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COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 28, 2004

Legal bank robbery

Mention residents tax to any foreigner living in Japan and chances are, you aren't likely to win any favorable responses. Otherwise known as city tax, ward tax or inhabitants tax to name just a few aliases, this is probably one of the most dreaded and least understood of all the taxes in Japan. It is...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 28, 2004

Boating, studying and moving to Japan

The last column of the year! Where did the weeks go?
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

NPA confirms Japan's first case of e-mail fraud

The National Police Agency said Friday it has confirmed Japan's first case of e-mail fraud.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

The short and the sweet of popular Japanese theater

A GUIDE TO THE JAPANESE STAGE: From Traditional to Cutting Edge, by Ronald Cavaye, Paul Griffith and Akihiko Senda. Foreword by Nomura Mansai. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2004, 388 pp., many illustrations. 2,310 yen (paper). A convenient, pocket-size volume, this entertainment guide recommends "plays...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2004

Give Japan's royal diplomacy a chance

Something is amiss within Japan's Imperial household. For nearly a year now, the Crown Princess Masako has suspended her official functions for "health reasons." The public knew next to nothing about the details of her disposition or the effectiveness of treatment, for reasons that included the extreme...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 5, 2004

Telephone fraud is criminally dumb at the end of the line

Misfortune for some can be entertaining to the rest of us. Microwaved poodles and death-by-sexual-dalliance often have such a ridiculous aura about them that we tend not to identify with the victims because the stupidity inferred precludes any feelings of sympathy.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2004

Beef-tracking system traces full history of domestic cows

A beef-tracking system will go online Wednesday at retailers and specialized restaurants, completing the system's link from producers to consumers.
EDITORIALS
Nov 19, 2004

Capital and management

For nearly half a century, Seibu Railway Co. has given the Tokyo Stock Exchange false information about the equity stakes held by its major shareholders. In an unusually swift response, the TSE on Tuesday decided to delist the company, saying its systematic coverup of the stock ownership percentage for...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2004

More study of climate change needed: scientist

Studying the ozone layer is essential to curbing global warming, says a U.S scientist who has just been awarded the 2004 Blue Planet Prize.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2004

Koizumi says troops in Iraq are still in a 'noncombat zone'

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday he still considers the southern Iraqi region around the city of Samawah a "noncombat zone," despite the Iraqi government declaring a state of emergency for most of the nation.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 7, 2004

And you thought doing deals in today's Japan was tough

THE DESHIMA DIARIES MARGINALIA 1740-1800, edited by Leonard Blusse, Cynthia Vialle, Willem Remmelink and Isabel van Daalen. Tokyo: The Japan-Netherlands Institute, 898 pp., 2004, 13,000 yen (cloth). It has been 12 years since I had occasion to review on this page the first volume of the Deshima Diaries...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 2, 2004

Immigration, acting and yellow pages

Otemachi still open? Dave was in a panic last week. He had just realized his three-year visa required renewal, and wondered if the immigration office in Otemachi was still open.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2004

Parents of lonely hearts join own group

Tadashi Saito imagines his son leaving the office after a long day at work and trudging home to a lonely bachelor's apartment with all the lights out and no hot food on the table.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 5, 2004

Alien card concerns and a visitor

Fall is a beautiful time in Japan. If you have a chance, try and get away to to the mountains somewhere -- Nikko, Chichibu . . . it is absolutely beautiful.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 30, 2004

Deaf school phenomenon points to innate language origins

So there's this deaf American visiting Russia, and he's thirsty. Using American Sign Language, he says to his deaf-guide, "I really want a soda." But in Russian Sign Language, the gestures he used correspond to, "I really want to have sex." Guessing at some linguistic problem, the Russian guide diplomatically...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 28, 2004

New talent, cheap fares and STDs

Talent scouting Jan believes she has a great voice and wonders how to find representation in Japan. "Are there any agencies that take on foreigners?"
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 23, 2004

Good stuff, people and advice on how to tailor your consumption

It's back-to-school time again, and whether you are going back, sending your child off, or just getting swept up in the streams of backpack-wielding kids, change is in the air. Time for new books, new people and new gossip, and time to clear the desk even if only for a place to rest your head.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Aug 20, 2004

The Gathering 2004 preview

After dozens of hours of copious, nail-biting research, I have deduced that there is absolutely no connection whatsoever between Respect for the Aged Day and the ending date for Gathering 2004, except that vigorous dancing has been medically proven to reverse the aging process.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 17, 2004

Collecting your pension dues

After those who leave Japan, hand in their gaijin cards and apply for their 2.4 month refund, the remaining millions of yen they've paid into the system stay in Japan, where the money is used to pay pension payments for those they left behind.
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
Jul 30, 2004

493 punished for pension info misuse

The Social Insurance Agency said Thursday it has punished 493 officials over a scandal involving unauthorized access to pension-related personal information, such as premium payment records.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2004

Jenkins, lawyer may meet by week's end

A U.S. military defense lawyer may meet with accused deserter Charles Jenkins by the end of this week, Japanese government sources said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2004

Use and abuse of intelligence

Two official reports come to disturbing conclusions about intelligence failures in the United States and Great Britain. Both identify systemic flaws in the collection and analysis of critical intelligence that resulted in the invasion of Iraq. There is much to learn from these episodes, but the most...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 27, 2004

Business documentary "Dawn of Gaia" on TV Tokyo and more

Recently, the news has been filled with stories about customer data being leaked from large companies to shady individuals. This activity, which is called "information theft," is explored in depth on TV Tokyo's business documentary program "Dawn of Gaia" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.). Such leaks are not a new phenomenon,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2004

Bringing science and society closer

The connection between science and technology, on the one hand, and our daily life, on the other, is growing closer and increasingly wide-ranging. To see that relationship, we have only to think of the example of advanced medicine, in which information and images obtained via cell phones or the Internet...
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2004

Moment of truth for Iran, IAEA

Doubts surrounding Iran's nuclear-energy program continue to mount. Last week, the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution condemning Iran's failure to come clean about its nuclear plans and urging greater cooperation with the nuclear watchdog. The next steps...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2004

ETFs gain popularity with individual investors

With the stock market picking up, exchange traded funds, investment trusts linked to stock market indexes, are gaining popularity, especially among stock investment beginners and some brokerage houses who have begun to market overseas ETFs.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami