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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 19, 2006

Careful planning helps to preserve male-succession mind-set

The morning after it broke, news that Princess Kiko is expecting a baby in September was greeted with predictably meaningless blather on the TV wide shows. Commentators made a connection between the pregnancy and that ceremony the princess and her husband, Prince Akishino, attended in September of last...
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2006

China exploited diplomat over a woman, Aso says

The 2004 suicide of a staff member at the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai came after the Chinese forced him to hand over information to break government codes by exploiting an illicit relationship he was allegedly having with a woman, Foreign Minister Taro Aso suggested Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2006

Takebe denies DPJ Horie fund allegations

The war of words continued Friday at the Diet as Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe fended off opposition claims of shady financial ties between his son and jailed Livedoor founder Takafumi Horie.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2006

Traditional prewar houses finding favor with manufactured home-weary

Architect Jun Hirai, 35, lives and works in a refurbished traditional "minka" house built during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) in Obama, Fukui Prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2006

Trading houses join effort to boost economies of regional communities

Trading houses are teaming up with local governments to foster homegrown industries that could revitalize small cities and towns.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

Corporate character goods harness power of 'cute'

A traditional seasoning flies off store shelves after the bottles begin sporting a cartoon panda. A droplet-shaped character turns a little-known manufacturer into a household name.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Feb 17, 2006

Psychedelic radar 02.17

Friday, Feb. 17
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2006

Foreigners buy up record 14 trillion yen in stock

Net Japanese stock purchases by nonresident investors hit an all-time high of 13.96 trillion yen in 2005, the Finance Ministry said Monday, underscoring the key role nonresidents' active buying played in last year's stock market rally.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2006

Horie, three execs charged with violating securities law

Former Livedoor Co. President Takafumi Horie and three of his former executives were charged Monday with spreading false financial information about the takeover of a publisher in 2004, prosecution sources said.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2006

English abusers finally get their day in the sun

"Please be careful to forget valuables" has received the Sign Language Award at the Amazing English Hunt 2005 awards, the English-Speaking Union of Japan, a nonprofit organization to promote international exchanges through English, and eigoTwown.com, which runs a Web site offering English education information,...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2006

Koizumi seeks more NHK foreign language outreach

In a bow to globalization, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is making at least one exception to his "small government" crusade: He is considering an expansion of the foreign-language programming offered by NHK, Japan's public TV and radio broadcaster.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2006

JBIC at cross-purposes?

The head of the state-funded Japan Bank for International Cooperation told the government recently that it can finance countries that are denied state loans for political reasons, naming Iran and China as examples, Kyodo News learned Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2006

Metalworker unions seek pay hike

Labor unions at steel and heavy machinery makers and shipbuilding companies presented their pay demands Friday to begin this year's expected monthlong round of wage negotiations.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 10, 2006

Youthful dramatics

Oriza Hirata, founder of the cutting-edge, Tokyo-based Seinendan Theater Company that has been at the forefront of Japanese contemporary drama for over a decade, is one of Japan's leading scriptwriters and directors. But as owner of the Komaba Agora Theater, two stops down the Keio Inokashira Line from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2006

A unique take on Nazi Germany

Filmmaker Marc Rothemund says of the German film industry: "The environment has never been more suited to making quality films. Young people are now avidly watching German films whereas 10 years ago the theaters were all about Hollywood productions. And, surprisingly, there's a great demand for historical...
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2006

Enough of make-believe bidding

The arrests last week of senior officials of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA) confirmed that bid-rigging on public-works projects remains an entrenched practice in Japan. What happens, basically, is that a contract is awarded at a price higher than if it were put out to bid through...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 7, 2006

Guarantors and leaving the country

Guarantor Is there an organization in Japan that serves as a guarantor for foreigners in Japan who want to rent apartments?
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2006

End of an era at the Fed

Mr. Alan Greenspan ended his 18-year tenure as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board this week, stepping down after the Fed raised interest rates to their highest level in nearly five years.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Tokyo to leverage whole talks on abduction issue

In a move to pressure North Korea a day before bilateral talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang are to start in Beijing, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday that Tokyo may consider abandoning the three-track talks on security, abduction and normalization if there is no progress on the abduction issue.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 3, 2006

Rare instruments put up for auction

Music-box collectors will have a chance to get their hands on rare items when a total of 140 antique mechanical musical instruments, which have been displayed at Orugoru no Chiisana Museum in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, are auctioned off. The museum closes its doors March 31.
EDITORIALS
Feb 2, 2006

Leading in science and technology

The government will launch a five-year science and technology development plan with the start of fiscal 2006 in April. The plan is based on the "third basic plan for science and technology" that the General Council on Science and Technology submitted to the government late last year spelling out the...
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2006

696 yen last week, Livedoor plummets under 100 yen a share

Livedoor Co. stock on Wednesday sank below 100 yen for the first time, compared with nearly 700 yen just before the Internet services firm was raided Jan. 16 over an alleged accounting fraud.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2006

Turin travelers urged to be careful

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday urged Japanese visiting Turin, Italy, during the Feb. 10-26 Winter Olympics to be careful, avoid crowded places and take sufficient safety precautions.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2006

'Horiemon' draws mixed reaction from University of Tokyo students

Former Livedoor Co. President Takafumi Horie rapidly became one of Japan's most successful entrepreneurs after dropping out of the prestigious University of Tokyo, and, within a decade, fell from grace -- something many current students see as an example of how not to behave.
OLYMPICS
Jan 31, 2006

Blogs by Olympics participants to be banned

The Japanese Olympic Committee is telling athletes competing at the Turin Winter Olympic Games not to open web logs because the Olympic Charter bans athletes' journalist activities when the games are on, and violators will be disqualified.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 31, 2006

Rail passes, donor card, pawnshops

Rail pass wisdom Pam and Jacob's inquiry about the economic sense of buying a 7-day Japan Rail Pass (Lifelines; Jan. 9) when only moving around Kanto brought a flurry of useful information and advice from readers.

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