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JAPAN
Jan 26, 2006

LDP, DPJ both red-faced for wooing Horie

A war of words erupted between senior officials of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan over both parties' wooing of now-arrested Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie to run in the Sept. 11 general election.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2006

Koizumi not backing down on Yasukuni

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi again attempted Wednesday to justify his repeated trips to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine by noting that China and South Korea are the only countries that denounce the visits.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2006

Toyota expands Belgium R&D base

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it has completed the expansion of its research and development center in Belgium, part of its continuing localization of European design and engineering operations to better meet customer needs in Europe.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2006

Fans liked how Horie lived on the edge

Monday's arrest of Takafumi Horie, the 33-year-old founder of Internet services firm Livedoor Co., left the public wondering how he rose to fame so fast and what his impact on society, especially the young generation, will be.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2006

U.S. official tries to play down risky beef shipment

U.S. agricultural official J.B. Penn tried Tuesday to minimize the impact of a recent shipment of banned U.S. beef material, saying it was "an isolated incident" carried out by a meatpacker inexperienced in export procedures.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2006

Pyongyang may hold secret info on missiles

Confidential data on a Defense Agency surface-to-air missile system may have been leaked to a group affiliated with the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) in 1995, the Defense Agency said Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2006

Saving our environment one step at a time

Having ended 2005 with a rant (see below), let me begin 2006 on a more positive note by introducing some valuable environmental education resources.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2006

Queen nixed mum's surrender sword slight: book

LONDON (Kyodo) Despite her rather formal appearance, Queen Elizabeth is known to enjoy the occasional joke and can take pleasure when formal proceedings don't go exactly as planned.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2006

Tuna farms that are feeding Japan seen as a threat to natural stocks

Japan's consumption of sliced raw tuna is undergoing a major upheaval as the surge in supply of farmed tuna brings down prices and threatens to decimate tuna stocks.
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2006

Mr. Kim walks a fine line

North Korea's supreme leader, Mr. Kim Jong Il, is a savvy politician. He knows how to get attention: His "secret" trip to China dominated international news even though there was no official confirmation he was visiting the country. The reclusive leader will need all his skills as he tries to maximize...
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2006

Ads boost profits at Yahoo Japan

Yahoo Japan Corp. said Monday its net profit for the three months ending in December jumped 37 percent to a record 12.65 billion yen, driven by strong growth in its advertising revenue.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2006

Japan Post stock firm starts business

A new joint stock company set up by Japan Post began operations Monday in the leadup to privatization, which is scheduled to begin in October 2007.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 23, 2006

Regional cooperation with Japan belies focus on Yasukuni problem

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in his first news conference of the year, argued that Yasukuni is not a diplomatic issue, rebutting claims that Japan is being isolated in Asia because of his repeated visits to the war-related Shinto shrine.
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2006

Something wiki this way comes

'W ikipedia": Anyone looking for information online in the last few years is bound to have come across this funny word. Type any search term into Google, and a Wikipedia entry will probably pop up somewhere on the first page or two. On "Japan," for example, the Wikipedia entry comes in an impressive...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2006

Livedoor execs admit falsifying financial data

Senior Livedoor Co. officials have admitted during voluntary questioning that they disseminated false financial information regarding group companies but did not believe their actions were illegal, investigative sources said Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 22, 2006

Flag-makers aren't the only beneficiaries of patriotism in sport

Tabloids utilize a clever kind of shorthand for their headlines in order to fix the attention of people as they pass by news-stands. My favorite one recently was a Nikkan Gendai header announcing "Ichiro's abnormal enthusiasm for WBC."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 22, 2006

When notoriety helps sell books

TOPPAMONO: Outlaw. Radical. Suspect. My Life in Japan's Underworld, by Manabu Miyazaki. Tokyo: Kotan Publishing, 2005, 460 pp., $26.95 (cloth). THE APPRENTICE by Lewis Libby. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, St. Martin edition, 2005, 265 pp., $12.95 (paper). Japan's student movement ended with a whimper...
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2006

Kanebo asks ex-Ascii chief Komori to step in as president

Struggling personal care and cosmetics maker Kanebo Ltd. said Friday it will appoint as president Tetsuo Komori, the 47-year-old ex-president of computer information magazine publisher Ascii Corp.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2006

BOJ sees economy improving, hints at end to ultraloose policy

The Bank of Japan on Friday upgraded its view of the economy for the first time in four months, stepping up the upbeat tone of its assessment.
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2006

Is Islam compatible with women's rights?

LOS ANGELES -- About 10 years ago Hillary Clinton delivered a seminal address in Beijing at the United Nations' 4th World Conference on Woman. The then-first lady stirred the international delegates by articulating a more inclusive definition of human rights. Bluntly put: "Human rights are women's rights,"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 21, 2006

My dog -- the Buddhist

When it comes to matters of religion, I tend to equivocate.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2006

LDP vet Ito denies arranging Huser meeting with ministry

Former state minister Kosuke Ito on Thursday denied claims that he arranged a meeting between the head of a property developer accused of selling earthquake-vulnerable condominiums and senior officials of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry on Nov. 15, two days before the ministry revealed...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2006

Snow-related death toll rises to 104

The death toll from snow-related accidents rose to 104 since December when a fisherman in Otaru, Hokkaido, drowned after falling overboard Thursday probably during snow removal efforts around the port, according to a Kyodo News survey.
COMMENTARY
Jan 19, 2006

Still plagued by sleazy politics

LONDON -- There is understandably a great deal of cynicism about politicians in every country. Their reputation is probably now lower than that of any other profession because they have so often been exposed as liars and/or as corrupt.

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