Thursday, March 18, 2010
The government will consider requiring the children of foreign parents living in Japan to also live here to qualify for child allowances, health minister Akira Nagatsuma says.
A U.N. panel monitoring racial equality and nondiscrimination expresses concern about Japan's possible exclusion of pro-Pyongyang schools for Korean residents from its planned tuition waiver program for public high school students.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
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ON A STROLL
March 18, 2010
Models walk down a catwalk with baby strollers Wednesday during "Yokohama Mothers Collection," a fashion show for young mothers at Yokohama Bay Quarter Annex. The show was held ahead of Friday's opening of the new shopping complex, which targets young women and families.
SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
NO WAX JOB?
March 18, 2010
Mizuho, a 3-year-old toy poodle, is dried off after a run through the Dog Wash Machine at Pet World Joyful Honda in Tokyo on Tuesday. The contraption allows canines to be given a 30-minute shampoo and blow-drying service for 1,000 yen.
AP PHOTO
PARTY PEOPLE
March 18, 2010
A new convention campaign is kicked off Wednesday as (from left) Pacifico Yokohama Executive Vice President Takashi Kobori, Jean Baptiste Pigeon, general manager of Intercontinental Yokohama Grand; Ryozo Oya, chief operating officer of IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan; and Kenichi Narita, senior managing director of Yokohama Convention and Visitors Bureau, launch the MICE program at Intercontinental Yokohama Grand. Participants in meetings, incentives, conferences and events will be able to party in the Japanese-style garden and experience other local culture.
AYUMI KIMURA PHOTO
PORTRAITS APLENTY
March 14, 2010
People walk past an exhibition of 1,000 portraits taken by 12 photographers and displayed on the walls of Shibuya Station on Friday. The exhibition, which is part of various art events held around the station, runs through March 22.
SATOKO KAWASAKI
HIGH-HEELED HONCHOS
March 12, 2010
Female company presidents take to the catwalk at a charity fashion show organized by Natuluck Co., a company that assists female managers, on Wednesday night at Royal Park Tower Shiodome in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Part of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Cambodia International Education Support Foundation, which provides financial support for teachers in Cambodia.
SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
WALKING ON AIR
March 11, 2010
A young woman who passed the University of Tokyo's entrance exam is tossed in the air by students on campus Wednesday. Exam results for entry into the prestigious school, in Bunkyo Ward, were posted on a campus signboard.
KYODO PHOTO
THIS SUDS FOR YOU
March 11, 2010
Maiko Itai (second from left), winner of 2010 Miss Universe Japan, poses with Ines Ligron (center), national director of Miss Universe Japan, and Sergio Inclan, director general and CEO for Asia of Grupo Modelo S.A., Corona Extra, after the pageant finals Tuesday in Tokyo. Itai, 25, a former civil servant with the Oita Municipal Government, will represent Japan at the Miss Universe pageant later this year.
YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTO
CREAM CHEESE
March 10, 2010
Owner Yoshihiro Nomura carries Cream, a 1-year-old male standard poodle, on his back during the dog fashion show Odaiba Wan Wan Collection 2010 at the Aqua City shopping mall in Minato Ward on Sunday.
AP PHOTO
STRONG-ARMED
March 9, 2010
Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen uses a robot suit HAL, a device used to support people who have arm or leg troubles, during a visit to a welfare center in Tokyo's Ota Ward on Monday. The arm-shaped device is moved with signals from the user's brain.
SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
AL FRESCO
March 6, 2010
A family takes advantage of springlike weather to picnic in Tokyo's Hibiya Park Friday. Temperatures in the capital topped 18, while other parts of the Kanto region saw the mercury rise to above 20.
SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
OPENING ACT
March 6, 2010
A woman shops for tickets at a TTC booth that opened Friday in Osaka. Modeled after the TKTS discount booth in New York's Times Square, Today's Tickets Center is Japan's first organization to specialize in day-of-performance tickets.
KYODO PHOTO
MONSTER TRIBUTE
March 5, 2010
Children peruse monster dolls Thursday at the Yokai Hinamatsuri girls festival at a gallery in Sakaiminato, Shimane Prefecture. Traditionally, the display is filled with dolls representing emperors, empresses and their attendants, but this year about 220 monsters were put on display instead to honor the city's famous cartoonist Shigeru Mizuki, author of the ghost comic series "Gegege no Kitaro."
KYODO PHOTO
WITH THE GRAIN
March 5, 2010
Miyuki Hatoyama (second from right), wife of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, and comedian Sanshi Katsura (center) attend a rice planting ceremony held to mark the opening of an agriculture-themed office space at Pasona Group's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday. The human resource company said the "Urban Farm space" is part of a farm internship project.
