Ultrafast maglev nearing reality The fiscal 2012 budget plan, now in front of the Diet, calls for setting aside a bundle for three new sections of shinkansen bullet train lines.
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End to 3-decade trade surplus a watershed It's official: Japan slipped into a trade deficit in 2011. Statistics released by the Ministry of Finance on Jan. 25 show a deficit of 2.4927 trillion yen ($32.372 billion) on a customs clearance basis. And now that the trade numbers are in, attention is shifting to whether the country can find a tourniquet before its current account starts bleeding red ink as well.
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Rather than turning inward, perhaps Japanese youths simply reflect society Alarmed by the ongoing decline in the numbers of university students studying abroad and company employees wishing to be sent overseas, many pundits are haranguing against what they call an inward-looking mind-set among young Japanese. But are they accurately portraying the country's young? Is the attitude of the young generations the only thing to blame? To find out, The Nikkei interviewed three experts: Kazuo Ogura, a former diplomat and president of the Japan Foundation and now an advisor for the foundation; David Satterwhite, who has lived in Japan for 41 years and is the executive director of the Japan-United States Educational Commission overseeing the Fulbright Grant Program; and Kensuke Suzuki, an associate professor of sociology at Kwansei Gakuin University who is well-versed in Internet communities and youth culture.
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