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Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2006

Ozawa rallies DPJ with calls for change

The leader of a nation must have ambition above all else, and if he doesn't have it he should quit immediately, said Ichiro Ozawa, who started his new term as president of the Democratic Party of Japan on Tuesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Sep 8, 2006

Dover Street shop storms into Tokyo

When it comes to revolutionary retail concept stores in Japan, there's no getting away from Tokyo's Aoyama district. That area's latest major opening comes from none other than Japan's epoch-making fashion house Comme des Garcons.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 8, 2006

Taking J-rock values stateside

On the eve of the longest and perhaps most important tour of their almost decade-long career, Dir en grey were putting on a brave face.
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2006

A faux debate to justify aggressive war

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush has faced surprisingly little serious opposition to his disastrous foreign policy. The left was divided over Iraq and many of those who opposed Bush did so for partisan or even personal reasons. Unfortunately, little has changed.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 5, 2006

Does Japan need an emperor or empress?

Taichi Kadowaki Office worker, 32 I don't think we need an emperor or empress. We Japanese adore the royal family because they are this great symbol,but they don't really do anything. They just spend our tax money, but on nothing useful or important.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2006

Imperial rivalries are grist for media mill

Harumi Kobayashi has been an enthusiastic admirer of the Imperial family for more than a decade. She has followed the royals around the country, greeted them and taken their pictures. In fact, she has become such a familiar face at Imperial events that some members of the family respond specifically...
COMMENTARY
Sep 2, 2006

A bridge to Latin America

The amount of Japanese cultural and educational activities conducted in Latin America has been flat or in decline over the last five years. The Japan Foundation, the largest Japanese nonprofit organization engaged in international cultural exchange, spent around 800 million yen on activities related...
COMMENTARY
Sep 1, 2006

Rights awareness spreading like wildfire

HONG KONG -- The headlines tell it all. On the front page of the International Herald Tribune: "Activist in China sentenced to 4 years -- decision seen as part of a sweeping move to punish dissent."
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2006

Social Insurance Agency punishes 1,752 employees

The Social Insurance Agency announced punishment of 1,752 employees Monday over a scandal in which they improperly exempted people from national pension dues to claim better performances in collecting the premiums.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2006

Religious leaders discuss peace in Kyoto

KYOTO -- More than 2,000 religious leaders from 500 organizations representing over 100 nations gathered Saturday in Kyoto to discuss themes ranging from transformation of violence to advancing shared security in the face of a world threatened by sectarian conflict.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2006

EmmazMarket: for instruments from Mideast

As part of July's weekend Zushi Festival, Minoru Fushimi took the live stage in front of the station and, after introducing his instrument, began to play.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 25, 2006

Ainu culture in Hokkaido's Akan National Park

When Japan's Meiji Era (1868-1912) government concluded that the country had a manifest destiny to commence full-scale colonization of the hitherto barely developed northern island of Hokkaido, it set about the task assiduously.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 24, 2006

Contemporary Japanese edition prints

Many local goodies appeal to the expat population of Japan -- kimono, sake and next-generation electronic goods to name a few. The area of fine arts, however, can be daunting, with most paintings and even photographs by established contemporary artists priced from the millions to the many millions of...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2006

Lawyer flood looms amid litigious trend

In past years, 25-year-old law school graduate Hiroyuki Ichikawa would have been facing an almost impossible task -- a bar exam with a 97 percent failure rate.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2006

New encephalitis vaccine delayed by a year

Approval of a new vaccine for Japanese encephalitis, initially expected this year, is likely to be delayed until 2007 or later because the government is seeking additional safety tests on possible side effects, the vaccine developers said Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 23, 2006

Bottled water and problems that flow

Having just spent several weeks in the United States, I can report with confidence that, more than ever before, Americans have their hands full.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2006

Brewers basking in the summer economic heat but the future looks flat

As the summer heats up, the beer is flowing around backyard barbecue grills and rooftop beer gardens in city centers. And this year, a recovering economy is putting a little extra fizz into beer sales.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 22, 2006

Japan's fingerprinting law is dumb . . . (and that's just what the government thinks)

On May 18, 2006, a little discussed and little debated law passed the Diet.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 22, 2006

Should Japanese leaders give Yasukuni Shrine a wide berth?

Shounago Tadamasa School manager, 31 Koizumi and the new prime minister both shouldn't visit Yasukuni shrine. The prime minister has to think about relations with China and Korea. Visiting the shrine is harmful for the economy, for trade and for politics.
EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 2006

Internet dangers abound

This year's annual National Police Agency white paper, titled "Toward Building a Safe Internet Society," focuses on the dark side of the Internet, including its negative influences on children and its use in cyber-crime. It correctly points out that as Internet-related information and communication networks...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 20, 2006

Notes on Yasukuni and a week that will live in infamy

Following his historic visit to Yasukuni Shrine last Tuesday on the 61st anniversary of Japan's surrender, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi spoke to the media. As usual, his comments had the bland quality of safely scripted pronouncements, but at one point he paused significantly: "I prayed for those...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 20, 2006

There's gold being panned in them thar hills

There may be many perfectly good reasons to spend a weekend sloshing around in water panning for gold. Trying to get rich isn't one of them.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2006

Typhoon swamps Kyushu, blamed for three fatalities

Typhoon Wukong made landfall early Friday in Kyushu, bringing heavy rain to many parts of western Japan and paralyzing land, sea and air traffic.
COMMENTARY
Aug 19, 2006

Struggling for transparency in China

HONG KONG -- Following the Chinese press, one sometimes gets totally depressed and feels that there is no hope for the country, with its myriad problems. At other times, the opposite is true. This week, it is a mix. On different fronts, one sees a host of problems but, at the same time, it is clear that...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2006

Kishi's diplomacy overdue

In a recent book Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was dubbed "The Man Who Turned Diplomacy into Fighting." Even after a diary by a former head of the Imperial Household Agency was revealed, describing Emperor Showa's displeasure over Yasukuni Shrine's decision in 1978 to honor Class-A war criminals,...
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2006

Insurers scour the streets to fill female sales ranks

A couple approach a young woman on a Tokyo street and ask her if she is interested in pursuing a new career.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2006

'Life insurance ladies' thrown in limbo

In Japan's still male-dominated business world, there is at least one industry in which women have long made their mark: life insurance.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 16, 2006

Koizumi visit quick but so is protest outcry

what he did," said Eun Sik Kim, deputy director of the committee. Taiwan Aboriginal, a group of Taiwanese who marched with the Korean group, were even more vocal.

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’