the U.S. financial bailout plan a success

The refusal of the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the $700 billion bailout plan Monday may turn out to have been appropriate if the Congress correctly understands the priorities at hand. The issue is not whether the situation should be left to the market or whether the government should save those...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2008

The gritty truths behind the image

A rising full moon against a twilight sky and a shimmer of pink on the surface of the sea. So far, so postcard. But this is no regular Japanese beauty spot. Just visible in the distance is a clutch of white chimneys jutting into the sky, offering a sinister clue to the location of the seemingly serene...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2008

Web society opts to stay anonymous

Like a lot of 20-year-olds, Kae Takahashi has a page on U.S.-based MySpace, and there is no mistaking it for anyone else's.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 1, 2008

North policy unchanged: Nakasone

Japan's policy on North Korea under Prime Minister Taro Aso will remain focused on resolving the abduction issue, new Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2008

Learning from BOJ's choice to do nothing

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, may be dead wrong about the urgent need for the proposed $700 billion that the former professor and his buddy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, have been peddling to Congress.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 28, 2008

Tales of experience from foreign homeowners

The following are the experiences of four foreigners who have ventured into property purchase in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2008

Untapped energy source fuels a paradox

SINGAPORE — Ice that burns? It sounds like a magician's trick. So do some of the exotic names given to gas hydrate — "flammable sorbet," "crystal gas" and "burning ice." But recent scientific surveys and test drilling in Asia and elsewhere have proven that this substance exists in massive, potentially...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2008

Protesters question safety of U.S. nuclear carrier

In the face of North Korea's return to nuclear development and China's ever-growing military presence, Yasunari Fujimoto believes the defense of the Japanese homeland must be secured at almost any cost.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Sep 23, 2008

Robot development takes a homeward turn

While Japanese robotics companies have made robots that look and move like human beings, the goal of making a society where human beings and robots interact in everyday life has remained out of reach.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 23, 2008

Anything, any time, anywhere

Unlike most other countries, Japan is dotted with thousands of vending machines that allow consumers to buy a wide range of products at any time of the day or night, eliminating the need for inconvenient trips to the store.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2008

Geothermal power projects run aground

One of Japan's opportunities to tap cleaner, cheaper energy and reduce its dependence on imported oil has run into a problem: millions of naked bathers.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2008

What goes around comes around for Russia

Russia invades an eastern European republic, sends its navy to Latin America for military exercises in America's backyard, and threatens to cut off energy supplies to western Europe. This reads like a chapter out of Cold War history.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2008

Will open-door immigration plan die after Fukuda?

Japan isn't exactly known as an open country to foreigners, but there was a recent brief ray of hope in June.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2008

Day of the war makers

The Japanese well remember Dec. 8, 1941, as the day when Japan went to war with the United States, attacking Hawaii's Pearl Harbor with aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy. They also don't forget Aug. 15, 1945, the day when Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers in World War II.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2008

End the yearlong gridlock

First of all, I would like to express my respect to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda for his swift decision to step down. My view on Prime Minister Fukuda since he came into office is that his strongest point lies in his humility.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 14, 2008

Troubled by ghosts of East Asia

EAST ASIA'S HAUNTED PRESENT: Historical Memories and the Resurgence of Nationalism, edited by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa and Kazuhiko Togo. Westport, CT., Praeger Security International, 2008, 265 pp., $75 (cloth) Arguments over the past among nations are a sure sign of anxieties about the future. East Asia's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Sep 14, 2008

'American Graffiti,' Japanese style

First of two parts
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2008

WWE's U.S.-style rassling brings pay-per-view mat dramas here

Posing proudly for a snapshot with a glittery championship belt, Seigi Nishiyama was among some 600 wrestling fans packed into a Tokyo theater who can't get enough of World Wrestling Entertainment.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2008

Economy shrank 3% last quarter

The economy shrank 3 percent last quarter, the steepest contraction since 2001, as companies and households cut spending and exports fell.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2008

Hayashi stresses action in terrorism fight

In the fight against terrorism, Japan will earn more respect around the world through action than by just providing money, Defense Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 12, 2008

She, herself and AI

With her sights set on achieving her long-held ambition of winning a Grammy award, Los Angeles-born and Tokyo-based vocalist AI is adamant that dreams only come true with hard graft.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Sep 10, 2008

NihonHacks.com

Japan is not the cheapest place to live, and it can be frustratingly confusing, even for long-timers. Fortunately, there is NihonHacks.com, the blog devoted to tips for stretching your yen and saving time, courtesy of American-born, Japan-based blogger Thomas Hjelm (with some input from his wife and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 9, 2008

Tackling the 'Zainichi' experience

Sitting across from best-selling New York author Min Jin Lee in a Tokyo expat cafe, I can't help thinking that the heroine of her debut novel "Free Food For Millionaires" is the one sipping ice tea and talking sex. Like Lee, protagonist Casey Han is unusually tall, refined in speech, and deeply interested...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 7, 2008

Hoshino still getting skewered over Olympic failure

The Beijing Olympics is history, but the debate continues over Japan's showing. Last week, Fuji TV's Sunday night newsmagazine, "Sakiyomi," held a discussion on whether or not the government should increase its budget for Olympic athletes. Three of the four celebrity guests in the studio thought that...
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2008

It's deja vu, all over again

Here we go again. Less than a year after Shinzo Abe stunned supporters with a sudden resignation from office, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has decided to do the same. Fukuda blamed a divided Diet, plummeting approval ratings, and a desire to avoid a political vacuum for his decision to step down....
COMMENTARY
Sep 4, 2008

Fukuda hounded out of office

Japan's PR-vulnerable public and lightheaded media have done it again. Between them they have got rid of yet another of Japan's better prime ministers. I have no brief for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's policies. On two key issues I think he was wrong. One was his determination to force through legislation...

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