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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 17, 2013

Japan's rollercoaster modern history has kept coming off the rails

At the end of this month, Roger Pulvers will be leaving Counterpoint. In his last three columns since his inaugural weekly Counterpoint on April 3, 2005, he will consider in turn Japan in the past, present and future.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Mar 9, 2013

'Kony2012' and the fight for truth in the Internet age

A year ago, Jason Russell was a nobody. Not a nobody, precisely, but just ordinary. Normal. He was a healthy father of two, living in San Diego, and was happy in his work as a director for Invisible Children, a nonprofit organization he'd helped found.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Mar 5, 2013

Buying property in the age of Abenomics

According to most business media, now is the time to act if you are thinking about buying a home. Though the Liberal Democratic Party has yet to confirm that it will go ahead with the consumption tax increases the Democratic Party of Japan passed last year, it seems likely that the first hike to 8 percent...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 26, 2013

No room for subtleties when laying off workers

Thanks to a feature that appeared on the front page of the Dec. 31 issue of the Asahi Shimbun, oidashi beya is the first topical neologism of 2013 if you don't count "Abenomics." It's not clear if the term, which translates as "expulsion room," was coined by the newspaper, but since then the blogosphere...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 20, 2013

China may prevent Korean unification: U.S. report

A recent report by Republican staff members in the U.S. Senate warns that China, because of its deepening economic ties with North Korea as well as its ancient claims on Korean land, could attempt to "manage, and conceivably block," the eventual unification of the two Koreas, if ever the Kim family falls...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2013

Relatives of U.S. lawmakers lobby on bills before Congress

In 2007, in the wake of the biggest lobbying scandal in decades, Congress limited the ability of family members to lobby their relatives in the House of Representatives or Senate. But it declined to ban the practice entirely.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 25, 2012

LDP returns with all its old baggage

They're baaaack. After warming the opposition bench for more than three years, the Liberal Democratic Party has returned to power, hungrier and more eager than ever to rule.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 7, 2012

Many voices but no clear messages

With so many parties — and their seemingly mix-and-match policy positions — vying in the Dec. 16 Lower House election, voters are facing a difficult choice. Even so, all the sudden mergers and policy rejiggering suggest the new parties would be no better than their predecessors at breaking the tradition...
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2012

Noda will schedule election for Dec. 16

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Wednesday he plans to dissolve the Lower House on Friday and schedule the general election for Dec. 16.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 18, 2012

Shilling for our side over the Senkakus

Akihiro Suzuki does not think war will come, but if it does, he believes Japan will prevail.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Aug 27, 2012

Noda's hapless diplomacy

Strange though it may seem, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who heads the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, is seeking support and advice from former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of the No. 1 opposition Liberal Democratic Party in his bid to restructure Japanese diplomacy in general as well as improve...
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2012

Upper House passes bill to hike sales levy

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda achieved a major goal Friday when the Upper House passed his administration's social security and tax reform bills that will double the sales tax to 10 percent by 2015.
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2012

Good fight by 'green' candidate

In the Yamaguchi gubernatorial election held Sunday, Mr. Shigetaro Yamamoto, a former bureaucrat of the infrastructure and transport ministry supported by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, was elected the new governor, beating three other candidates.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 23, 2012

Bloom is off decentralization

A number of local political parties have cropped up of late clamoring for further "decentralization," which would shift much administrative and budgetary authority from the central government to local governments.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 10, 2012

Rape victim marks 10 years on lonely crusade for justice

It surely isn't very often that elite Japanese bureaucrats hear the words to the national anthem quoted at them — by a foreigner. Earlier this year, Australian national Catherine Fisher says she pulled the words of "Kimigayo" from her head during a frustrating meeting with officials from the ministries...
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2012

Prefectures to get debris disposal requests: Noda

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced Sunday that the government will officially ask prefectures to store and dispose of some of the 22 million tons of debris generated by the quake and tsunami last year.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Mar 5, 2012

Todai plan to shift school year could be catalyst for wider Japanese reforms

The University of Tokyo, locally known as Todai, has announced a draft plan to shift the start of its academic year from spring to autumn and called on 11 other major universities to join it. Public discussion of the proposal has been immense since the announcement in mid-January, and for good reason....
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2012

Keep females in Imperial clan: experts

Female members of the Imperial family must retain their status after marriage to maintain the Emperor system, experts told a government panel Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 29, 2012

Noda tax quest one dimensional?

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has cleared numerous political hurdles since taking office in September, but his goal of raising the consumption tax and reforming the social security system may prove insurmountable as he wages a two-front battle.
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2012

Dealing with Pyongyang

The United States and North Korea held two days of talks last week in Beijing — the first such talks between the two countries since the death of North Korea's long-time leader, Kim Jong Il, in December. The talks were a chance to look for signs of any changes in the North's positions under the leadership...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2012

Will shrinking the Diet solve anything?

A company saddled with a hefty debt load might try to get back on a healthy track by laying off employees or reducing pay.
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2012

Let economic impetus drive a deal in territorial dispute

Judging by the latest events in the seemingly endless territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over the "Northern Territories," the Japanese side has decided to confirm its steadfast stance by presenting strong historical and judicial arguments — some traditional, some rather new.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.