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EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2005

Imperial prayers for war victims

Japanese got another chance to ponder war and peace following the June 23 commemoration of those killed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 -- this was the recollection of the battle for Saipan, now part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 61 years ago.
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2005

A tidal wave of optimism

LOS ANGELES -- Talk about an ocean of optimism! Here's a positive current for you if there ever was one: A close friend -- whom I dub The Very Successful Korean-American Businessman (VSKAB), who doesn't want his name to be used (but whose last name is Kim like several million other Korean-Americans),...
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2005

116 LDP lawmakers back Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni

A panel was formed Tuesday by 116 members of the Liberal Democratic Party to support Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's contentious visits to Yasukuni Shrine for the sake of "peace" and "national interests."
COMMUNITY
Jun 28, 2005

Curing that constant chocolate craving

Food for thought Steph in Saitama writes: "I like Japanese food a lot, but every now and then I get a craving for goodies that are nowhere to be found in my area. I could ask my mom to send a care package, but I'd feel silly asking her to send an emergency supply of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Any suggestions?"...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 27, 2005

Economists, remember to mind your Ps and Qs

Children are told to mind their Ps and Qs when they go visiting. They must be on their best behavior. They have to be able to speak like well-educated young people. They have to know P from Q. Well, so do economists, actually.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2005

German ambassador confident of UNSC success

Strong backing from developing countries is likely to be enough to get the "Group of Four" nations over the top in their effort to expand the U.N. Security Council, according to Germany's ambassador to Japan, Henrik Schmiegelow.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2005

A taxing matter

The nation's income tax revenue, which stood at about 27 trillion yen in 1991, is expected to dwindle to slightly more than 14 trillion, yen according to a fiscal 2005 budget estimate. The drop is due to a series of tax-reduction schemes put into place over the past decade to revive the sagging economy....
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2005

State, religion must not mix if Japan is to shed negative prewar legacies

Prime ministers must not visit Yasukuni Shrine if the constitutional principle of separation of state and religion is to be observed, according to an expert on Yasukuni issues at the University of Tokyo.
Japan Times
Features
Jun 26, 2005

A great way to start

Ever since the first edition of the monthly photojournalism magazine Days Japan was published just over a year ago, the same motto has appeared in the corner of every glossy cover: "A single photograph has the power to change the course of a nation."
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 25, 2005

Agents continue making huge sums for doing very little work

LONDON -- The following story is, I promise, absolutely true, but you will understand why I have not used the names of the player, agent, club or manager concerned.
COMMUNITY
Jun 25, 2005

Rape earns dubious distinction as a weapon of war

ISLAMABAD -- Before World War I, casualties of armed conflicts were largely limited to battlefields and the soldiers upon them. Combat doctrine and equipment favored flat plateaus, fields or deserts removed from civilian populations. Unless the action took place in a populated area, civilians seldom...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 25, 2005

Mayday in June -- rammed by rescuers

This is the third part in a four-part series on a sailing disaster while crossing the Pacific to Australia.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

Ishihara seen as X-factor in metro race

Four years ago, it was Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who appeared on the posters of Liberal Democratic Party candidates for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election.
JAPAN / A GENERATION CLOCKS OUT
Jun 23, 2005

Airlines face crunch as old pilots pull chocks

Japan's airline industry is facing a serious pilot shortage with scores of veteran captains expected to retire between 2007 and 2009 along with all the other baby boomers.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2005

Sony shareholders give nod to Stringer's team

Shareholders of Sony Corp. on Wednesday approved a new management team led by Howard Stringer, who pledged to turn around the company's struggling consumer electronics business.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2005

Osaka 'curfew' plan rife with problems

OSAKA — It's a Saturday evening in early 2006, and four Osaka-area 15-year-old friends, Kenji, Taro, Yoko and Yuka, show up at a theater to see the latest movie. The time is 6:45 p.m., 15 minutes before the movie starts.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2005

New war memorial is old idea back in the spotlight

The concept of a new national memorial for the war dead, on ice for years for political reasons, has returned to the spotlight as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi finds himself in a regional diplomatic deadlock.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2005

Chile eyes FTA talks in November '06

Chile hopes to start negotiations in November 2006 for a free-trade agreement with Japan, Chilean Ambassador to Japan Daniel Carvallo said Wednesday.
LIFE / Language
Jun 23, 2005

Seminars help teachers survive tough times

There are an estimated 30,000 people teaching English in Japan, including those on the government's widely recognized JET program. But with the craze for language learning fading fast, the English conversation industry is facing a crisis and many teachers, fearing for their livelihoods, are taking courses...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 22, 2005

Horry's big shot took heat off Duncan

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Rasheed Wallace was more than a bit lucky the referees refused to acknowledge his appeal for a non-existent timeout after Tim Duncan's missed tip at the end of regulation in Game 5.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 22, 2005

Shima-uta singer takes listeners on sonic journey

Yasukatsu Oshima, a native of the Yaeyama Islands, southwest of Okinawa's main island, is a stubborn man. Since emerging as a solo artist in the early 1990s, he has recorded and performed only songs known as shima-uta (island folk songs). However, Oshima is not a tradition-bound purist. His latest album,...
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2005

Nissan shareholders rap directors' pay

The Nissan Motor Co. board of directors was paid too much in fiscal 2004, shareholders charged Tuesday at the company's annual shareholders' meeting in Yokohama.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 21, 2005

Money, good men, Vikings and markets

Fast, reliable AG offers advice from Yokohama on a fast and reliable way to get money from the USA to Japan.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 19, 2005

Interleague action rates a good grade in first year of play

Japan pro baseball's fist interleague season will wrap up this weekend, as soon as they can make up a few games previously rained out.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 19, 2005

Life and times of a Heian-Period crime sleuth

Scrolling back in history THE DRAGON SCROLL, by I.J. Parker. New York: Penguin, 2005, 432 pp., $13.00 (paper). Now beginning a new series with Penguin, Parker has just released "The Dragon Scroll." While the third full-length novel to be published, it is the first, chronologically, in her series and...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 19, 2005

The community in mind as a matter of practice

RITUAL PRACTICE IN MODERN JAPAN: Ordering Place, People, and Action, by Satsuki Kawano. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 152 pp., with b/w photos, $17.00 (paper). "Ritual" has meanings other than the primary dictionary definition, which insists upon the prescribed order of a religious ceremony...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’