Search - 2004

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

TB hospitalizations of homeless probed

The health ministry is probing allegations of human rights abuse carried out through the forced hospitalization of homeless people under the Tuberculosis Control Law, the ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Infecting cows with BSE may yield clue to early detection

Japanese scientists believe they may have successfully infected cattle with mad cow disease as part of an experiment aimed at early detection of the fatal bovine illness, a laboratory official said Thursday.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 6, 2006

Life on the American edge

"American Buffalo' was Chicago-born David Mamet's first Broadway play, debuting there in 1977 a year after it had picked up a prestigious Obie Award as Best New American Play.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2006

U.S.-China ideological rivalry heats up

WASHINGTON -- Two recent events in Asia have again directly underscored the "ideological" tussle between Washington and Beijing, which is increasingly seen as a benevolent power and even as offering a model for socioeconomic development. As Asian leaders gathered last month in Kuala Lumpur for the East...
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2006

Income disparities rising in Japan

During the period of high postwar economic growth, most people in Japan came to consider themselves part of a middle class.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2006

Pet businesses going to the dogs -- to their owners' delight

Two-year-old Melon slept on a small bed at one of the many beauty salons in Tokyo's Daikanyama shopping district, under a mist of negatively charged ions that reputedly reduces stress.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 4, 2006

Letting laughter flow in our woods

Two years ago, we started running programs specially designed for visually challenged children in our forest near Kurohime among the Nagano Prefecture hills. Before getting started, our Afan Woodland Trust sent out a questionnaire asking the children what they would most like to do in the woods. The...
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 3, 2006

Reds end 25-year wait with final victory

Urawa Reds beat Shimizu S-Pulse 2-1 at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday to win their first Emperor's Cup in 25 years.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2006

Ratings bring good news to NHK

The audience ratings for NHK's annual New Year's Eve music show, "Kohaku Utagassen" ("Red vs. White Song Contest"), improved last year, Video Research Ltd. said Monday, giving some encouragement to the scandal-hit public broadcaster.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 3, 2006

Fearless Japan ready for date with destiny

Japan coach Zico and his charges are under no illusions as to the scale of the task that awaits them at this year's World Cup finals.
JAPAN / FRAMING THE FUTURE
Jan 1, 2006

Elderly of tomorrow can count on technology, researchers say

Poor eyesight and hearing, and reduced physical strength often discourage elderly people from going out alone or visiting unfamiliar places where they can easily get tired or lost.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 1, 2006

Olympic champion Tani has a boy

Two-time Olympic judo champion Ryoko Tani gave birth to a boy Saturday at a hospital in Hyogo Prefecture, according to an announcement released by the Orix Buffaloes, the team her husband, Yoshitomo Tani, plays for.
EDITORIALS
Dec 31, 2005

A year of battered dreams

The year 2005 is likely to be remembered as a bitter one in which many dreams were battered and many cherished ideals tarnished. For sure, there were high points, but they were overshadowed by the many disappointments.
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2005

Yokohama leads way in trash separation

stopped bringing unnecessary things home, for example by telling shop clerks not to wrap products," he said. But not all municipalities have such stringent recycling policies and many cash-strapped local governments cannot afford to collect the bulky materials.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 31, 2005

Tsunami book gives peace to some, hope to more

Bill O'Leary is busy on Boxing Day. While back to business in Phuket, Thailand, by midday, he attends first a Muslim ceremony on the beach, and then a Buddhist service in a hotel to remember the 5,500 tourists and local people who were swept to their death by the tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004. Three thousand...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 31, 2005

Asada's triumphs have ISU officials skating on thin ice

What if you had a Winter Olympics and the best figure skater in the world wasn't allowed to participate?
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2005

Overseas challenges attractive for JICA senior volunteers

When Setsuko Inoue was 57 years old, she quit her job as a principal at an elementary school in Tokyo's Suginami Ward and served as a volunteer worker for a day-care center for physically and mentally disabled children in Nepal.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2005

Rare-disease sufferers want drugs fast-tracked

, a rare, life-threatening disease caused by a deficiency in a lysosomal enzyme. The hereditary, progressive illness causes mental retardation, poor vision and stiffness in the joints. Tomoki's only chance of getting better is to have a bone marrow or blood transplant from an umbilical cord, but his...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2005

First test-tube dolphin in Japan dies of starvation

Japan's first dolphin conceived by artificial insemination died Tuesday at Kamogawa Sea World in Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2005

Handsets best pal for young female shoppers

for personal computers, will grow further," he predicted. Supporting this growth is the spread of third-generation mobile phones that offer high-speed data transmission, as well as flat fees for unlimited Internet use.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2005

Contractors collude to end lawbreaking

Major construction firms will work together to eliminate bid-rigging because the revised Antimonopoly Law that takes effect Jan. 4 mandates harsher penalties for offenders, sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 30, 2005

Pull of the people

My album of the year was M.I.A.'s "Arular," for a number of reasons. First, it's a party album whose energy and imagination never flag. Second, it's utterly distinctive: Maya Arulpragasam's nursery-rhyme rapping style doesn't sound like anybody else's. Third, it's a work of art whose local specificity,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 30, 2005

On and off the charts

Cast an eye over those charts that list the top-selling Japanese pop albums of the year and three musical trends come out on top: There were loose-limbed hip-hop party grooves aplenty (Def Tech and Ketsumeishi); American-influenced punk pop (Ellegarden, Ken Yokoyama and scores of others with Orange County-inflected...
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 29, 2005

Taiwan to host Beijing qualifiers

Taiwan will host the Asian qualifying tournament for the baseball competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as planned, Japanese baseball officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2005

11 who lost health insurance weren't treated, died

At least 11 people have died over the past six years because they were apparently unable to receive prompt medical attention after having surrendered their national health insurance cards for nonpayment of fees, according to a Kyodo News survey compiled Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2005

Tapes fast disappearing from movie rental shelves

Whether they're couch potatoes or not, people had better get DVD players if they want to check out the latest rental releases or even classic titles this holiday season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 29, 2005

A gradual rise to excellence

A loss of direction appeared to afflict large parts of the Japanese theater world in the beginning of 2005 as last year's promising stream of new actors and directors failed to live up to their 2004 debuts. Dramatists responded by looking outward for inspiration, creating an upsurge in international...
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2005

Japan's population declines by 19,000

The total population of Japan, including everyone who has been a resident longer than three months, fell to 127.76 million as of Oct. 1 for the first drop in the postwar period, the government said Tuesday.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past