Search - 2005

 
 
COMMENTARY
Dec 25, 2004

Strained Japan-China ties bode ill for region's future

HONG KONG -- Beijing's relations with Tokyo, already strained by the intrusion of a Chinese nuclear submarine into Japanese territorial waters last month, have been worsened by Japan's release on Dec. 10 of a new National Defense Program Outline that for the first time names China as a potential threat....
COMMENTARY
Dec 25, 2004

Waiting for Japan to change -- or can it?

LOS ANGELES -- For as long as I write this column on Asia, which enters into its 10th year next month, I doubt I'll ever witness anything as amusing or telling as the flareup that took place at the close of the University of Southern California's Asia Conference last month.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2004

Government eyes medical teams for disaster victims

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will form about 200 medical teams and assign them to hospitals nationwide to bolster earthquake- and other disaster-response measures, ministry officials said Thursday.
Dec 24, 2004

Government eyes medical teams for disaster victims

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will form about 200 medical teams and assign them to hospitals nationwide to bolster earthquake- and other disaster-response measures, ministry officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2004

Japan throws 10 billion yen at China gas exploration dispute

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday said it will allocate 10.1 billion yen in the fiscal 2005 budget to build a ship for gas exploration in the East China Sea, where Japan and China are embroiled in an energy dispute.
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2004

Auto liability premiums to rise in '05

Drivers with compulsory automobile liability insurance will have to pay about 4,000 yen more in fiscal 2005 because the government plans to phase out subsidies over the next four years, government officials said.
BASKETBALL
Dec 22, 2004

New hoop league to hold open tryouts

The bj league, Japan's first professional basketball circuit with six men's teams, will hold an open tryout for all applicants in February before fairly distributing the players between the teams, league officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2004

1 billion yen to increase staff at U.N.

The Finance Ministry earmarked 1.23 billion yen in the draft budget for fiscal 2005 Monday to increase the number of Japanese in the United Nations and related organizations as it doggedly pursues a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2004

Local tax grants escape financial ax

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Taro Aso agreed Saturday to earmark 16.9 trillion yen in tax grants for local governments next fiscal year, unchanged from this year, according to Finance Ministry officials.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2004

Koizumi, Roh back six-way talks, in no hurry for sanctions

IBUSUKI, Kagoshima Pref. -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun said Friday they will seek an early resumption of six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear threat.
Dec 18, 2004

Koizumi, Roh back six-way talks, in no hurry for sanctions

IBUSUKI, Kagoshima Pref. -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun said Friday they will seek an early resumption of six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear threat.
BUSINESS
Dec 18, 2004

Toyota engine plant revs up in China

Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday its joint venture with China FAW Group Corp. has launched production of 3-liter gasoline engines in Changchun, Jilin Province.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 17, 2004

FIBA likes Japan's plan for 2006 world championships

Top executives from FIBA, basketball's world governing body, recently visited Japan for a site inspection tour of the five cities and venues that will host games here during the 2006 world championships.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2004

Disaster broadcasts via cell phone eyed

More than a year has passed since terrestrial digital broadcasting services began a new TV era in Japan, with the services spreading to rural prefectures.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2004

North Korea may get deadline to fully explain Yokota's fate

Japan will set a deadline for North Korea to give a full and honest account of the fate of abductee Megumi Yokota if it does not respond sincerely to a protest Japan filed over the matter, government sources said Saturday.
Dec 12, 2004

North Korea may get deadline to fully explain Yokota's fate

Japan will set a deadline for North Korea to give a full and honest account of the fate of abductee Megumi Yokota if it does not respond sincerely to a protest Japan filed over the matter, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2004

Defense policy overhauled to meet new global threats

The government announced Friday plans to conduct a sweeping overhaul of its defense policy, adjusting Japan's armed forces to better handle new threats such as terrorism and giving them a greater global role.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2004

Government approves new bullet train initiatives

The government and ruling coalition gave the go-ahead Friday for new bullet train projects in Hokkaido, Kyushu and the Hokuriku region.
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2004

At last, Asia is taking shape

HONOLULU -- For generations, East Asia has been identified as a geographical entity -- it was a region on a map -- but it lacked a coherent identity beyond that. That is changing. East Asia is laying the foundation for an international presence that will rival that of the European Union. Last month's...
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2004

Tax hikes could be recipe for recession, analysts say

Books and Web sites devoted to the art of economizing describe the savings per month from "recycling" leftovers by putting them in stews and tempura (2,600 yen), taking shorter showers (540 yen) and flushing toilets at low-intensity (720 yen).
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2004

Long-range missile quest off defense buildup plan

The government will not begin controversial research into long-range precision missile technology, according to the fiscal 2005-2009 midterm defense buildup plan handed to the ruling bloc Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2004

Extended Iraq tour a given from get-go

Although media opinion polls showed most respondents opposed extending the Self-Defense Forces deployment to Iraq, the government never seriously discussed a pullout of the Japanese troops from the war-torn country at the Dec. 14 end of their one-year mission.

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