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JAPAN
Nov 7, 2007

Ozawa to stay on as DPJ president

quit easily," said Kazuhiro Harada, a DPJ Lower House lawmaker. "I promised the public that we would make (Ozawa) prime minister." One DPJ Lower House lawmaker who asked to remain anonymous, however, expressed dissatisfaction.
Reader Mail
Oct 30, 2007

Leverage in showing displeasure

The Oct. 23 Lifelines article, "NHK: To pay or not to pay," was timely in that I recently told the NHK collector to return next month for payment, and informed him that this action was the only way to show my displeasure with NHK for interrupting an after-midnight program to break the news of an earthquake...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2007

Hatoyama in hot water over 'al-Qaida connection'

Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama found himself in hot water Monday after telling reporters that he has an acquaintance who was a friend of an al-Qaida terrorist involved in the October 2002 bombing in Bali, Indonesia.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 29, 2007

Fatal deliverance from an 'iron storm'

NEW YORK — I was thinking once again about the intractability of Japan's part in the Pacific phase of World War II when the news came: Okinawans had staged a huge rally to protest the Japanese government's downplaying in textbooks the military's role in "group suicides" among civilians during the Battle...
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2007

Nova students give poor grades to management

Though forewarned of their language school's financial woes, students Friday reacted to the news of Nova Corp.'s bankruptcy with shock and disappointment.
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2007

Mr. Sarkozy's first real test

A fter a whirlwind start, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing his first real head winds. Having taken the initiative since moving into the Elysee Palace in May, Mr. Sarkozy is being buffeted by public worker strikes and a high-profile divorce. Neither should be fatal to his presidency, but both...
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2007

Wal-Mart set to pay ¥100 billion to take over ailing Seiyu

U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday it will launch a ¥100 billion takeover bid to make its struggling Japan unit Seiyu Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary and speed up its turnaround drive.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2007

MSDF knew of oil error since '03

The Defense Ministry admitted Monday that some Maritime Self-Defense Force officers were aware of an underreporting "mistake" concerning the amount of fuel Japan provided to the U.S. in 2003 but failed to report it to their seniors for more than four years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 23, 2007

Human rights survey stinks

On Aug. 25, the Japanese government released findings from a Cabinet poll conducted every four years. Called the "Public Survey on the Defense of Human Rights" ( www8.cao.go.jp/survey/h19/h19-jinken ), it sparked media attention with some apparently good news.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2007

Baseball executive goes to the plate in Asia

Jim Small is very big — meaning tall, 193 cm to be exact. He is also in good shape, warm and friendly, and moving. Moving as in moving offices, that is.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2007 NPB PLAYOFFS
Oct 16, 2007

Woods: Dragons fire at perfect time

Kenichi Nakata and Kenshin Kawakami were the losing pitchers in the Chunichi Dragons' final games of 2006, dropping Games 4 and 5 of the Japan Series, respectively, against the champion Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2007

LDP's Nakatani calls refueling mission opponents 'terrorists'

Kyodo News Gen Nakatani, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's security policy panel, enraged the opposition camp Sunday by calling opponents of Japan's antiterrorism refueling mission "terrorists" in criticizing the camp dissenting against the mission.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2007

Afghan SDF mission constitutional, Ozawa says

Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan, said Wednesday the Self-Defense Forces' participation in NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan would not violate the Constitution, contrary to the claims of the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition, which...
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2007

Death penalty foes hit Hatoyama over accountability snub

Opponents to capital punishment took issue Wednesday with Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama's recent remarks suggesting a system should be established whereby he did not personally have to sign execution orders, saying he was trying to dodge accountability and also lacked regard for human rights.
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2007

Pratt & Whitney picked by MHI for new jetliner

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Tuesday it has chosen Pratt & Whitney of the U.S. to supply the engines for its planned regional jets, taking Japan a step closer to building its first domestic commercial aircraft in about four decades.
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2007

Negative factors seen foiling BOJ interest rate hike this week

The Bank of Japan will probably not raise interest rates this week because confidence at small companies has deteriorated and policymakers are still assessing the effect of the U.S. housing slump on economic growth.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Oct 7, 2007

A Golden Age everywhere but at home

More high-profile new cars are hitting the market than have been seen for nearly 20 years, creating buzz everywhere but Japan.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2007

Tokyo may cut Myanmar aid over reporter's slaying

Slain Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai's body was flown from Myanmar to Bangkok on Wednesday and is scheduled to arrive in Japan early Thursday, Japanese officials said. APF News Inc. President Toru Yamaji will join officials in bringing the body home. Nagai, 50, who was fatally shot while covering...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 4, 2007

The camera and the truth

With his fake documentary purporting to show serving President George W. Bush's assassination, director Gabriel Range has made this year's most controversial movie
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2007

Wrestler's father seeks truth behind son's death

talks about the death of his 17-year-old son Takashi, a sumo wrestler who died in June, during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday. At right, Takashi, whose ring name was Tokitaizan, poses in ceremonial attire in an undated photo. KYODO PHOTOS
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2007

'Military geek' Ishiba returns to friendly territory

takes over as defense minister from Masahiko Komura on Wednesday. KYODO PHOTO
EDITORIALS
Sep 25, 2007

Mr. Fukuda at the helm

The Liberal Democratic Party's Diet members and prefectural branch representatives have elected Mr. Yasuo Fukuda, former chief Cabinet secretary of the Koizumi administration, as their new president, ending the political vacuum caused by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's sudden resignation. The greatest task...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb