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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 29, 2008

Pension system obligations and benefits

As the social welfare system grows in complexity, non-Japanese in particular are likely feeling a sense of frustration at the lack of information available in their native language.
COMMENTARY
Apr 28, 2008

Preserving the Constitution

Signs of shakiness have begun to appear in the alliance between Japan and the United States, which seemed to get increasingly strong under the coalition government of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, especially after the enactment of two laws that removed some of the obstacles to actions to...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2008

Watanabe pushes U.S. to fix credit crisis

Likening the U.S. credit crisis to a broken bathtub leaking water, financial services minister Yoshimi Watanabe is urging Washington to inject public money to fix the problem before it gets worse.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2008

Exports grow 2.3%, worst pace since '05

Japan's exports rose in March at their slowest pace in almost three years as shipments to Asia lost momentum and the U.S. slowdown deepened.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 22, 2008

Yellow dust storms getting worse

Each year, most of Japan's prefectures are affected by what is known as yellow dust, which appears as a yellow fog in the atmosphere for a few days, often in late winter and early spring. A mixture of des ert sand, arid topsoil and man-made pollutants from Central Asia, China and Mongolia, the annual...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2008

Lee comes to Tokyo seeking pragmatic ties

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak arrived Sunday in Tokyo for a two-day visit, bringing with him hopes of launching a new bilateral relationship based on pragmatism rather than nationalistic and often conflicting sentiments between the two countries.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 20, 2008

The challenges of an aging society

POPULATION DECLINE AND AGEING IN JAPAN: THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES by Florian Coulmas. Routledge: London, 2007, 167 pp., $150 (cloth) Florian Coulmas, a longtime contributor to the Japan Times and director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo, packs a lot of information and insights into...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Apr 19, 2008

Looking in the same direction for four decades

As president of Triumph International Japan Ltd., Koichiro Yoshikoshi helped the women's lingerie maker post revenue and profit growth for 19 straight years by introducing strategies focused on efficiency and swift decision-making.
EDITORIALS
Apr 18, 2008

Unavoidable extension of sanctions

Japan has extended economic sanctions against North Korea for six months following their April 13 expiration, marking the third time that the sanctions have been renewed. The extension is unavoidable since there has been no progress in the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea,...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2008

To survive, companies need a conscience

It's time for Japanese companies to review their profit-driven culture and think about the meaning of being truly accepted by consumers and society, according to a public policy expert and former vice governor of Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 18, 2008

How Cheap Trick put the Budokan on the map

The first pop group to ever play Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo was The Beatles in 1966, a concert that caused quite a scandal because of the auditoriums' semisacred status as Japan's premier martial-arts venue. Rightwingers protested the show but in the end the prerogatives of capitalism prevailed.
EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2008

Halting ODA's downward trend

Japan was the world's top foreign aid donor from 1991 to 2000, topping the United States. But faced with budget shortages, Japan has been reducing its official development assistance in recent years. A report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that in 2007 Japan slipped...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 16, 2008

Omissions and risky commissions

For several years now I have been at work on a new book — to be titled "Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia" — that is due to be published later this year. You may think it would be an easy matter to put together such a tome; after all, ornithologists and birdwatchers have been studying birds for...
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2008

U.S. forces commander vows tighter discipline

The commander of the U.S. forces in Japan vowed Monday the military will ensure that servicemen and women exhibit "unwavering professionalism" and "the highest-standards of behavior."
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 15, 2008

Kyodo bochi

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 15, 2008

Method in the madness?

In November, Japan became only the second country in the world (after the United States) to introduce mandatory fingerprinting and photo-taking at all international entry points, as part of beefed-up "antiterrorism" measures by the Ministry of Justice.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 13, 2008

Confusion reigns after 'Yasukuni' doesn't tell us how to feel

The big media-related news story on April 1 was the ongoing controversy over the documentary feature "Yasukuni," screenings of which had been canceled by a number of movie theaters in Tokyo and Osaka out of fear of rightwing protests. That night, NHK's regular 7 p.m. news bulletin did not mention the...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2008

Regional role for China's yuan

It is likely that a renminbi (RMB) area emerges in East Asia.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2008

Russia's boom times stretch to Niigata

NIIGATA — Ripples from Russia's booming economy have crossed the Sea of Japan, lapping at the shores of Niigata Prefecture and leading to strengthened ties.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 10, 2008

A home in Tokyo

Brooklyn-born Robert Allan Ackerman first landed in Japan in 1990 to direct "Mystery of the Rose Bouquet" by Manuel Puig at the Benisan Pit in Tokyo. Several years later, the American became an associate director of Theater Project Tokyo (TPT), which was founded in 1993 by Hitoshi Kadoi and English director...
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2008

G7 action to ease markets' woes a question mark

In this week's Group of Seven meeting of financial ministers and central bank chiefs, Japan is keen to show its commitment to cooperating on preventing the global financial system's problems from deteriorating further and damaging growth.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 8, 2008

Dancing with the devil over 'Yasukuni'

One of the great mysteries of life in Japan is the presence of the ultra-right. Loud, threatening and occasionally lethal, the shaven-headed patriots seem immune to police powers. "Why doesn't someone do something about those guys," is a fairly common response by the first-time foreign visitor. A strong...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Apr 8, 2008

Tokkotai survivor Hideo Suzuki

Eighty-five-year-old Hideo Suzuki is a reluctant survivor. A former tokkotai (Special Forces Unit) member of the Jinrai Butai (Thunder Gods Corps), Suzuki volunteered to be the pilot of an Ohka, a manned rocket-powered aircraft, during World War II. For sailors on U.S. warships in the Pacific, the Ohka...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2008

Africa wants partners, not just handouts

Poverty, hunger, infectious disease, conflict — words that readily come to mind when Japanese consider Africa.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 6, 2008

Are Japanese people ready for 'change they can believe in'?

Sometimes journalists ask themselves questions that appear to border on the absurd. Here goes one of them.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2008

G7 to remain vigilant but not support dollar: Sakakibara

The Group of Seven nations will probably maintain their vigilance on currencies next week without committing themselves to supporting the dollar, said Eisuke Sakakibara, Japan's former top currency-policy official.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2008

LDP studying creation of sovereign wealth fund

Looking to earn better returns on Japan's massive foreign reserves, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party began studying in February the idea of creating a sovereign wealth fund, or a state-controlled investment fund, that would trade in more aggressive vehicles such as stocks and properties.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2008

ODA fall poses Africa policy dilemma

The international African aid conference to be held in Yokohama in late May comes at a time when Japan's official development assistance is in decline and rival China's "resource diplomacy" is rising, putting Foreign Ministry officials in a quandary.

Longform

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