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JAPAN
Sep 26, 2007

Snap election becomes main issue

No sooner had Yasuo Fukuda formed his Cabinet on Tuesday than attention was being focused on how soon Japan's new leader will be forced to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap general election.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2007

Fukuda elected prime minister in Diet faceoff

New Liberal Democratic Party President Yasuo Fukuda was elected prime minister by a divided Diet on Tuesday afternoon amid the political turmoil stemming from Shinzo Abe's sudden resignation announcement two weeks ago.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 25, 2007

Is it all over for Nova?

"The dark clouds that have been hanging heavily over us will be cast aside," reads the English translation of Nova Corp. CEO Nozomu Sahashi's memo faxed to staff Friday. "I said previously 'the darkest time is before the dawn,' and finally the first light of dawn can be seen."
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2007

Fukuda's pragmatism to prevail

will surely mean a step back from constitutional revision," said political analyst Takao Toshikawa, editor of the newsletter TokyoInsideline. That is as much due to timing as any personal convictions Fukuda may hold. Following the setback to Abe's LDP in the July election, the LDP-New Komeito ruling...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 25, 2007

Pachinko seeks to shed shady image as market shrinks

Filled with noise, bright lights and cigarette smoke, the attraction of the pachinko parlor is hard for many to fathom.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2007

Rules for making 'friends' from faces

PRAGUE — I'm embarrassed to say that after reading Newsweek's recent cover story on Facebook, I joined. The majority of the social networking site's new members are people over 35: oldies like me. Still, it's uncool — and supposedly "old school" — to join because of pieces in "old media" like Newsweek....
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2007

LDP bets on dour political blue blood to lead its recovery

Yasuo Fukuda is hardly the most dynamic politician in Japan. Saggy-jowled and owlish in his trademark glasses, the 71-year-old son of a former prime minister prefers gray suits, classical music and moderate, pro-U.S. policies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 24, 2007

Hawks expected to push Fukuda hard

New Liberal Democratic Party President Yasuo Fukuda is known as an advocate of relatively conciliatory policies, so after a year with the hawkish Shinzo Abe in power the public may be expecting a major shift in various policy areas, including diplomacy and the Yasukuni Shrine issue.
Reader Mail
Sep 23, 2007

A yak herder knows happiness

Regarding the statements about Bhutan made in Santi Ram Poudel's Sept. 12 letter, "Realities belie national boast": Can yak herders in the mountains not have happiness and contentment when they own their livestock and have rights to productive pastures? It is this very notion that happiness is always...
Reader Mail
Sep 23, 2007

Whence does such malice come?

It made me rather speechless to hear the news Sept. 7 that the Japanese government had arbitrarily refused to receive a petition from Chongryon, the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, calling for temporary port-entry permission for a North Korean ship to receive urgent humanitarian relief...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 23, 2007

TV 'kangaroo courts' led by excitable pundits make joke of law

The current box-office winner in Japan is "Hero," the movie spinoff of a popular TV series starring heartthrob Takuya Kimura as a nonconformist prosecutor. Now there's an oxymoron. In American pop culture, at least, prosecutors tend to be the bad guys since they represent the establishment, but in Japan...
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2007

Ailing Abe may miss Cabinet's last meeting

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 53rd birthday arrived Friday with little to celebrate — he has been hospitalized for nine days, with no word on how soon he will be discharged, and his resignation as prime minister is scheduled for Tuesday in the Diet.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2007

New U.N. motion won't affect DPJ stance, Kan says

Democratic Party of Japan deputy chief Naoto Kan declared Thursday that a U.N. resolution expressing appreciation for support for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan will not alter the party's opposition to use of Maritime Self-Defense Force refueling ships in the Indian Ocean.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2007

Rebate system must stay: KDDI chief

KDDI Corp. President Tadashi Onodera criticized on Wednesday a government panel report urging the mobile phone industry to end its marketing practice of offsetting heavy discounts on handsets with higher phone service charges.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 20, 2007

Darvish backed up by offense as Fighters down Eagles

Yu Darvish wasn't as dominant as he usually is but with the Fighters' offense clicking for once he didn't have to be.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2007

Aso, Fukuda address foreign press club

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Taro Aso may be losing to Yasuo Fukuda in the party's presidential election battle, but he scored a few points over his rival at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday, using his English-language ability to charm the foreign press.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2007

KDDI lines up WiMAX allies

Teaming up with local partners and a U.S.-based chip maker, KDDI Corp. said Tuesday it will form a joint venture to bid for a license for next-generation high-speed wireless data communications services using mobile WiMAX technology.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2007

Lay judges and media freedom

By May 2009, Japan will introduce a lay judge system in which six ordinary citizens will sit with three professional judges to take part in trials of suspects charged with serious crimes such as murder, arson and rape. As preparations for the new system advance, the Supreme Court and the Japan Federation...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 18, 2007

Typhoons more predictable but still deadly

Most years, the typhoon season peaks in September, as illustrated by the recent Typhoon No. 9, called Fitow, which killed two, and Typhoon No. 11, also known as Nari, which approached Okinawa last week.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2007

'Shadow' leader Fukuda combative but seasoned

and Taro Aso raise their fists Saturday before officially registering for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on Sept. 23. KYODO PHOTOS

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