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JAPAN
Jul 13, 2005

Kanda allegedly key bid-rigger in scam

Sozo Kanda, the former board member of Japan Highway Public Corp. arrested Tuesday by the Tokyo High Prosecutor's Office, allegedly played a central role in what has become the nation's biggest public works bid-rigging scandal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 13, 2005

You've never seen anything so ancient Chinese like this in Tokyo

Tokyo's Mori Art Museum is currently hosting one of the most comprehensive exhibitions of Chinese artifacts that has ever been held in Japan. "China: Crossroads of Culture" is an incredible amalgam of treasures and art objects from the entire first millennium of Chinese history, beginning with pieces...
COMMENTARY
Jul 13, 2005

Sinophobia complicates takeover bids

HONG KONG -- In quick succession, the previously intangible reality of "China Rising" has taken on tangible form for Americans, as China has used the wealth that has accrued as a result of its rapid development and huge trade surpluses to try and takeover three U.S. businesses.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2005

June confidence index down on wage jitters

Consumer confidence fell for the first time in three months in June as households grew concerned about living conditions and wages, the government said Tuesday.
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 12, 2005

Pair who killed four lose death-sentence appeal

The Tokyo High Court on Monday upheld the death sentence for a 63-year-old dog breeder and his former wife for the murder of four people in 1993.
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2005

Some hope from the G8

It is easy to be cynical about G8 summits. The annual meetings of the heads of state of the leading industrialized nations are equal parts political theater, photo opportunity and security nightmare. Each summit produces a lofty statement that echoes its predecessors, is invariably bland despite (or...
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2005

A skittish reform pendulum

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills cleared the Lower House on July 5 by only five votes, demonstrating the strength of anti-Koizumi forces in the governing Liberal Democratic Party. The narrow margin reflected severe criticism of not only the legislation but also Koizumi's...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 12, 2005

Are you worried that Tokyo could be a target of terrorism?

Mike Hora Teacher, 34 No, not at all. It's the same as an earthquake. If something's going to happen, it's going to happen. I'm much more afraid of Mount Fuji erupting or the earth splitting beneath me.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 10, 2005

NTV's "Otona no Natsu Yasumi," Fuji's "Rodo Kijun Kantokukan" and more

Several years ago, actress Shinobu Terashima won a Japan Academy Award and lots of overseas critical praise for her portrayal of a troubled young woman in the movie "Vibrator."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 10, 2005

Coming out of the linguistic closet

QUEER JAPAN FROM THE PACIFIC WAR TO THE INTERNET AGE, by Mark McLelland. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005, 248 pp., 15 b/w photos, $34.95 (paper). Japanese homosexuals face a peculiar problem. There is a true confusion among terms for sex, gender, sexual orientation, and gender expression. As one scholar...
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.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 9, 2005

Thierry Voisin

Each day, Thierry Voisin cycles both ways between his Hanzomon apartment and the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo. "I have new eyes here," he said. "For me, this is like another planet."
COMMENTARY
Jul 9, 2005

Blair pinpoints EU challenges

LONDON -- In his speech to the European Parliament in Brussels on June 23, British Prime Minister Tony Blair set out in stark terms the main challenges facing Europe (and in different ways perhaps, the United States and Japan) from China and India.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2005

Women's gyms find favor with females wanting to shape up

Women's gyms are mushrooming in Tokyo, attracting those who want to work out and lose weight without having to worry about men viewing their exertions.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2005

Student nabbed in data theft on 520,000 people

A 27-year-old Chinese man has been arrested for allegedly stealing data on individuals from a computer server of a Tokyo travel agency in March, the Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday, adding credit card data were among the information taken.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2005

Cabinet disapproval rate at 45.5%, exceeds support

The disapproval rate for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet stands at 45.5 percent, exceeding the approval rate of 42.6 percent for the first time in seven months, according to a Kyodo News survey conducted after Tuesday's passage of postal privatization bills in the House of Representatives....
COMMUNITY
Jul 7, 2005

Baby boomers fuel a boom in 'anti-aging' treatments

As baby boomers are heading for their sixties, anti-aging medicine is becoming popular in Japan -- though it may be some time before we catch up with the United States, where more is now reportedly spent on supplements than prescribed medicines.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2005

Japan WFP to engage private sector in fight against hunger

The Japan Association for the U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday that Itochu Corp. Chairman Uichiro Niwa will become its executive board's chairman in August, and that it will create a framework in which Japan's private sector can participate more actively in the global fight against hunger.
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2005

A bittersweet victory for Mr. Koizumi

With the Lower House's passage of the postal privatization bills Tuesday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi overcame an important hurdle in pushing the "centerpiece" of his reform agenda. The victory was bittersweet for Mr. Koizumi, however, as many members of his Liberal Democratic Party -- including...
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2005

'04 tax revenue up 5.3% as jobs, dividends grow

In a sign the economy is growing stronger, tax revenues in fiscal 2004 rose 5.3 percent from the previous year to 45.59 trillion yen for the first increase in four years, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Jul 5, 2005

Makers read the leaves: green tea is where it's at

A rowdy tea party is brewing in the soft drink industry as companies crank up already-intense competition in the rapidly growing market for bottled green tea.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes