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COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2009

Obama's part in an ethics-based economy

TUBINGEN, Germany — Many say the world financial crisis could not have been foreseen. Perhaps not by financiers and economists, but others who were watching how markets were developing — often with dismay — were more than worried.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Feb 24, 2009

Kinjo reaps benefits of workouts

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which began its fourth season in October. Shigeyuki Kinjo of the Ryukyu Golden Kings is the subject of this week's profile.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2009

Success of Kosovo is Europe's responsibility

PRAGUE — On Feb. 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence and has so far been recognized by more than 50 countries representing close to 60 percent of the world's economic power. Interethnic violence — which many feared — has largely been avoided and the mass exodus of Serbs that some also predicted...
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 22, 2009

Its director's cut on new Festival/Tokyo

Japan may be floundering politically and economically, but amid all the uncertainties it is a joy to report the sparkling rebirth of a major international theater event in Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 22, 2009

Refuge . . . of a sort

The main character of the one-act play that follows is loosely based on the few known facts concerning a Russian nobleman-refugee named Semyon Nikolaevitch Smirnitsky. Born in St. Petersburg in 1879, Smirnitsky fled the Russian Revolution in 1919 and spent the rest of his life in Japan, mostly in Otaru,...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Feb 21, 2009

Holtz happy to coach Notre Dame alumni in 75th anniversary game

What a summer it will be for American football fans in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2009

U.S. policy shift in South Asia

LONDON — The recent visit by U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke to South Asia comes at a time of growing unease in the region and underscores the Obama administration's efforts to formulate a new strategy for winning the Afghan war.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 21, 2009

Driving in Japan is not for the gullible

It was Sunday. We were driving. But this was no Sunday drive.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2009

Envoy lauds role of ODA in Azerbaijan's development

Official development assistance may be on a long-term decline, but its effectiveness remains integral to Azerbaijan's development, the country's deputy foreign minister said Friday in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2009

Beijing's hopes for Obama

SHANGHAI — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week has embarked on her first overseas trip to Asia as America's chief diplomat. While the leadership in all four capitals she visits are eager to gauge the pulse of the new U.S. government, Beijing is probably more anxious to figure out the...
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Feb 20, 2009

Sumo, a sport of humble respect and grand entrances

Sumo is a physical sport to many, but it is very much a spiritual rite to others. The bouts commence and end with a bow, in much the same way as judo or kendo bouts start with a similar acknowledgment of the opponent. Mutual respect is forever the name of the de facto national game.
BUSINESS
Feb 20, 2009

BOJ will buy ¥1 trillion in corporate bonds; rate stands

The Bank of Japan said Thursday it will buy up to ¥1 trillion worth of corporate bonds held by financial institutions amid the deepening recession.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2009

Funereal flick out to reap Japan an Oscar

The Japanese film industry now turns out about 400 titles annually, but in a given decade only a few Japanese filmmakers win major international awards — including the biggest of all: the Oscars.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 20, 2009

An exhibition's critical charge

"In Japan, the city consists of parts perfect in themselves, but lacking a sense of or connection to the whole," observes curator Shino Nomura while discussing the work of Swiss architectural firm Diener & Diener.
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2009

Face up to a common threat

Despite a spreading jihad culture, U.S. President Barack Obama has ended America's global "war on terror" as dramatically as his predecessor had initiated it. With the stroke of his pen, Obama has effectively terminated the war on terror that President George W. Bush had launched to defeat terrorists...
COMMENTARY
Feb 17, 2009

Rumsfeld prosecution could set precedent

NEW YORK — There is now enough evidence to try former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for war crimes, Manfred Nowak, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, recently told "Frontal 21," a German television program.
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2009

Model for enterprising youths

Alex Martin's Feb. 11 article, "Shoe shiner buffs his trade into fine art," is a remarkable story of determination, humility, entrepreneurialism and a sharp mind for business growth. Yuya Hasegawa has raised shining shoes to an art form. The article doesn't mention the fact that there's a definite psychological...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 15, 2009

The recession will lead to a downturn in media quality

Every day there is more gloomy news about a major manufacturer or retailer or service company cutting jobs — and not just a few dozen here or there, but thousands, tens of thousands. No one gets out alive, except self-made billionaires and McDonald's, which is doing quite well, apparently. People will...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 15, 2009

Historical fact and fiction from 'Mito Komon,' Tokugawa Mitsukuni special and 'Hissatsu Shigotonin'

The long-running historical drama series "Mito Komon" (TBS, Mon., 8 p.m.) is about an itinerant nobleman who travels the land incognito with a retinue of followers, righting wrongs and giving exploiters and other bad guys their just desserts. It is thus a good means for regions to promote themselves...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 15, 2009

Rebuilding sacred secrets of ancient Omi Province

Tourists might be attracted by Japanese temples and their gardens, but have you ever thought what it takes to preserve their timeless beauty?
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 13, 2009

The old ones are the best

More than three years ago, theater director Sho Ryuzanji launched Paradise Ichiza, a professional company whose cast was comprised of veteran dramatists who had only ever before been involved off stage, as theater owners, lighting specialists, voice actors, directors or in academia. When Ryuzani, 61,...
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2009

Pandemic plan calls for mass cremations

Japan's plan for any future influenza pandemic calls for shutting down airports, closing schools and organizing mass cremations of the dead in hopes of keeping the virus off its shores or at least containing it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2009

'Heaven's Door'/'Lost Girl'

Youth, illness and love are the basic ingredients of many a movie, especially in Japan, where romantic dramas about dying teenagers are about as common as convenience stores.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2009

Japan as the catalyst for improving global public health

What place should Japan occupy in the world? This existential question has troubled Japan's leaders for the past two decades. Military leadership is restricted by the Constitution. Economic might has lost its glimmer. Cultural influence, epitomized by "cool Japan," has yet to take center stage.

Longform

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