Nao Shimoyachi - The Japan Times

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Nao Shimoyachi

For Nao Shimoyachi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

JAPAN

Feb 28, 2004

Ammo provision added to U.S. logistic support pact

Tokyo and Washington signed an amendment Friday to a bilateral agreement governing reciprocal provision of logistics support, supplies and services between the Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. forces stationed in Japan.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 27, 2004

Bikini test survivors still living with blast

A bright light shatters the darkness over the predawn Pacific. The light envelops the entire sea and changes from yellow to orange, purplish orange to red.

JAPAN

Feb 27, 2004

Defense Agency eyes media officers to handle deluge

The Defense Agency will create media officer posts in fiscal 2005 to handle increasing public interest in the agency and the Self-Defense Forces.

JAPAN

Feb 27, 2004

For Marshall Islands, nuclear legacy lives on

The people of the Marshall Islands, the site of 67 U.S. nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, have their own Bikini stories.

JAPAN

Feb 25, 2004

Final bills on attack response await OK

The government on Tuesday released the details of seven bills that would govern the legal procedures Japan must follow to respond to an armed attack.

JAPAN

Feb 24, 2004

Koizumi promises 500 million yen to East Timor

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged Monday to provide 500 million yen in grants in aid to East Timor to help its nation-building efforts.

JAPAN

Feb 20, 2004

Overseas missions straining MSDF to the limit

About 300 Maritime Self-Defense Force sailors will leave Friday for Kuwait aboard an MSDF transport ship and a destroyer escort to deliver equipment and goods for troops being deployed to southern Iraq.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 15, 2004

Museum marks Bikini blast anniversary

Early on March 1, 1954, the United States exploded a hydrogen bomb, code-named Bravo, on the Pacific Ocean's Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands.

JAPAN

Feb 14, 2004

GSDF troops undeterred by mortar attack near base

Japan is analyzing Thursday's mortar attack in Samawah, southern Iraq, where its Ground Self-Defense Force troops are being deployed, but the incident will not affect its humanitarian mission there, government officials said Friday.

JAPAN

Feb 7, 2004

Southern Iraq isn't the only place in need of attention, aid group says

The Japanese media and public are focusing too much on the southern Iraqi city of Samawah where Ground Self-Defense Force troops are being deployed, a Japanese nongovernmental aid group said Friday.

JAPAN

Feb 5, 2004

Fears over depleted uranium lead to GSDF use of dosimeters

Responding to concerns over the use of depleted uranium rounds by the U.S. military during the Iraq war, the Defense Agency is equipping Ground Self-Defense Force troops in the country with hundreds of radiation dosimeters.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 4, 2004

GSDF to build high-tech Iraq fort

The roughly 90 Ground Self-Defense Force members who left Tuesday for Iraq will oversee the construction of what is expected to be one of the most high-tech, well-equipped forts on Earth.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 27, 2004

Koizumi OKs dispatch of main GSDF unit

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi gave the final go-ahead Monday for the main contingent of Ground Self-Defense Force troops to be deployed to Iraq.

JAPAN

Jan 24, 2004

Samawah area safe for troops, GSDF pair back from Iraq say

Two members of a Ground Self-Defense Force advance team to Iraq arrived back in Tokyo on Friday and reported to the government that the southern part of the country is safe enough for deployment of the main GSDF troop body.

JAPAN

Jan 17, 2004

GSDF advance team departs for Iraq

A 30-member Ground Self-Defense Force advance team left Friday from Narita airport bound for Iraq, marking the first time Japan has sent troops to a nation experiencing conflict since World War II.

JAPAN

Jan 16, 2004

Defense Agency briefings spat continues

A dispute between the media and the Defense Agency over the agency's plan to halt regular weekly news conferences by the chiefs of staff of the Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces continued Thursday.

JAPAN

Jan 10, 2004

Media urged to show restraint in reporting on SDF mission specifics

Citing security concerns, the Defense Agency called on the Japanese media Friday to exercise more restraint in their coverage of the deployment of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 9, 2004

Reporters get Iraq combat lessons

The Ground Self-Defense Force held basic protective and survival drills Thursday for Japanese reporters planning to cover the GSDF deployment in Iraq.

JAPAN

Jan 1, 2004

Constitution seen being sidestepped as Japan weighs new defense policies

On Dec. 19, the day the National Security Council met to approve the purchase of a U.S.-developed missile defense system, the government announced it will update the country's basic defense program by the end of 2004.

JAPAN

Dec 31, 2003

Foreigners, Japanese hone kanji skills

Despite having studied Japanese since 1987, Olaf Sponheim became increasingly frustrated with his failure to master the art of writing kanji.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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Spotlighting a Niigata castle town through sushi

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