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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 18, 2006

Preventing suicide and axing overtime pay is a risky mix

More than 30,000 people kill themselves each year in Japan, bestowing the country with the shameful honor of the highest suicide rate in the developed world. To deal with this reality, a group of lawmakers from across the political spectrum pushed an antisuicide bill through the Diet last month to force...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 16, 2006

Up close . . . and virtually personal

When the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan characters fell in love via the virtual world of Web chat in the 1998 movie "You've Got Mail," it seemed a classic case of something that could only happen in the movies, not in the real world.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2006

Japan, Chile agree to continue FTA talks

Japan and Chile agreed to continue working to settle their differences on market access in goods, after wrapping up their latest round of talks Friday on a free-trade agreement, a Japanese official said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 14, 2006

A confluence of buzzes

Artistic restlessness is not a quality normally associated with rookie rock bands. It applies more to established groups who've outgrown their signature sound. TV on the Radio, a Brooklyn quintet whose second album, "Return to Cookie Mountain," was already being touted by tastemakers as the year's best...
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2006

Recalls pose big image challenge for carmakers

Tuesday's revelation that three Toyota Motor Corp. officials are under investigation for professional negligence over a delay in a vehicle recall highlights a dilemma for carmakers.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2006

First strike permitted if attack imminent: Abe

Japan has the right to strike a foreign missile base if the country is under imminent threat of attack, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 11, 2006

A way forward?

Last month, Diet member and Senior Vice Minister of Justice Taro Kono publicized a new action plan for immigration.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2006

Japan, China likely to ink aviation deal next week

Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa said Friday he hopes Japan and China can settle their stalled aviation talks next week.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2006

Unions, business halt panel's attempts to change labor law

A government advisory body discussing changes to working hours and an increase in overtime pay has become bogged down in opposition from both companies and labor groups.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2006

Taepodong-2 launch failed, Japan says

North Korea's launch of a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile ended in failure, even though Pyongyang counted it as a success along with the test-firing of six other shorter-range missiles, a top Defense Agency official said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2006

North's missile threat

The following is a chronology of the events surrounding North Korea's missile program:
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2006

Korean residents ponder fallout of missile launch

. The pro-Seoul Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan) denounced the missile tests and called on Chongryun to pressure North Korea to refrain from further tests.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2006

Doshisha, Stanford agree to stronger ties

KYOTO -- Doshisha University and Stanford University concluded an academic cooperation and exchange agreement Friday that both sides hope will strengthen the two schools' relationship.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2006

Koizumi-Bush friendship one for the ages

What has been touted as the best Japan-U.S. relationship in the postwar era started with a cowboy movie and will end with an Elvis Presley museum.
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2006

South Korea and China also stir the pot

NEW YORK -- A friend of mine in Tokyo has sent me two recent proposals to improve Japan's relations with its neighbors. One, by the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, deals with China and is addressed to both the Japanese and Chinese governments; the other, by the Kansai Association of Corporate...
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2006

U.S.-dependent to what end?

At a Cabinet meeting May 30, the government finalized its basic policy on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. The action followed a final Japan-U.S. agreement May 1 on realignment aimed at strengthening deterrents and reducing Japan's burden of hosting U.S. military installations.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2006

Investors get more vocal on management decisions

Over the past several weeks, company executives have been beating a path to Pension Fund Association's door, trying to get the investment manager to agree with proposals they plan to submit at their shareholder meetings.
COMMENTARY
Jun 22, 2006

Freedoms and responsibilities

The international community has been watching the rise of China and India with interest, and two recent events symbolize the growing stature of these two countries. One was the so-called Google incident. In the course of its entry into China's Internet services market, Google Inc., a major American corporation,...
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2006

Top court sends case back, saying consider death penalty anew

The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a life sentence for a 25-year-old man convicted of the 1999 murders of a woman and her infant daughter, and ordered the Hiroshima High Court to rehear the case with an eye to sentencing the killer to hang.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 20, 2006

Family of POW makes appeal to Aso 'honor'

Japan's foreign minister, Taro Aso, will this week receive an appeal to his "honor and decency" in the repayment of a small family debt more than 60 years old.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2006

Business at Beijing's pleasure

In a May 30 Wall Street Journal article, former U.S. Assistant Defense Secretary Charles W. Freeman III expressed doubts about the prospects of a free-trade agreement between the United States and Taiwan: "Given its almost obsessive antipathy for President Chen (Shui-bian), Beijing will do almost anything...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 18, 2006

Roles that lead a company to success

THE TEN FACES OF INNOVATION by Tom Kelley and Jonathon Littman. Doubleday, 276 pp., 2005, $29.95 (cloth). "It's the smile, stupid."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 15, 2006

Fuji Rocking 10 years on

Fuji Rock Festival is the biggest event on the calendar for many Japanese and foreign residents alike. Sure, it costs a stack of cash to go, but the festival is not your typical commercial venture. Word on the street is that it has been anything but a money spinner for concert promoter Smash Japan. Instead,...
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2006

A tenable vision of efficiency

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms for creating a "simple, efficient government" have entered the final phase. In late May, the Diet enacted the administrative reform promotion law and four related bills aimed at continuing Koizumi's reform programs after he steps down in September...
EDITORIALS
Jun 11, 2006

Whither the newspaper?

What does the future hold for newspapers? It all depends on what you think a newspaper is and where on the planet you are standing. If you are a literal-minded type who considers the concept inseparable from actual newsprint and your view is restricted to, say, North America or Japan or Australia or...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2006

Defense of the nonnuclear option

The nuclear genie cannot be put back in the bottle; the knowledge that yielded the nuclear bomb cannot be unlearned. That does not mean the world must merely accept the existence of such weapons of mass destruction (WMD), however. Rather, it requires more vigilance in halting their spread and more creative...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 6, 2006

What is your opinion on the new immigration law?

Mayumi Hirai Care worker, 34 In Japan, the threat of terrorism is not as great as it is in other countries such as the United States. It is a very peaceful, safe place. However, I do think we need these kinds of measures to protect this safety.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPAN-U.S.-CHINA SYMPOSIUM
Jun 5, 2006

Japan, China need to go back to school

See the main story: "Regional tensions cast long shadow" See related story: "U.S. sets negotiating table on Iran for Tokyo, Beijing"
BUSINESS / JAPAN-U.S.-CHINA SYMPOSIUM
Jun 5, 2006

Regional tensions cast long shadow

See related stories: "U.S. sets negotiating table on Iran for Tokyo, Beijing" "Japan, China need to go back to school "

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?