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JAPAN
Apr 22, 2006

96 Diet members visit Yasukuni Shrine

Ninety-six Diet members from various parties jointly paid a visit Friday to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where 14 Class-A war criminals are honored as well as more than 2 million Japanese war dead, as the shrine launched this year's three-day spring rites.
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2006

Prayer: not the best medicine

In a study that has made a splash this month, an American cardiologist concludes that praying for sick people has no effect one way or the other on their recovery. In fact, if they know they are being prayed for, it makes them worse. Non-believers naturally find the first result predictable and the second...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 26, 2006

Consumer credit companies have your money, and the media, in their pockets

On Jan. 13, the Supreme Court found in favor of an individual who had sued a consumer credit company for charging too much interest. By doing so, the court rejected the controversial "gray zone" that such companies take advantage of in their business.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 31, 2006

Hospital death exposes 'tip of malpractice iceberg'

Loyd Cummings tried to ignore his headache when it began on Aug. 7, 2003. But the electronic technician, who was working in Japan on U.S. Navy radars, eventually collapsed from an aneurysm -- a bulge in a vein in his head.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 29, 2006

With Horie's downfall, who can young Japan look up to?

The media has had a field day with Takafumi Horie, the 33-year-old founder of the communications firm Livedoor.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2005

Ministry lashed over asylum seekers' info

The Justice Ministry violated the human rights of nine Turkish Kurds seeking asylum by giving their personal information to the Turkish government last summer, an action that could infringe on their security and freedom, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations warned Monday.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 25, 2005

Merry Christmas -- whether rendered as a fact or not

Today being Christmas Day, I think we should all come clean and dedicate ourselves to truth. When all is said and done (and pretty soon it may be), there is probably no person in the world as tortured over the truth these days as U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 4, 2005

Carp skipper Brown can't wait for spring training

New Hiroshima Carp manager Marty Brown is excited about his challenge and can't wait for spring training to begin.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2005

Strategic changes for Japan-U.S. alliance

HONOLULU -- Much of the American and Japanese news coverage of the new security agreement between Washington and Tokyo has focused on its political aspects but overlooked the far-reaching strategic changes it has projected for the revitalized alliance.
COMMENTARY
Oct 24, 2005

How clear is Japan's future?

The editors of three leading British journals (The Times, The Financial Times and The Economist) have recently visited Japan and reported positively on Japan's economic prospects. They noted that Japan had largely recovered from "the lost decade." The Economist was bullish, heading its recent supplement...
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2005

Packaging costs lawsuit filed

A major supermarket chain filed a 616 million yen damages compensation lawsuit Monday against the government and a state-backed corporation, claiming that a recycling law that obliges retailers to shoulder most of the costs of recycling plastic containers is unconstitutional.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2005

Koizumi's new mandate even gets LDP rebels' nod

Liberal Democratic Party President Junichiro Koizumi was re-elected prime minister Wednesday by more than two-thirds of the 480-seat House of the Representatives on the opening day of a special Diet session, with supporting votes coming even from some of his LDP foes.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2005

Trespassing case is political, activists tell court

Three peace activists on trial for trespassing at a Self-Defense Forces housing compound where they had been distributing antiwar leaflets told the Tokyo High Court on Wednesday their arrest and indictment is a form of political suppression and their case should be dropped.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2005

LDP leading in polls with a week to go

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is likely to win a majority Sept. 11, while the Democratic Party of Japan may not end up with the 175 seats it held when the House of Representatives was dissolved, a Kyodo News survey shows.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 28, 2005

Summer scorecard: road trips, managers, scraped bathtubs

Road Trip of Survival: The Hanshin Tigers came through their "Road Trip of Death" in pretty good shape. The team went 10-9 while away from their home Koshien Stadium (being used for the national high school Tournament) for 25 days from Aug. 1 and was still in first place in the Central League, leading...
COMMENTARY
Aug 22, 2005

Victor's logic in hindsight

Every August Japan is filled with prayers for the 3.1 million Japanese who died in the Pacific War and feelings of resentment against the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This August, which marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, Japanese media have done intensive reporting to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2005

Defense chief given missile-intercept role

The Diet enacted a revised law Friday that allows the Defense Agency chief to order emergency missile interceptions without waiting for approval from the prime minister and the Cabinet.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 15, 2005

The art that rocks the boat of war in Iraq

If you don't like U.S. President George W. Bush -- particularly if you don't support his war in Iraq -- then there is a new gallery exhibition in Tokyo that you will relish.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2005

Harmful to Japan's interest

Should he continue his custom of making annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi could seriously harm Japan's national interest. His persistence in visiting the Tokyo memorial to the nation's war dead has intensified the firestorm of anti-Japanese criticism in China and South...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2005

Rise in defamation suits threaten media: journalists

The increasing number of lawsuits being filed in response to allegedly defamatory news articles is posing a threat to media organizations and freedom of expression by discouraging aggressive reporting, several journalists said at a recent symposium in Saitama.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2005

Chinese protests stiffen Japanese resolve

The Law of Unintended Consequences has been at work again, this time in the intense Japanese reaction to the Chinese demonstrations last month against Japan, some of them violent. In a word, the eruption in China has backfired in Japan.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 17, 2005

Prime Minister Koizumi smiles in the face of the people's apathy

No matter how alarming the day's news is, you can always count on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to put a happy face on it. In the daily press conferences where he sidles up to journalists to field a few softballs he always has a way of making everything sound inconsequential.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Apr 3, 2005

Ryu Murakami: Straight-talking wordsmith wields his pen like a sword

For nearly three decades since his seismic debut with "Almost Transparent Blue," which delved into the sex- and drug-fueled lives of Japanese youths in a town hosting a huge U.S. military base, author Ryu Murakami has often used his trademark explicit, offensive and guiltlessly cheerful language to dig...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 8, 2005

Creating laws out of thin air

With terrorists striking fear into governments worldwide, Japan too is currently considering its own version of America's Patriot Act, to be passed in a year or two.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2005

Foggy North Korean shuffle

BRUSSELS -- Recent events in North Korea have been interpreted in various ways and, generally, the wish has been father to the thought. The truth is difficult to discern, but indications are that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has placed himself firmly behind a reform program that may finally bring...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2005

NHK boss exits as viewers stop paying

Faced with a rising number of people refusing to pay viewer subscription fees due to embezzlement scandals, NHK President Katsuji Ebisawa tendered his resignation Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2004

GSDF officer involved in LDP's draft for constitutional revision

A senior officer in the Ground Self-Defense Force has compiled a draft plan for revising the Constitution to authorize the existence of a "military force" and enable the nation to engage in collective defense, it was learned Saturday.
Rugby
Dec 2, 2004

Tokyo's rugby community honors former teammate

Rugby players haven't always enjoyed the best of reputations.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji