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COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 2004

Feeling the enemy's breath

LONDON -- The Americans are going home. Or, to be more precise, after more than 60 years, 70,000 American military personnel are to be gradually withdrawn from the European arena. Since the present number of American troops under "European command" is 116,000, this will leave in the longer term between...
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2004

Japan Post chief rebuts Yamato flak over Lawson deal

Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta on Friday countered Yamato Transport Co.'s criticism that his firm is unfairly expanding its parcel delivery services through a tieup with a convenience store chain.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 26, 2004

The Showa days: Were they really that good?

True to their inherent sentimentality, the Japanese often get all misty-eyed about times past. Lately the phrase "furuki yoki Showa (the good old Showa days)" has been bandied about. But, one is inclined to ask, were the Showa days really as good as the media would have us believe?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 26, 2004

Thinking aloud

Does language determine thought? Are there concepts in some languages that can't be understood in others because that language doesn't have the word for it?
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2004

Koizumi blasts postal reform foes

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed strong dissatisfaction Tuesday over continued opposition within his Liberal Democratic Party to privatizing postal services, saying it's "a done deal."
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2004

Delay possible in full postal privatization: Takenaka

Economic and fiscal policy minister Heizo Takenaka indicated Sunday he understands the need for a possible delay in dividing postal services into several entities.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2004

Delay possible in full postal privatization: Takenaka

Economic and fiscal policy minister Heizo Takenaka indicated Sunday he understands the need for a possible delay in dividing postal services into several entities.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 21, 2004

Reinventing world through eyes of young people

More summer madness. I come down from where I work last Monday to make a cup of tea, and there is a Kazak sitting at my table.
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2004

Lawson shuns Yamato in favor of Japan Post

Lawson Inc. and Japan Post said Wednesday the convenience store operator will handle Japan Post parcels at its 7,850 outlets nationwide starting in mid-November.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2004

DC Card may have suffered massive personal-info leak

Credit card issuer DC Card Co. said Tuesday that personal information on as many as 477,959 clients might have been leaked.
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2004

Regional division of postal services may be postponed

Dividing up the four postal services by region is unlikely to occur when privatization begins in 2007, government sources said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 17, 2004

Mosquitoes, surgery and cheap words

More on mozzies A reader named Rodney was interested in information about "ka" (mosquitoes) in a July column. He says there are few things he hates in this world, even among the insect family, "but I do abhor mosquitoes!" He did some research on mosquito repellents about a year ago and learned that...
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2004

Privatized Japan Post to be watched over by three agencies

Units of a privatized Japan Post are expected to come under the jurisdiction of three separate government agencies to ensure equal competition with the private sector, government sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2004

Net sites cater to quest for Russian brides

Attractive Russian women with blonde hair and green eyes smile invitingly from the computer screen.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 12, 2004

Sensitive science in the race for glory in athletic pursuits

With the 28th Olympic Games about to start, who would put a bet on a white athlete winning the 100 meters? Certainly not the American writer Jon Entine. "The complete domination of the 100 meters by people of West African origin means no white man will ever again win the event. It simply won't happen,"...
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2004

Japan Post faces four-way split under compromise plan

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's top policy panel unveiled plans Friday to split Japan's mammoth postal operations into four separate entities by 2017 at the latest.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2004

LDP plan keeps Japan Post intact

A special committee of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday proposed an alternative to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's privatization plan for the nation's postal services.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 5, 2004

Naughty Sven prepares to meet his fate

LONDON -- A nun took up residence outside the Football Association's headquarters in Soho as the remains of English football's governing body prepared for Thursday's meeting of the board, which will decide the future of head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and maybe one or two high-ranking executives.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 27, 2004

A pottery master and mosquitoes

Bernard Leach John writes that his parents will be hosting Japanese friends in the U.K. this coming autumn.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2004

New system fails to rally overseas voters

Six years after a system was introduced to allow Japanese living overseas to cast ballots in national elections in Japan, their voter turnout remains extremely low.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2004

Clarity sought on postal issues

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Friday the government must clarify how it will privatize the nation's postal services without generating concerns about creating a possible glut in the Japanese government bond market and extra operational costs.
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Jul 20, 2004

More credit and readers need help

More free credit Reader "Tokyo Angel" got a no-charge credit card after hunting around for a while. She currently has a Nicos Visa card through the post office (application forms are available from all post offices) that has no annual fee and which includes full travel insurance aswell, even if you don't...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 17, 2004

As good -- and as bad -- as it gets

For foreign residents, life in Japan can be a roller coaster of ups and downs -- quite often at the exact same time.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jul 15, 2004

Japan's kindergartens could serve families better

Procreation just ain't what it used to be.

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