AP PHOTO
LIVE LONG AND PROSPER
March 4, 2010
"Daruma" (dharma) dolls are sold Wednesday at Jindaiji Temple's Dharma Fair in Chofu, Tokyo. The annual two-day fair is one of the three major Dharma fairs held to fete the coming of spring in the Kanto region. The dolls are believed to bring good health and help businesses prosper.
SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
PRIDE AND JOY
March 3, 2010
A family washes their Subaru 360 in April 1960. On March 3, 1958, Fuji Heavy Industries Co. ushered in an era of affordable family cars with the announcement that a remake of the minicar will hit the market in May with a sticker price of 425,000 yen. The popular 360 had a top speed of 83 kph.
KYODO PHOTO
ATTENTION SHOPPER
March 3, 2010
A customer places a cell phone near a mannequin to get floor information at Osaka's revamped Takashimaya department store Tuesday. The store's total floor space has been enlarged 1.4-fold to 78,000 sq. meters to target women in their 20s.
KYODO PHOTO
OLYMPIC SPIRIT
March 2, 2010
Members of the Japanese Olympic team pose for a picture during the closing ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics on Sunday. Japan finished with a total of five medals.
KYODO PHOTO
SEEING STARLETS
March 2, 2010
Takarazuka Music School students pose Monday during their graduation ceremony in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture. All 38 students will join the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female musical theater troupe, and debut during a production in April.
KYODO PHOTO
ROCKS OF AGES
March 2, 2010
Kyoto's Ryoanji Temple, famous for its Zen rock garden, an iconic image of the ancient capital, reopens to visitors Saturday after a one-year hiatus to repair its roof for the first time in 30 years.
KYODO PHOTO
FLOWER POWER
Feb. 28, 2010
Visitors enjoy hundreds of orchids Saturday during the opening of the Ran Matsuri flower festival in Nanbu, Tottori Prefecture. The event, featuring 2,200 orchids of 20 different species, runs through March 28.
KYODO PHOTO
SPITTING IMAGE
Feb. 28, 2010
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama checks out a doll of himself during a visit Saturday to Konan, Kochi Prefecture, where he spoke about the decentralization of government power.
KYODO PHOTO
WHAT'S FOR DESSERT?
Feb. 27, 2010
Children feed a koala at Tennoji Zoo in Osaka during a ceremony Thursday to mark an agreement with the town of Hidakagawa, Wakayama Prefecture, which supplies eucalyptus leaves to the zoo.
KYODO PHOTO
HOPES OF A NATION
Feb. 27, 2010
People crowd TV screens in an electronics shop in Tokyo's Yurakucho district Friday to watch figure skater Mao Asada's performance at the Vancouver Olympics. Asada took silver in the women's singles competition.
KYODO PHOTO
ICE PRINCESS
Feb. 24, 2010
Noriko Kijima of doll maker Kyogetsu Co. displays a "negai-bina" doll modeled after Olympic figure skater Mao Asada at the firm's showroom Tuesday in Taito Ward, Tokyo. Such dolls represent the ideal woman parents hope their girls emulate. Asada ranked seventh this year in the firm's questionnaire to 515 parents.
SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO
SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE RIDE
Feb. 23, 2010
Two girls take a rickshaw tour Monday around Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture. A group set up by members of the local chamber of commerce recently launched the service to promote tourism in the historic city. A 10-minute jaunt costs ¥1,000 and a 40-minute ride is ¥4,000.
KYODO PHOTO
QUEEN FOR A DAY
Feb. 20, 2010
The 154,000-ton Queen Mary 2 arrives at Yokohama port Friday morning. The British cruise ship, making its second port call in Yokohama since last March, embarked on a circumnavigation from New York last month
KYODO PHOTO
SNOW-GOING
Feb. 19, 2010
People brave flurries outside the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Thursday morning.
KYODO PHOTO
TAKING THE CAKE
Feb. 18, 2010
Children from a local nursery school in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, cut a birthday cake for Central Japan International Airport at the terminal building Wednesday. About 500 people gathered to mark the fifth anniversary of the airport's opening.
KYODO PHOTO
EARTH MOVERS
Feb. 18, 2010
Self-Defense Forces personnel helping Haiti's reconstruction smooth out the land at the future site of a World Food Program building in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday.
KYODO PHOTO
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Responding to the government's call for deflation-fighting steps, the Bank of Japan says it will expand liquidity by doubling its three-month loans to banks, introduced in December, to about ¥20 trillion.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
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NEWS FEATURE SERIES
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