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COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2010

That 70s show in Russia

MOSCOW — Can Russia escape the "resource curse" implied by high oil prices, or will it succumb to what we call a "70-80" scenario? That is the question confronting Russians today, and we fear that their fate will be the latter: If oil prices remain at $70 to $80 per barrel, Russia is likely to relive...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 26, 2010

Black Sea challenge by U.S. set to keep Russia on edge

A storm is gathering in and around the Black Sea as Russia faces a mounting challenge from the United States, which is beefing up its military presence in former Soviet satellite countries like Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2010

Democrats abandon U.S. climate bill

WASHINGTON (AP, THE WASHINGTON POST) Senate Democrats gave up plans Thursday to attempt to pass an energy bill that caps greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, abandoning a priority of President Barack Obama.
COMMENTARY
Jul 14, 2010

U.S. bidding Iraq goodbye and good luck

As the American withdrawal gains speed, there are fewer American troops in Iraq than in Afghanistan for the first time since 2003. By the end of August there will be no U.S. combat troops left in Iraq, though some tens of thousands of support troops will remain until next year. And still there is no...
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2010

Motive for clean energy

Up to 9.5 million liters of oil continue to spew daily into the Gulf of Mexico since BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. U.S. President Barack Obama has called the oil spill "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced."
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2010

New era for cross-strait relations

Officially, it is called the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), but it is potentially much more. The trade deal signed by China and Taiwan early last week could transform the relationship between the two governments. It deepens the integration of the two economies, opening the door to closer...
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Jul 2, 2010

Tax hike amid slump: Kan's Hashimoto dilemma

Japan's slowing recovery from its worst postwar recession is signaling the economy may be too weak to sustain the higher consumption taxes under consideration by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2010

Tax hike policy due by March

The government wants to hammer out by the end of March its stance on raising the 5 percent consumption tax, newly appointed National Policy Unit minister Satoshi Arai said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2010

India nuke tieup OK'd

TORONTO (Kyodo) Japan and India agreed Sunday to cooperate further in the civilian use of nuclear power when Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met on the sidelines of a two-day Group of 20 summit in Toronto, Japanese officials said.
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2010

Plan for gender equality

The government's Council for Gender Equality is scheduled to submit by the end of this month a proposal for the third basic plan to build a gender-equal society. Two such plans have been written on the basis of the Basic Law for a Gender-Equal Society, which went into effect in 1999. The draft for the...
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2010

Global warming fight fizzles

In December, delegates from 193 countries took part in the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen in an attempt to form an agreement on how to combat global warming beyond 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires.
JAPAN / DECISION 2010
Jun 24, 2010

Parties focus on economy, taxes

With the campaign officially kicking off for the July 11 Upper House election, political parties are weighing in on rebuilding the economy and government finances, hoping their platforms will translate into votes.
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2010

Strategic details of growth

A chieving "a strong economy" is one of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's three major policy goals, along with "strong finances" and "strong social welfare." To realize his idea, his Cabinet on June 18 announced a new economic growth strategy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2010

G20 faces test as major players retrench

BRUSSELS — Two Group of 20 meetings this month — first in Busan, South Korea, for finance ministers, and next in Toronto for heads of government, mark the moment when the major players in the world economy shift gear from budgetary stimulus to retrenchment. Not everyone agrees.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2010

As China wages, yuan rise, exporting to get costly

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. suppliers sacrificed earnings in China by raising wages to end strikes, and Beijing's decision to allow greater exchange-rate flexibility may slow plans to export vehicles from the nation as the currency appreciates.
COMMENTARY
Jun 21, 2010

Indonesia moving to reduce forest loss, warming emissions

SINGAPORE — Recent developments in curbing high levels of forest loss around the world, particularly in the tropics, are promising. They are significant because deforestation, including the clearing of trees from peat swamps in Southeast Asia, is the biggest source of global warming emissions from...
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2010

Parties circle consumption tax

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the No. 1 opposition Liberal Democratic Party have announced their manifestos for the July 11 Upper House election. Noteworthy is the DPJ's mention of the possibility of raising the consumption tax as a way to rebuild state finances.
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2010

Growth plan goals: Jobs, no deflation

The government unveiled an economic growth strategy Friday for the next decade, aiming to eliminate deflation by the end of fiscal 2011, create ¥123 trillion worth of demand and 5 million jobs in four specific fields, as well as lower corporate taxes.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2010

Rundown of DPJ pledges

The Democratic Party of Japan is promising to
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2010

DPJ, LDP platforms test tax hike waters

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the opposition camp unofficially began campaigning Thursday for the July 11 Upper House election, by releasing their platforms, and both sides seemed to be dancing around a tax hike.
JAPAN / PROMOTING TOURISM FROM CHINA
Jun 17, 2010

Tourism revs up for China boom

With the government easing the criteria for granting individual travel visas to Chinese next month, Japan is gearing up to lure more tourists from the Middle Kingdom and make international tourism a pillar that can prop up the anemic economy.

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