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JAPAN
Jun 17, 2006

Diet passes North sanctions bill

The Diet passed a bill Friday that requires the government to impose economic sanctions on North Korea if Pyongyang fails to make progress in addressing its human rights situation, notably resolving the fate of abducted Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 16, 2006

Old tipple with new spirit

KAGOSHIMA -- Some Japanese traditions are best left alone. Those who would attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Kyoto's ancient temples by placing soft-drink machines and loudspeakers inside them deserve the severest form of punishment a society can devise, like being forced to watch a TV program...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 16, 2006

Behold a make-believe world

The work of Tokyo-born filmmaker Junichi Okuyama, widely known by his nickname of "Mr. Experimental Film," will be marked at the weeklong "Anarchy Film Festival," from June 16.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 16, 2006

Popularizing music

Fete de la Musique au Japon 2006, now in its fifth year, takes place in the Kansai area June 17-18 and June 21 in Osaka, Kobe, Miho, Suita, Takatsuki, Ibaraki and Otsu.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 16, 2006

Wanted: Contestants for kids' cooking competition

Hattori Nutrition College in Tokyo is currently recruiting elementary school-age children -- and their parents -- to contest its "12th Hattori Kids' Cooking Contest" to be held July 28. The theme for the competition is primarily breakfast, and in particular, "breakfast made from tomato with miso soup."...
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2006

Livedoor execs meet with shareholders

CHIBA -- Livedoor Co. investors finally had their say Wednesday as the scandal-tainted firm held its first shareholders' meeting since its top executives were arrested in January.
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2006

LDP finance chief tells BOJ to think twice about hiking rates in summer

The chairman of a Liberal Democratic Party panel on monetary policy said Wednesday the economy was not ready for higher interest rates and called on the Bank of Japan to delay any move to push them higher.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 15, 2006

Fuji Rocking 10 years on

Fuji Rock Festival is the biggest event on the calendar for many Japanese and foreign residents alike. Sure, it costs a stack of cash to go, but the festival is not your typical commercial venture. Word on the street is that it has been anything but a money spinner for concert promoter Smash Japan. Instead,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 13, 2006

Fuss over fingerprinting

No consistency The new law requiring foreigners to be fingerprinted and photographed at Japan's airports is unfair.
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2006

If you can't trust the elevators

It is taken for granted by most people that an elevator moves only after its doors are securely closed and not while the doors are open. But events on the evening of June 3 at a 23-story condominium building in Tokyo's Minato Ward have betrayed this trust.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2006

Arms race widening in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia's return to prosperity since the financial crisis of 1997 has brought a regionwide splurge on new weapons. Most Southeast Asian countries are, indeed, now busily modernizing their armed forces. So far, most have done so without compromising their autonomy in security matters. But with...
EDITORIALS
Jun 11, 2006

Whither the newspaper?

What does the future hold for newspapers? It all depends on what you think a newspaper is and where on the planet you are standing. If you are a literal-minded type who considers the concept inseparable from actual newsprint and your view is restricted to, say, North America or Japan or Australia or...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 11, 2006

Stick-thin, gay, or preferably both -- a television career awaits

Truth in advertising has never been strictly enforced in Japan, especially with regard to health-related claims. Breweries can get away with promoting "low-calorie" beers as weight-loss aids, while pharmaceutical makers sell vitamin supplements that claim to do everything from clear up your skin to help...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 11, 2006

Gaijin superstars nothing foreign to Sanyo All-Star Series

Continuing here from last week's column about Japan's upcoming Sanyo All-Star Series, this time with the focus on foreign players. There is a limit to how many gaikokujin can be included on the 28-man Central and Pacific League rosters, but with a bit of leeway.
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2006

Tragedy in a farming community

The investigation into the murder of a 7-year-old boy in a farming community in northern Honshu has taken a bizarre twist. A 33-year-old woman from the community was arrested and she initially admitted that she had abandoned the body of the boy near a river.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2006

METI's long-term plan aims for 2.2% annual growth

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Friday it has finalized a strategy document that it believes will help Japan achieve real economic growth of 2.2 percent on average between fiscal 2004 and 2015.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2006

FSA, New Zealand to share intel

The Financial Services Agency said Thursday that it has signed an agreement with the Securities Commission of New Zealand to exchange information to clamp down on insider trading and other illicit securities transactions conducted across borders.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2006

Investment funds subject to stricter regulation under new law

A bill tightening regulations on investment fund operators and boosting transparency in the financial markets cleared the Diet on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2006

The act of a professional?

Mr. Yoshiaki Murakami, who has drawn intense public attention as Japan's most controversial investment fund manager, was arrested Monday by the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of violating the Securities and Exchange Law. He is suspected of having engaged in insider stock trading when his...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2006

A lifetime in search of Japan's true self

Shohei Imamura, who died on May 30, had one of the great careers of postwar Japanese film, winning the Cannes Palme d'Or twice, as well as many other awards and honors. But he spent much of that career on the fringes of the industry, like a bull elephant who separates himself from the herd and goes his...
BUSINESS
Jun 6, 2006

Firms log 15.5 trillion yen profits

Combined pretax profits by companies totaled a record 15.51 trillion yen in the January-March quarter, up 4.1 percent from the same period last year, according to a Finance Ministry survey released Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2006

Murakami quizzed on NBS

Prosecutors and financial regulators have questioned well-known fund manager Yoshiaki Murakami on a voluntary basis over possible insider trading in connection with purchases of shares in Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. in 2005, investigative sources said Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 1, 2006

Will tottering governments hold back Europe's future?

LONDON -- Like a vampire rising from the grave, the issue of a new constitution for the European Union, which many people had assumed was dead and buried, has returned to haunt the corridors of power and government in the capitals of Europe.
JAPAN
May 31, 2006

Cabinet OKs U.S. realignment plan but is vague on specifics

The Cabinet adopted plans Tuesday to help pay for the U.S. military realignment in Japan, pledging to come up with steps to stimulate the economies of communities hosting bases and to take money out of the defense budget to finance the program.
JAPAN
May 31, 2006

Magazine appeals ruling on sources

The president of Themis magazine on Tuesday appealed a Tokyo District Court ruling that the source for a 2002 article on tax evasion by the Japanese subsidiary of a U.S. health food company must be revealed if it was a tax official.
JAPAN
May 31, 2006

Parking enforcement now in private hands

Starting Thursday, parcel delivery and other drivers who stop briefly in an unauthorized spot and leave their vehicle may come back to find it sporting a parking ticket.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2006

Abe-led panel stresses need for 'second chances'

The government needs to create a social system that gives a second chance to people who drop out of the job market and to entrepreneurs whose businesses have failed, a government panel said in an interim report released Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
May 30, 2006

The means to a sustainable end

The Cabinet has adopted the third Basic Environment Plan since the first one was approved in 1994. Based on a report by the Central Environment Council, the latest plan, a revision of the second plan (adopted in 2000), is titled "The Way to a New Rich Lifestyle in a Sustainable Society."
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 30, 2006

'Gokiburi,' new law and residency

Cockroaches One of our readers has been having problems with cockroaches recently. She has been cleaning the apartment regularly, placing cockroach traps and even used a "bomb" to try and get rid of them, all to no avail.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’