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BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2004

Foreign exchange, oil prices to be major focus at G20

Foreign-exchange rates and high oil prices are expected to be major topics at a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers in Berlin this weekend, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 12, 2004

Top coach Bollettieri backhands rule changes

The last time I spent $1,500 in one hour, the scenario involved chips, cards, a green velvet table and blurred vision. $1,500 is also the fee for a one-hour, private lesson with unquestionably the world's most renowned tennis coach, Nick Bollettieri. Returns on investments of this nature can be significant...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2004

Koizumi opens Diet session with pledge to stick to reforms

A 53-day extraordinary Diet session began Tuesday, with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterating his determination to stick to his administrative reform initiatives, including the privatization of Japan's postal services.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2004

Hashimoto to face Diet grilling over scandal

Former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said Tuesday he is ready to appear before the House of Representatives political ethics council to explain his alleged involvement in a recent scandal involving donations from the Japan Dental Association.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 1, 2004

Rhodes: Short strike 'useless'

Though the Japanese pro baseball strike of two weeks ago appears to have won the players a legitimate chance for the entry of a 12th team in time for next season, one veteran player wonders what, if anything, was really gained.
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2004

A greater burden for higher earners

The government's Tax Commission is discussing the fiscal 2005 revision of the tax system. The focus this time is on the decrease or abolition of the fixed reduction for individual income and resident taxes, which was introduced in 1999 as an economic-stimulus measure. Rather than draw the line there,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2004

Oil issue possible thorn in global industry's side

High oil prices might become "a symbol of uncertainty" in the global economy if they fail to retreat from near record-high levels, according to Makoto Utsumi, president of Japan Credit Rating Agency Ltd.
Japan Times
Features
Sep 19, 2004

Just picture that!

The overthrow of the feudal Tokugawa Shogunate in 1867 and the restoration of imperial rule in 1868 was preceded by 15 years of intense change in news reporting.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 22, 2004

'Stray dogs' dig the dirt

"Bluebottle fly" was what he says he was called by the police. But freelance journalist Shunsuke Yamaoka is now getting a buzz from watching the law deal with wrongdoers he exposed.
COMMUNITY
Aug 15, 2004

Barbed organ of delights

"Whereas women were created solely for amusement of men it ill becomes them to emancipate themselves," begins an article in an 1873 edition of Japan Punch. "As our slaves they are the most delightful of animals, but when they attempt to assume airs of superiority, then they become hateful."
Japan Times
Features
Aug 15, 2004

Barbed organ of delights

"Whereas women were created solely for amusement of men it ill becomes them to emancipate themselves," begins an article in an 1873 edition of Japan Punch. "As our slaves they are the most delightful of animals, but when they attempt to assume airs of superiority, then they become hateful."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2004

Poor LDP showing suggests Koizumi magic wearing thin

The setback suffered by the Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's House of Councilors election indicates that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's magical voter appeal is ebbing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 7, 2004

When life gives you lemons, make an underground comic

American Splendor Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini Running time: 101 minutes Language: English Opens July 10 [See Japan Times movie listings] Religion may be the opiate of the masses, but surely comic books are the opiate of the misfits. Walk...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2004

Kin of kidnapped fret lack of focus on Pyongyang in Upper House poll

KOBE -- Seven months ago, on the eve of the House of Representatives election, North Korea's abductions of Japanese was one of the main campaign topics.
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jul 1, 2004

Tucking in to alien outcasts

IN MAY, I was invited to Vancouver to give a keynote speech at the Fourth World Congress of Fisheries. The congress in that beautiful city in southwest British Columbia was attended by about 1,500 delegates from 80 countries. Its theme was: "Reconciling Fishing with Conservation."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2004

Big in Japan, without really trying

Eugene Kelly released his first-ever solo album, "Man Alive," in December. So far, it's only available in Japan, which isn't unusual. Japanese record companies are famous for taking chances on unknown artists no one else is interested in. But Kelly isn't exactly an unknown artist. He was part of the...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 13, 2004

BBC documentary "How to Be a Prince" on NHK BS-1 and more

If you're stumped by Japan's pension system and ticked off by the fact that you'll now be paying more and receiving less, then you might want to tune in to this week's two-hour "Tuesday Special" (Fuji TV, 7 p.m.), which will explain things about the pension system "that no one has ever told you before."...
Features
May 9, 2004

Translators' icon with rhythm writ large in his lexicon

When people decide to read a book by a foreign author, they may be drawn by what they know of the writer, or by an intriguing title. But for many Japanese readers, the attraction is that a book was translated by Motoyuki Shibata -- and will therefore likely be to their taste as well as his.
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Apr 27, 2004

Firms now balking at political donations

Kenji Watanabe spent the last year preaching and begging business leaders around Fukui Prefecture to donate to the Liberal Democratic Party. He was always received politely, but company presidents kept their wallets closed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2004

Japan-U.S. team to work on BSE-test pact

Japan and the United States remained far apart on measures to test for mad cow disease but the two sides managed to agree Saturday to set up a working team of experts to work toward lifting Japan's import ban on U.S. beef as early as this summer.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2004

Journalists mull Asia integration outside the EU box

FUKUOKA -- It was Mahatma Gandhi who said friendship that insists upon agreement on all matters is not worth the name.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Apr 13, 2004

Lawmakers' groups act behind the scenes

A nonpartisan group of lawmakers lobbying to get Japanese abducted to North Korea back and working on behalf of relatives of the missing has been a big help to Shigeru Yokota.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 8, 2004

Report condemns Bush's corruption of science

Kurt Gottfried, professor emeritus of physics at Cornell University and Chairman of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), is very concerned about the Bush administration.
Events
Apr 4, 2004

KANSAI: Who & What

Seminar in Osaka on U.S., Japan visas: The American Chamber of Commerce Japan is holding a seminar Thursday on getting a visa for the United States or Japan.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 28, 2004

History behind a rocky democracy

INDONESIAN DESTINIES, by Theodore Friend. Cambridge: Belknap/Harvard University Press, 2003, 628 pp., $35 (cloth). INDONESIA: People and Histories, by Jean Gelman Taylor. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003, 420 pp., $39.95 (cloth). These two books complement each other nicely and contribute greatly...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 21, 2004

TV Asahi presents "Kinkyu Kensho Special" and more

One of the biggest news stories of 1987 was the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight over the Indian Ocean. Two North Korean agents posing as Japanese citizens were believed to be responsible for the bombing. One committed suicide before he could be arrested in Bahrain. The other, a young woman named...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2004

Cabinet to start working lunches

The Cabinet will hold working lunches every Wednesday beginning next month to improve communication among ministers, following a practice in Sweden, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2004

India's nukes pose paradox for nonproliferation regime

NEW DELHI -- At the conclusion of their midlevel official talks in Islamabad on Feb. 16-18, India and Pakistan outlined an aggressive timetable for wide-ranging peace talks on Kashmir, nuclear safeguards, terrorism and other topics leading up to talks between the two foreign secretaries in May or June...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2004

Koizumi treat for English speakers

The Cabinet Office will start sending out an English version of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's weekly e-mail magazine, beginning March 25.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past