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EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2006

A disappointing Diet session

The 164th regular Diet session -- the last Diet session for Mr. Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister -- has ended without fanfare. The session was tasked with making an overall review of his reforms, achieved or unachieved, since he took the reins of power in April 2001. But lawmakers have failed to fulfill...
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2006

Trust banks should handle assets, new BOJ member says

Newly appointed Bank of Japan Policy Board member Tadao Noda said Monday that entrusting stockholdings with trust banks is one way to boost the transparency of senior BOJ officials' financial assets.
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...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 16, 2006

Having a laugh with Ryuichi Hiroki

A veteran director of "pink" movies, Ryuichi Hiroki won critical acclaim for the 1994 youth drama "800 (800 -- Two Lap Runner)," his breakthrough into straight films. He first collaborated with Shinobu Terajima -- star of his new movie "Yawarakai Seikatsu -- in "Vibrator," a romantic road movie that...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2006

Supreme Court to issue ruling June 23 on Yasukuni visit

capacity as prime minister." In July 2005, the Osaka High Court turned down the plaintiffs' appeal of the district court decision, issuing no opinion on the constitutionality of the shrine visit. The high court also refrained from ruling on whether the visit was official in nature.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 6, 2006

Murakami arrested over insider trading

Outspoken investment fund manager Yoshiaki Murakami was arrested Monday for alleged insider trading linked to his investment fund's purchase of Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. shares between late 2004 and early 2005.
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
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 1, 2006

Addressing social issues with drama

The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is often dubbed "the father of modern drama" for being one of the first to place ordinary people squarely center stage. Forty-four-year-old Yoji Sakate, founder of the Rinkogun theater company, has now created not just an homage to this Scandinavian icon,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 30, 2006

Would you pay more tax to stop whale hunting?

Masuko Hosokawa Office worker, 66 I disagree with whale hunting. Whale meat is delicious, but it's not good to catch so many whales. I would pay more taxes to help subsidize fishermen, but only a little bit. And I wouldn't pay higher taxes for anything else.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 26, 2006

Inaba drives in three for Fighters to cut Giants down to size

Sure, let the big guy sit. And let the kid pitch too.
JAPAN
May 25, 2006

Abe looks to enter LDP race after G8

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe hinted Wednesday he will officially announce his candidacy to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after the mid-July summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in St. Petersburg, Russia.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2006

New Keidanren chief urges Asia diplomatic thaw

The new chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) has urged the government to swiftly resolve the nation's conflict with its Asian neighbors over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine.
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2006

Is Europe turning toward a strong euro?

PALO ALTO, California -- European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet made news at the press conference following the May meeting of the ECB Governing Council not by what he said, but by what he did not say.
JAPAN
May 20, 2006

Young killers at heart of capital punishment fight

it just did it right there." His flippant attitude at the time and during his trial outraged Yayoi's husband, Hiroshi, and prosecutors, who appealed the life sentence, demanding the death penalty.
SPORTS / E-LIST
May 17, 2006

A WBC curse for Matsui?

No one should hate Hideki Matsui. Save that for the New York Yankees as a whole and for George Steinbrenner, who can be a decent guy if you're a schoolkid from Iowa. But for the part of the world not obsessed with the Bronx Bombers, it is a little bit easier.
JAPAN
May 17, 2006

Aso says change needed in war-dead system

Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Tuesday he sees problems in the current method of honoring the war dead at Yasukuni Shrine and suggested that having a single religious institution in charge of the system needs changing.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2006

An 'OPEC' with nuclear weapons?

LONDON -- When I was in Moscow a few months ago I got into an argument with a retired high-level NATO official.
JAPAN
May 16, 2006

Fukuda gaining ground on Abe

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda has narrowed the gap with Shinzo Abe, the current chief Cabinet secretary, in a popularity ranking of possible candidates to replace Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, an opinion poll showed Monday.
COMMENTARY
May 15, 2006

The post-Koizumi gauntlet

Japan's political future hinges on the successor to Junichiro Koizumi, whose tenure as president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party and, hence, prime minister will end in four months. Opinion polls show Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe is by far the most popular potential contender for the premiership,...
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2006

Never give an inch to China

Tokyo's propensity for getting into territorial and maritime boundary disputes with its neighbors seems large. And if the disputes with China escalate any further, they could make the recent confrontation with South Korea over the Takeshima islets (Dokdo in Korean) look tame.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2006

Tibetans' next hope after Dalai Lama

MADRAS, India -- Railway lines fulfill dreams -- at least in modern times. But the one about to link central Tibet with China threatens to dash hopes.
EDITORIALS
May 4, 2006

Minamata's legacy after 50 years

Fifty years have passed since the first official recognition of Minamata disease, a major symbol of Japan's postwar industrial pollution. Yet relief for those who suffered massive organic mercury poisoning, dating back to the 1950s and '60s, has not been fully delivered. More than 3,700 people have filed...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 29, 2006

English media get what they deserve if Big Phil takes charge

LONDON -- Having done much to press the Football Association's hand in forcing it to tell Sven-Goran Eriksson that he will not be the England head coach after the World Cup finals, the English football media found themselves in a pickle.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2006

DPJ win helps Ozawa, reflects anti-LDP mood

The narrow victory of a Democratic Party of Japan candidate in Sunday's by-election in Chiba Prefecture has given a boost to the main opposition force's new president, Ichiro Ozawa, virtually assuring his re-election in the DPJ's presidential poll in September, political pundits say.
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2006

A textbook contradiction

Japanese school-textbook publishers are puzzled over contradictory moves recently made by separate administrative authorities. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology imposed government views on the publishers when it announced the results of screening of textbooks for high...
EDITORIALS
Apr 22, 2006

Trust and the Food Safety Commission

The trustworthiness of the Food Safety Commission appears to be in jeopardy. Half of the 12-member panel under the commission that was tasked with assessing the safety of North American beef resigned as of March 31. The six who quit were regarded by consumer groups as being cautious about the idea of...
EDITORIALS
Apr 18, 2006

France refuses to face economic facts

It is hard to find a silver lining in the clouds that hover over France's economic future. Months of sustained political protest by French students forced a humiliating defeat on the Paris government, obliging it to withdraw a package of labor reforms that would have made it easier to fire first-time...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Apr 14, 2006

Knight expands fashion empire

Eccentric British fashion designer Paul Smith is currently presiding over a rollout of stores across the globe. Following on from the December 2005 opening of a bubblegum-pink store on Melrose Avenue, L.A., last week he was in Tokyo to unveil a four-story flagship in the Aoyama district. Later this year...
COMMENTARY
Apr 14, 2006

Slow courtship for the Vatican and China

HONG KONG -- A senior Chinese official has acknowledged that Beijing and the Vatican have been in contact about the normalization of diplomatic relations. This was the first formal confirmation of hints from Vatican officials that negotiations for the restoration of ties, broken since 1951, were going...

Longform

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