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JAPAN
Nov 22, 2005

Putin, Koizumi bolster economic ties, skip isles

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi agreed Monday to increase security and economic cooperation despite the 60-year territorial row over the four Russian-held islands off northern Hokkaido.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2005

Putin to focus on economy, avoid territorial dispute

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Sunday in Tokyo on a business-oriented visit unlikely to bring any progress in settling the 60-year territorial dispute that has prevented the two nations from formally ending World War II hostilities.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2005

China far way from becoming global technology powerhouse

China has come a long way to show "pockets of excellence" in some fields of science and technology, but it still has a long way to go before it can become a full-blown innovative power, a China expert at a U.S. think tank told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Nov 20, 2005

Myanmar goes deep

Capitals have moved before, but rarely so mysteriously. When Myanmar's military government began streaming out of the country's longtime capital city of Yangon on the morning of Nov. 6, headed for a fortified but unfinished compound in jungle-clad mountains 400 km to the north, people scratched their...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 20, 2005

The good, the bad and the cliched

A RABBIT'S EYES by Kenjiro Haitani. Vertical, 2005, 288 pp., $14.95 (paper). On first publication, the mellow and delightful 1974 novel "A Rabbit's Eyes," out now in English for the first time, brought Kenjiro Haitani a great deal of fame and a wide following.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2005

IC tags eyed to curb accidents involving kids

NTT Data Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and three other companies have developed a safety system using a wireless integrated circuit tag to help prevent traffic accidents involving children.
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2005

Gas prices fall first time since June

The average retail price of a liter of regular gasoline in Japan fell to 130 yen, including tax, on Monday, down from the previous week for the first dip in about five months, the Oil Information Center said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2005

TSE releases new computer measures

The Tokyo Stock Exchange released Tuesday a set of measures to prevent future computer system breakdowns like the one that shut down the world's second-largest equity market on Nov. 1.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2005

Rokkasho drawing proliferation flak

OSAKA -- As Japan moves forward with plans to conduct further uranium tests in the near future at the Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture in preparation for full operations in 2007, it faces growing pressure from the international community to give up some control of the process....
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2005

Action plan for bird flu includes ban on gatherings

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry unveiled a plan Monday empowering the government to ban public gatherings and quarantine people to counter the potential outbreak of a new strain of bird flu against which humans have yet to develop an effective defense.
EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2005

Braking illicit drug use

Police statistics show that the number of people taken into police custody on narcotics-related charges is on the decrease. Still, optimism about drug use in Japan is not warranted, as recent arrests or indictments have involved a former lawmaker and members of the Self-Defense Forces.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2005

Students hope play will defeat nukes on subcontinent

University students have been performing an antinuclear drama in Tokyo in the Urdu language that they hope will persuade people in India and Pakistan to urge their governments to abandon nuclear arms.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 15, 2005

Counseling, cults and Hotteeze

Cults K (who prefers to remain anonymous) takes me to task: "You recommended Yamagishikai for organic food, but left out half the story - such as why it 'came under pressure from a scandal-driven media' during the murder/brainwashing peak of the Aum period. This was less a 'scandal-driven' problem than...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2005

Aussies preparing for worst

SYDNEY -- Tough new antiterrorist laws will soon give troops shoot-to-kill authority when patrolling Australian streets in anticipation of a terrorist attack. But the change will come only after the Australian public has agonized over a claimed loss of civil liberties.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2005

Consultant eyes bank market

The recent deregulation and stiffer competition in retail banking will boost the demand for marketing services at branches, according to the head of a U.S. marketing and design firm specializing in retail banking.
EDITORIALS
Nov 13, 2005

The pop-word culture

The dictionary frowns on words it snootily labels "informal." Teachers and newspaper copy editors carry a grudge against slang. Nearly everyone recoils from jargon. But according to a new book irresistibly titled "Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and,...
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2005

Fuji TV planning to divide, absorb NBS assets

Fuji Television Network Inc. is planning to absorb all or part of its subsidiary, Nippon Broadcasting System Inc., sources said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 12, 2005

Christine Ishikawa

Within the first month of her arrival in Japan in 1989, Chris Ishikawa joined the Yokohama International Women's Club. She was a foreign bride then, living in a Japanese neighborhood, and feeling lonely. She said: "I read a writeup in a local newspaper about YIWC's outing to an antiques dealer. I went...
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2005

IT, R&D tax breaks may be eliminated in March

A Tax Commission subcommittee agreed Friday that some of the government's corporate tax breaks should be abolished as planned next March because the economy seems to be recovering.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 11, 2005

Can Japan sales save Beaujolais Nouveau?

Japan overtook the United States as Beaujolais' top export market in 2004, but a disastrous sales campaign for Beaujolais Nouveau last year raised serious doubts as to whether Asia can save the Beaujolais from the hole that they've dug themselves into.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2005

Teen admits in court to slaying parents, arson

A 16-year old boy pleaded guilty in court Wednesday to murdering his parents and blowing up their apartment in June with an explosive device.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2005

Japan Tobacco to challenge planned antismoking measures

In rare move, Japan Tobacco Inc. will challenge on Tuesday a government plan to introduce smoking restrictions.
EDITORIALS
Nov 8, 2005

Ending the zero-rate policy

In March 2001, the Bank of Japan set short-term interest rates at near zero, declaring that the nation's economy had entered a period of deflation. That extra-loose monetary policy, which is said to have had few parallels in the world, is likely to change next spring, because an upturn in consumer prices...
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2005

NPA deputizes Yahoo in hunt for five fugitives

The National Police Agency is placing wanted posters on the Yahoo Japan Web site regarding five suspects.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 7, 2005

LDP fiscal policy report laudable in balancing tax hike, spending cuts

An interim report compiled Oct. 24 by the Liberal Democratic Party's study group on fiscal reform has drawn public interest as an indicator of the future direction of fiscal policy b the ruling party and the government.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 6, 2005

Nihon TV's documentary series "Antenna 22," variety "Odoru! Sanma Goten!" and more

Nihon TV's long-running documentary series, "Super TV," changes its name this week. The first installment of "Antenna 22" (Monday, 10 p.m.) is about the "crisis" that the host-club business is facing as its most popular stars grow past their prime.
Japan Times
Features
Nov 6, 2005

Surveying a state of change

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi led his Liberal Democratic Party to a landslide victory in the Sept. 11 general election he called as a de facto referendum on his drive to privatize postal services.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes