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COMMENTARY
Feb 11, 2004

SDF dispatch opens new era for Japan

The dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq marks a watershed in Japan's post-World War II security and defense policy. The SDF has joined U.N. peacekeeping operations several times since 1992. The latest deployment, though designed primarily to support humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2004

Diet OKs SDF dispatch to Iraq

The Diet on Monday gave its final approval for the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq on the strength of the ruling coalition's majority in the House of Councilors.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2004

Diet impasse comes to an end

Diet business returned to normal Tuesday afternoon.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 1, 2004

Scrapped progams on the late PM Kakuei Tanaka and more

This space is usually reserved for information about programs that will be aired in the coming week, but this time we present a program that isn't going to be aired.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 1, 2004

Speaking out from the streets

Diana was born in Santa Marta, Colombia, in 1973, the third of four children. Her father was an electrician who worked on construction projects that often took him away from the family for months at a time. There wasn't much money in the house, but all the children went to school -- their sharp-tongued...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2004

China-Southeast Asia relations blossom

SINGAPORE -- Chinese worldwide ushered in the Year of the Monkey on Jan. 22. The outgoing Year of the Goat had been excellent for China -- despite the outbreak of SARS last winter -- and a relatively good year for Southeast Asia.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2004

Diet business resumes with apology by Koizumi

Diet business reopened Thursday after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi retracted an earlier remark about the security situation in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2004

Bird flu-affected firms get loan offer

Four government-backed lenders said Thursday they have begun offering special low-interest loans to small and midsize firms affected by the bird flu outbreak.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2004

Koizumi slip delays Diet debate on Iraq

A session of a special House of Representatives committee on the dispatch of ground troops to Iraq was canceled Wednesday following a slipup by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi regarding the security situation in southern Iraq.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2004

FSA eyes 'rebuilding' of borrowers

The Financial Services Agency will strictly assess banks' ongoing plans to reconstruct struggling large-lot borrowers and may order remedial measures if little improvement is found in the borrowers' earnings conditions, informed sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 25, 2004

Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui talk on TBS and more

Earlier this month, South Korea implemented the fourth phase of allowing Japanese popular culture into the country. In 1945, Korea imposed a ban on Japanese cultural products, but from the mid-'90s the country began to relax restrictions. Now, only Japanese animated films and Japanese TV variety shows...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 23, 2004

Izu reveals its 'silver lining'

For most Japanese, mention of the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture conjures up an image of a coast lined with onsen (hot-spring) resorts and blessed with good seafood, drawing hordes of visitors from the Tokyo area.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2004

Resort's 'healing powers' draw sick, scam artists

Crystallized minerals called "hokuto-seki" at the Tamagawa Onsen hot spring resort in Akita Prefecture have captured much media attention because they are believed to be effective in curing cancer and rheumatism.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2004

DPJ set to submit own proposals on Constitution

The Democratic Party of Japan said Tuesday it will issue constitutional amendment proposals by 2006.
BUSINESS
Jan 14, 2004

Banks' daily lending balance in 2003 down for seventh consecutive year

The average daily balance of bank lending extended its slide into the seventh consecutive year in 2003, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday in a preliminary report.
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2004

Koizumi flaunts propensity to curtail 'drastic' reforms

Japan is at a historic turning point, both domestically and internationally. Symbolic of this are pension reform, highway system privatization and the troop dispatch to Iraq. But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "structural reform" initiative appears to have lost momentum since he took office in April...
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2004

Foreign-exchange reserves at all-time high

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves hit a record high of $673.53 billion in December, rising by the biggest margin in a single year due to heavy yen-selling intervention in the currency market, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 4, 2004

From mourning to 'magic'

It may be only mildly surprising that Japanese translations of the first four "Harry Potter" titles have racked up 16.5 million sales to date. It is, though, quite astonishing that the publisher is not an industry giant, but a small Tokyo firm with no previous best seller to its name.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

Decision to dispatch SDF troops to Iraq a watershed for defense, security policy

Japan's decision to send Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq, coupled with the decision to introduce a missile defense system, marks a major turning point for the nation's defense and security policy. Never in its 50-year history has the SDF been mobilized for noncombat duties in a foreign country in...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2003

Visaless foreigners easy scapegoats

One night in December, Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara got together to "inspect" the Kabukicho entertainment district in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, as dozens of government officials, reporters and spectators dogged their steps.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2003

Japan set to waive most of Iraq's debt, Koizumi tells U.S.

In a significant policy shift, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signaled Monday that Japan is prepared to waive a "vast majority" of Iraq's foreign debt.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2003

Baker arrives to ask for Iraq debt relief

James Baker, U.S. President George W. Bush's special envoy, arrived Sunday in Tokyo to ask for Japan's cooperation in reducing Iraq's foreign debt.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2003

Too soon to say who will foot Yamaichi bill

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Friday that the outstanding balance of emergency loans by the Bank of Japan to Yamaichi Securities Co., which collapsed in 1997, must first be determined before discussing who will foot the final bill.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2003

Japan, Germany, France to train Iraq cops

Japan will help train fledgling Iraqi police forces jointly with Germany and France, particularly in the area of criminal investigations, and will dispatch a team of experts to Germany in January.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2003

McDonald's founder's exit doubles loss

The Japanese unit of U.S. fast-food chain McDonald's expects its loss for this fiscal year to double because of a special loss it will book for costs related to cutting ties with a longtime management consultant.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 19, 2003

'Tis the season to eat, drink -- and be opinionated

'Tis the season again when the Food File anoints itself as demiurge, handing out gongs and accolades, winnowing the worthy from the weak, and pronouncing unashamedly subjective opinions about the past 12 months. So here's our annual toast to all those restaurants and stores -- most of them new, but also...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2003

Sound tidings we bring

The gift of music never fails and you can fill plenty of stockings with these re-releases, compilations and holiday music, handpicked by the JT music elves Tom Bojko, Philip Brasor, Jeff Hammond, Jason Jenkins, Michael Pronko and Suzannah Tartan

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan