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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 30, 2004

Get away from it all without going so far

HINASE, Okayama Pref. -- Most people, if asked to name their favorite islands in Japan, might plump for the southernmost and most exotic ones which together comprise Okinawa Prefecture. Others, less enamored of balmy climes, might prefer Niigata Prefecture's Sado Island in the Sea of Japan; while some...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2004

English classes all the rage at elementary schools

Teacher Hideo Iida holds up cards featuring simple images for his 17 second-graders to identify, getting them to name the animals, fruit and other items pictured.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2004

Toyota to showcase user-friendly items

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will launch an exhibition of user-friendly products in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 17, 2004

Yati Irsan/Nasrin Fowzia

Since its foundation in 1968, the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society has steadily taken up deserving causes in the Asia-Pacific area. With the aim of bringing together the women of Asia-Pacific countries and Japan, it helps the sick, the poor and orphans in its 24 member countries. It assists with...
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Bank lending slides for 75th month

The average daily balance of bank lending fell 4.8 percent in March from a year earlier to 397.37 trillion yen, down for the 75th straight month.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2004

Families opposed to U.S. rescue operation

The families of the three Japanese held captive in Iraq urged the government Saturday not to seek any help from U.S. military special units in freeing the hostages.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2004

Japan hit over lack of crisis-response measures

Thursday's kidnapping of three Japanese civilians in Iraq has exposed the government's ill-preparedness for crises, especially those involving terrorists.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 4, 2004

"News Station" becomes "Hodo Station" on TV Asahi and more

On March 26, TV Asahi's nightly news program, "News Station," ended after 18 1/2 years and 4,795 programs. Host Hiroshi Kume wrapped up the record run with a toast.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 1, 2004

Ways of weathering winter

I had to attend a college graduation ceremony and an Environment Ministry meeting in Tokyo; otherwise I could easily have made it in a day from Okinawa to northern Nagano Prefecture where I live. As it was, the trip from that balmy Pacific isle to my home amid the snows of Kurohime took me until nearly...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2004

Diet passes 82 trillion yen '04 budget

The Diet on Friday passed the fiscal 2004 budget, which totals 82.11 trillion yen.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2004

Emergency steps target bird flu

The government unveiled a package of emergency measures Tuesday aimed at containing the spread of bird flu, including plans to crack down on farmers who fail to disclose evidence their birds are infected.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2004

Construction firms to farm in deregulation zones

Five construction companies planning to engage in farming are among projects by 95 entities that won government approval Tuesday in special economic zones eligible for preferential deregulatory treatment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 12, 2004

Museums bid to widen leisure appeal

Museums want you to drop by, of course, but they also want you to linger, to explore, take your time -- the whole afternoon, if possible. To this end, no respectable museum can be without cafes and shops to enhance the experience.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2004

Cabinet OKs reform package boasting lay judges

The Cabinet approved a package of bills Tuesday designed to revamp the judicial system, including a bill that would introduce a quasi-jury system under which randomly selected citizens would sit on the bench for criminal trials.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 29, 2004

A past becoming urban myth

JAPANESE CAPITALS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Place, Power and Memory in Kyoto and Tokyo, edited by Nicolas Fieve and Paul Waley. London: Routledge/Curzon, 2003, 418 pp., 75 plates, £65.00 (cloth). Japanese cities are unusual. Compared to those in Europe or even the United States, there are few physical...
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2004

Watershed for Hong Kong-Beijing ties

HONG KONG -- The relationship between Hong Kong and Beijing is at a critical point, with the central government having cautioned the special administrative region not to rush headlong into democracy while local people fear that their democratic aspirations may be frustrated.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 22, 2004

TV Asahi's quiz show "Sekai Tsukai Dense-tsu" and more

The Asahi TV quiz show "Sekai Tsukai Dense- tsu Unmei no Da-da-da-dan (World's Exciting Legends) -- on Tuesday at 8 p.m. -- explores the lives of historical figures whose reputations have a tragic dimension. This week, the subject is a woman who caused tragedy for everyone else: Catherine de Medici....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2004

Education reform requires balancing act

Japan is on the way to radical deregulation of the compulsory education system in hopes of bringing more diversification and competition to schools, but it will take a delicate balancing act.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2004

Taking nonproliferation seriously

The inadequacies of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime become more evident each day. From Libya and Pakistan come recent revelations that a black market in nuclear materials has existed for years virtually under the nose of the world's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2004

Museum marks Bikini blast anniversary

Early on March 1, 1954, the United States exploded a hydrogen bomb, code-named Bravo, on the Pacific Ocean's Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Feb 11, 2004

You are always on my mind

Familiarity with an object or place can dampen the senses. It may not necessarily breed contempt, but it often leads to indifference. We see it all too frequently, as in the simple case of not visiting wonderful places in our own neighborhood, or the attitude folk here in Shizuoka have toward Mount Fuji:...
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.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell