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JAPAN
Apr 15, 2005

NPA poll finds 40% of firms faced racketeer extortion

About 40 percent of the Japanese companies responding to a recent survey admitted to experiencing extortion from racketeers and other mobsters.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 15, 2005

We are the robots

EXPO 2005 Aichi, now entering the fourth week of its 180-day run, is providing visitors with thousands of thrilling glimpses of the future. With all manner of advanced technology on show -- from humanoid robots to next-generation transportation systems -- the world of tomorrow has never felt so close....
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2005

Cost-cutting a safety threat: JAL unions

Unions at Japan Airlines Corp. are taking the opportunity of JAL being reprimanded by the government over recent safety shortcomings to fault the policies of management, especially its drastic cost-reduction efforts.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2005

Righting past humiliations

SINGAPORE -- China, South Korea and Indonesia have seen a rise of nationalism commensurate with their increasing economic confidence. The rise in national- ism can also be traced to historical humiliations suffered by China and South Korea a century or more ago, and to Indonesia's ordeal in the Asian...
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2005

For rent: Mount Fuji weather station; nice view

The Meteorological Agency is looking for tenants to rent a vacant weather monitoring station at the summit of Mount Fuji, according to an agency official.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 13, 2005

Kent Nagano conducts former collaborator Takemitsu

Kent Nagano is nothing if not a very busy man. The musical director of the Los Angeles Opera, the artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Berlin, and the guest director of many world-famous orchestras, the California native is in demand as one of the most popular opera...
EDITORIALS
Apr 13, 2005

Troubling events in China

The recent wave of anti-Japanese demonstrations in China raises questions about Beijing's will to stabilize the situation. At the beginning of this month, demonstrators went on a rampage in Sichuan and Shenzhen in southern China, smashing windows of a Japanese supermarket and committing other acts of...
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2005

Progress in Baghdad

After what seemed like interminable delay, Iraqi politicians have agreed on the country's top leaders. The posts have been filled by representatives from all of Iraq's main religious and ethnic groups, creating as inclusive a national leadership as possible. The agreement hints that deals have also been...
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

Japan still second on ODA list despite 0.2% decline in 2004

The amount of foreign aid Japan disbursed in 2004 fell 0.2 percent from the previous year to $8.859 billion on a preliminary basis, keeping it in second place among the world's 22 major foreign aid donors, the OECD's Development Assistance Committee said Monday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 11, 2005

You can lead a market to bonds, but you can't make it drink

The government budget for fiscal 2005 has been enacted, but the amount dependent on government bonds, although slightly lower than in fiscal 2004, is still above 40 percent.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 10, 2005

Early showing by Carp raises hope for repeat of 1975 glory

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first Central League championship won by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. It was in 1975 when the "Aka-Heru" (Red Helmets) played in their first Japan Series.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2005

Schieffer arrives with mandate to underscore ties

The new U.S. ambassador to Japan arrived Friday in Tokyo, saying he was delighted to be here and stressing the importance of the U.S. security alliance with Japan.
COMMENTARY
Apr 9, 2005

Can John Bolton save the United Nations?

WASHINGTON -- The United Nations is a mess. Often corrupt and venal, always inefficient and wasteful, frequently captured by the worst political interests, and commonly motivated by the most extreme ideological impulses, the organization is anything but "the last great hope of mankind." If anyone can...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2005

Dalai Lama arrives, urges followers to fulfill late pope's wishes for peace

Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, arrived Friday in Japan, urging people to carry on Pope John Paul II's legacy of peace as the world prepares for the pontiff's funeral.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2005

Singapore turns to Japan's matchmakers as birthrate sags

Japan might assist in Singapore's efforts to set up matchmaking services, sources said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2005

Mr. Koizumi's privatization battle

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration, which has just completed a skeleton draft bill to privatize postal services, is trying hard to iron out the remaining differences with the Liberal Democratic Party -- a crucial process that will largely determine the nature and direction of postal privatization....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2005

Sakura, where art thou?

Here's a quick introduction to the Hato Bus Company: They're Tokyo's oldest tour bus operator. They cart holidaymakers around the country -- sometimes to far-flung places, sometimes to Roppongi Hills. They're a wonderful way to palm off guests from overseas, at least for a day. They make you wear bright...
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2005

Honda hopes compact wagon debut snaps slide

Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it will start selling its first compact station wagon this week.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Apr 8, 2005

A new cellarful of tipples

The dot-com era saw an unfortunate number of foreign wine promoters descend on Japan. They were armed with snappy Powerpoint presentations and talk of quick riches, but their only apparent success was in relieving investors of their excess cash before moving on.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Apr 7, 2005

"Skinny B, Skaz and Me," "Ice Drift"

"Skinny B, Skaz and Me," John Singleton, Puffin Books; 2005; 274 pp.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 6, 2005

Getting an eyeful at Goggle Central

The HQ of Japan's current '60s revival is a small office above a Chinese restaurant next to Koenji Station in Tokyo. That's the office of Sazanami Label, a record company started in 2003 by the band Goggle-A. Having formed in 1994 and with four studio albums behind them, they are veterans of this burgeoning...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Screening preceded by state bid to unify thought

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry on Tuesday released the results of its screening of textbooks for use in junior high schools from next April.
COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2005

Security quest curtailing vital freedoms

LONDON -- Since 9/11, the United States and other democratic countries have given priority to security, often at the expense of freedom, justice and human rights. Governments reckon that if they fail to take all possible steps to defend their citizens they will be rightly accused of dereliction of duty....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 6, 2005

Group Sounds A-Go-Go

After The Beatles played Budokan in 1966, hordes of Japanese kids descended on their local barber shops bearing a photo of their favorite member of the band and demanding a moptop. Then they'd buy a guitar, form a band in their bedroom and mimic the sound of their British Invasion heroes, be they the...

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