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JAPAN
Jul 3, 2010

'Karoshi' claims first foreign trainee

MITO, Ibaraki Pref. (Kyodo) A labor office in Ibaraki Prefecture will acknowledge that a Chinese national working as an intern at a local firm under a government-authorized training program died from overwork in 2008, marking the first foreign trainee "karoshi" death from overwork, sources said Friday....
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2010

COP10, Asia Europe Meeting key events for EU: Belgium

As Belgium assumed the presidency of the EU on Thursday, Brussels' ambassador in Tokyo said that contributing to COP10 and the Asia Europe Meeting will be the EU's main agenda items concerning Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 3, 2010

Witnessing over a century of history

When alone, Hedwig Koh's eyes gaze perpetually into the past. Even as a child, she looked off into the distance: "I spent most of my childhood upstairs at the attic window, looking out at the view, imagining far away places."
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2010

Miyazaki eases foot-and-mouth restrictions

MIYAZAKI — Miyazaki Prefecture on Thursday partially rescinded restrictions on travel and public gatherings put in place to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2010

Easing of visa rules paves way for biggest tourist group from China

The Japan National Tourism Organization has landed its biggest tourist group ever — 10,000 Chinese employees and their relatives — in a welcome piece of news for the government as it eases visa rules on individual Chinese tourists starting Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 29, 2010

Elementary schools to get English

Starting next fiscal year, all elementary schools will be required to introduce compulsory English lessons for fifth- and sixth-graders.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2010

Foreign talent feeling gypped by top agency

Inagawa Motoko Office, one of the largest and oldest show business agencies catering to foreign performers in Japan, recently came under fire from some of its registered artists for not paying them in a timely manner for work they have done.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2010

India nuke tieup OK'd

TORONTO (Kyodo) Japan and India agreed Sunday to cooperate further in the civilian use of nuclear power when Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met on the sidelines of a two-day Group of 20 summit in Toronto, Japanese officials said.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jun 29, 2010

Schools in Japan need to give lessons in empathy

Dear Minister of Education Tatsuo Kawabata, recently I was told a deeply disturbing story by one of my students: A car hit a cyclist outside of her house. She immediately telephoned emergency services, but as she was doing so, she was horrified to see the driver reverse his car over the body of the hapless...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jun 29, 2010

French patissier's dream becomes reality in Japan

When Antoine Santos was growing up in the port of Marseille in southern France, he dreamed of becoming a pastry teacher by the age of 30. Little did he imagine his dream would come true — in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2010

Devolution on the move

The Cabinet on June 22 adopted a devolution strategy outline that covers the next two to three years. The decision is good news for local governments because it had been feared that following the sudden resignation of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who was eager to push devolution, the Cabinet...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 29, 2010

No need to know the law, but you must obey it

A few months ago I met with some Western diplomats who were looking for information about Japanese law — in particular, an answer to the question, "Is parental child abduction a crime?" As international child abduction has become an increasingly sore point between Japan and other countries, foreign...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 28, 2010

How cheap is your love? Diamond appraiser hit

Does love take a hit when diamond appraisers start shifting standards?
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 27, 2010

BP oil disaster is one more chance to learn badly needed lesson

More than two months ago, BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in a ball of fire, killing 11 workers and leaving a crippled wellhead that continues to bleed millions of liters of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2010

Sony PS3 close to Hulu tieup

Sony Corp. is close to an agreement to carry a paid-TV service from Hulu LLC, operator of the second-largest video Web site, on its PlayStation 3 game console, two sources with knowledge of the talks said. The partnership could be announced as soon as next week, according to the sources, who asked not...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years