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JAPAN
Oct 1, 2005

Sides still stuck on Futenma relocation site

Japan and the U.S. failed to agree on where to move the helicopter operations of the U.S. Marines Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa during senior working-level talks between the two nations that just ended in Washington, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2005

Aoki cannot recall in court JDA donation

Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Mikio Aoki testified Tuesday at the Tokyo District Court that he doesn't remember his faction receiving an unreported 100 million yen check from the Japan Dental Association.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2005

Koizumi's new mandate even gets LDP rebels' nod

Liberal Democratic Party President Junichiro Koizumi was re-elected prime minister Wednesday by more than two-thirds of the 480-seat House of the Representatives on the opening day of a special Diet session, with supporting votes coming even from some of his LDP foes.
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2005

Consumer confidence rises again

Consumer confidence across Japan improved in August for the second straight month, spurred by improving employment conditions, the government said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2005

Maehara steps forward to run for leadership of DPJ

Seiji Maehara of the Democratic Party of Japan said Wednesday he will run in the main opposition party's presidential election in a bid to succeed Katsuya Okada, who is bowing out over the trouncing in Sunday's Lower House election.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2005

GDP for April-June sharply revised to 0.8% on strong capital spending

The economy expanded a real 0.8 percent in the April-June period from the previous quarter for the third straight quarterly growth, revised upward from a 0.3 percent increase in the initial report, the government said Monday.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 11, 2005

What price social equality since the ventriloquists' putsch?

On the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 atrocity, is it too early to talk of a Bush legacy? What vision has the administration of President George W. Bush bestowed on the United States as a result of the terrorist attacks that day?
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2005

Bureaucrats fear not the loss of pull on politics if they join in

The road from bureaucrat to politician is well-paved.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2005

July core machinery orders off 4.3%

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders declined a seasonally adjusted 4.3 percent in July from the previous month to 1.013 trillion, yen after surging 11.1 percent in June to their highest level in five years, the government said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2005

Key economy gauge was bust in July

A key gauge of the current state of the economy fell below the boom-or-bust threshold of 50 percent in July for the first time in five months, the government said Wednesday.
Japan Times
Features
Sep 4, 2005

Nagano's champion of change

He is perhaps the most well-known governor in Japan, largely because he has been breaking with tradition ever since he took office in Nagano Prefecture in October 2000.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2005

DPJ narrows gap with LDP, tracking poll shows

The Liberal Democratic Party's lead in voter support over the Democratic Party of Japan is diminishing in the runup to the Sept. 11 election, and the approval rate for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet has edged down, according to a Kyodo News tracking poll taken over the weekend.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2005

Welfare trumps posts as candidates' main concern

Most of the declared candidates running in the Sept. 11 general election say social welfare reform should be the policy priority after the poll, according to a Kyodo News survey released Monday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2005

Statements befitting future conduct

On Monday, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued a statement apologizing for Japan's past colonialism and aggression. He also decided that day not to visit Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japan's militarism in the 1930s and '40s. Instead, he visited and...
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2005

Economy grew 0.3% in April-June quarter

The nation's economy grew by a less-than-expected 0.3 percent in the April-June quarter, the government said Friday, but economists said better business and consumer spending, along with strong exports, suggest Japan's recovery this time may last.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2005

Welfare costs lift leeway for '06 budget

The Cabinet on Thursday approved a 47.5 trillion yen cap on core policy-related outlays for fiscal 2006 budget requests.
EDITORIALS
Jul 31, 2005

Rescue from property sharks

Fraudulent and malicious sales methods victimizing innocent people have become a social issue. In a typical case, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested four former salesmen last month on suspicion of having cajoled or pressured some 5,400 people in 34 prefectures into signing contracts for...
COMMENTARY
Jul 30, 2005

Chirac sees his fortunes slip

PARIS -- After a majority of French voters handed President Jacques Chirac a defeat by voting no in a referendum on the proposed EU constitution, he kept his fingers crossed in the hope that Paris would be chosen to host the 2012 Games. You can imagine his disappointment when the International Olympic...
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2005

Technology eyed to make heavens open

The government plans to seek funds in fiscal 2006 to develop technology to artificially induce rainfall to fight droughts or prevent torrential rain, Cabinet Office officials said Friday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 24, 2005

It's the black comedy of Japan: 'Don't mention the war . . .'

A point that tends to be overlooked in the debate over textbooks that whitewash Japan's actions during World War II is that Japanese junior high school history classes rarely make it past the Meiji Restoration. Whether or not "comfort women" or the Rape of Nanking is mentioned in textbooks becomes an...
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2005

Attack-contingency manuals approved

The Cabinet approved attack-contingency manuals Friday from Fukui and Tottori -- the first prefectures to submit public evacuation and rescue plans, government officials said.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2005

Ruling upheld nixing redress over Unit 731 germ warfare

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court decision denying Chinese plaintiffs compensation for germ warfare atrocities committed in China by the Imperial Japanese Army during the war.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2005

80% of banks keep mass personal data

Almost 80 percent of Japan's banks store personal data on at least 100,000 people each, a Cabinet Office survey showed Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2005

LDP members worried about shrine row form up

Dozens of lawmakers in the Liberal Democratic Party launched a study group Tuesday out of concern over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's controversial visits to Yasukuni Shrine.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2005

Upper House poised to debate postal bills amid election threat

The House of Councilors voted Monday to form a special committee to deliberate the contentious package of government-sponsored postal privatization bills.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2005

U.K. attacks trigger official fears that Japan is next

Thursday's deadly terrorist bombings in London raised fresh concerns among Tokyo officials Friday that Japan might be the next target due to its support for the U.S.-led war on Iraq.
COMMENTARY
Jul 8, 2005

Deceits enervate an Iraq exit

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush's latest attempt to justify his Iraq policy with a televised address to America comes as more evidence emerges that the invasion of Iraq was a war of choice. In arguing that the United States must persevere because Iraq has become "a central front in the war on...
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2005

Key gauge for May climbs over the boom-or-bust line

A key gauge of the current state of the economy stood at 55.6 percent in May, climbing above the boom-or-bust line for the first time in two months, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday in a preliminary report.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan