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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 11, 2005

Views from Asia suggest that 'Team Bush' is playing poorly for all sides

CONFRONTING THE BUSH DOCTRINE: Critical Views From the Asia-Pacific, edited by Mel Gurtov and Peter Van Ness. London: Routledge Curzon, 2004, 277 pp., £20.99 (cloth). Characterizing the Bush administration's foreign policy of zigzagging, dysfunctional initiatives and self-inflicted wounds a "doctrine"...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 10, 2005

In the eye of a media storm, the Swede won't be uprooted

LONDON -- The campaign to get rid of England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is in overdrive following the inept, as bad as it gets 1-0 defeat in Northern Ireland on Wednesday. The English media has never been Eriksson's greatest ally, even when the national team was winning, so the first loss at Windsor...
EDITORIALS
Sep 10, 2005

Result of 'dealing with the devil'

The report on the investigation of the United Nations' oil-for-food program -- the international effort to oversee Iraq's oil sales and alleviate suffering in that country following the first Persian Gulf War -- excoriates the entire U.N. system for its failures. No one -- not the the U.N. bureaucracy,...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Sep 9, 2005

Despite troubles, Gooden blessed

I got a bit choked up the other day.
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2005

Try again with rights bill

The government was to have submitted a human-rights protection bill during the most recent session of the Diet. Various reasons are cited for the bill's failure to reach the Diet floor, including government leaders' obsession with other hot-button issues such as postal-service reform. Still, legislation...
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2005

'Third World' chaos hits home

HONOLULU -- The devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the United States is proving difficult for Americans to comprehend. Casualties currently number in the scores, but the body count is expected to swell in the days and weeks ahead -- when the survivors can stop merely trying to survive and can...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2005

The Japan-China-U.S. club

Since the beginning of the year, relations between the United States and China have become sharply strained while those between Japan and China have markedly deteriorated -- as if East Asia were headed for a new Cold War. In these circumstances it seems fitting to discuss how to build security mechanisms...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 6, 2005

The empire strikes back

Venerated by militarists and marinated in over a century of militarism and war, Yasukuni Shrine may well be Japan's least friendly venue for a demonstration by pacifists.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2005

Koizumi remains firm on visiting Yasukuni

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated his firm determination Sunday to continue his controversial annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 4, 2005

When money and politics merge

THE THAKSINIZATION OF THAILAND, by Duncan McCargo and Ukrist Pathmanand. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2005, 277 pp., $23 (cloth). Thaksin Shinawatra is Thailand's flamboyant and controversial prime minister, a wealthy telecom magnate who has transformed the domestic political scene...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 3, 2005

Bringing porn to the people

It has always surprised me how so often in Japan, the beauty of the countryside loses out to the convenience of the city. To most Japanese people, the countryside is backward and just not suited for everyday living. Nature is like a video to be watched for a few hours during your free time, preferably...
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2005

Counsel can't attend guru exam, hit on procedure

The Tokyo High Court lashed out at Shoko Asahara's defense team Friday, saying they were harming the Aum Shinrikyo founder's interests by not submitting a document explaining why they sought to appeal his death sentence.
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2005

Koizumi gets some high marks but must do more: Doyukai

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration should be given high marks for having addressed issues untouched by its predecessors, but there is still more to do, according to the chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai).
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2005

Upcoming election to put LDP-Komeito cooperation to test

Ominous clouds hung over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, New Komeito, on the eve of Tuesday's start of official campaigning for the Sept. 11 general election.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2005

Where is the German vision?

WASHINGTON -- When German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder precipitated early elections in Germany, the decision to seek electoral guidance appeared appealing. Since then, the choices on Sept. 18 have been remarkable mainly for their paucity and obscurity. Unless the parties and their candidates are able...
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2005

More than postal reform at stake

As the Lower House election campaign goes into full swing, Japanese voters face an important decision: whether to endorse the reform politics of Liberal Democratic Party leader and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, or a different kind of reform politics pushed by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 31, 2005

The nature of the mind

Shunmyo Masuno calls his works "expressions of my mind," and they have the power to stir up depths of emotion and even tap into the subconscious. They are not psychedelic paintings, however, nor are they virtual reality installations -- they are gardens. And the man who creates them is a Buddhist priest....
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2005

Drills put U.S. Navy on notice

HONOLULU -- Soon after Adm. Gary Roughhead took the helm as the new commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Chinese and Russian armed forces gave him something to think about.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 30, 2005

Spoiled pooches live the good life

Whether it's "wan-wan," "bow-wow" or "ruff-ruff," dogs in Japan are all speaking the same language: life here ain't too dog-gone bad.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2005

Ibaraki's bird flu woes befuddle farms, officials

The discovery Saturday of a bird flu antibody at yet another chicken farm in Ibaraki Prefecture has many officials throwing up their hands in despair.
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2005

Watershed election for Japan

LONDON -- The results of the Japanese general election on Sept. 11 will be important not only for the future of Japanese parliamentary democracy but also for the Japanese economy and Japan's foreign relations.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2005

Koizumi says postal dissenter may get on LDP ticket

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Saturday his Liberal Democratic Party may put postal rebel Eita Yashiro on the party's roster for the Tokyo proportional representation block in the Sept. 11 election.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 28, 2005

Intelligent Design: One chance encounter explains it all

Ijust happened to be reading the Kansas City Star the other day when a fascinating article caught my eye. The Star reported, in its Aug. 2 edition, that the Kansas Board of Education has approved a draft of new science standards proposed by supporters of so-called Intelligent Design.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Aug 26, 2005

Playing war in the Far East

MOSCOW -- Chinese walk into Vladivostok, Russians occupy Qindao. Amphibious armored vehicles negotiate the surf, jet fighters refuel in the air, troops land on barren beaches. A Hollywood World War III movie? An Internet prank? A hallucination from a crazed war veteran? Nope, they are joint military...
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 2005

China and Russia: brothers in arms?

Last week, China and Russia began their first ever joint military exercises. The drills have some armchair strategists warning of a new entente between Beijing and Moscow that could pose a threat to the existing regional security order. The truth about the exercises is considerably less exciting. For...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 25, 2005

Illuminating responses to 'Glimmers of hope . . . '

One of the most entertaining things about being a columnist is getting feedback from readers.
LIFE / Language
Aug 25, 2005

How to avoid strife when writing essays

It is a classic dilemma for any Japanese student of English: with a deadline fast approaching, how to go about writing an essay when the target language is not the student's native tongue? Many assume it is easier to write an essay in their native language and then to translate it into English. In fact,...

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