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BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 20, 2005

Who says you can't teach old baseball teams new tricks?

"New" is the watchword for Japanese baseball in 2005.
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2005

Tertiary industry activity up second year

The tertiary industry activity index gained 2.2 percent in 2004 from the previous year for the second straight yearly rise, with the index registering its highest score since 1988, the government said Wednesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 23, 2005

Foreign stars to battle Japan stars in March 14 charity game

Kudos: To Bobby Valentine, Trey Hillman, Tsutomu Ito, Kazuhiko Ushijima and all the players who will participate in the Pro Yakyu Charity Game at Tokyo Dome on Monday, March 14.
COMMENTARY
Feb 8, 2005

LDP missing the big picture

How to privatize postal services is the biggest issue in the regular Diet session. The government plans to introduce a privatization package in mid-March, and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has vowed to "get it through the current session at all costs." But with many members of the Liberal Democratic...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2005

LDP seeks more robust postal control

The Liberal Democratic Party aims to convince the government to expand its control of postal operations even after privatization begins in a bid to ensure uniform services nationwide, according to party sources.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2005

Tougher restrictions on foreign entertainers to be enforced in March

The planned restrictions on foreign entertainers, mostly affecting women from the Philippines, will be put in place during the first half of March, government officials said Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2005

Lineage of the Asian community concept

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Last fall the embryonic concept of an Asian community appeared to gain some momentum. Now, of course, other topics, mainly the tragedy of the Dec. 26 tsunamis, have monopolized public attention, but the vision of a broader Asian community deserves further discussion.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2005

Koizumi repeats postal reform line

Postal privatization -- Page 3 REIJI YOSHIDA Staff writer Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated his resolve Friday to split the nation's state-run postal services into four privatized companies -- a plan destined to put the prime minister and his own party on a collision course.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 12, 2005

What's in a name? The good, the bad and the absurd

From the (e-)mail bag, Patrick O'Mara from Washington, D.C., sent the following message: "I'm writing as a new fan to the game; my wife got me into (baseball) this past season, when the Red Sox finally overcame the Yankees. My question is why do they call it the "World" Series?
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2005

Yasukuni Shrine Web site crippled in cyber war

The Yasukuni Shrine Web site has been under attack from hackers since September, a shrine official said Thursday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 29, 2004

Eagles hope to soar in first year with acquisition of Iwakuma

Here is my final column of 2004, the most tumultuous year in the history of Japanese pro baseball.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 28, 2004

Boating, studying and moving to Japan

The last column of the year! Where did the weeks go?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 25, 2004

Last-minute gifts for discerning foreigners

Merry Christmas! If you are one of those people who waits till the last nano-second to do your Christmas shopping, don't worry. You've still got till midnight tonight to get a Christmas present for that special gaijin you forgot about.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2004

Koizumi's LDP foes boast own postal 'reform' plan

The Liberal Democratic Party adopted its own basic plan on postal reform Tuesday, incorporating criticism leveled by opponents of the government's plan to privatize the state-backed Japan Post.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 21, 2004

Workplace worries

Bullying and dismissal I've been working for a private university for almost eight years. During that time, I have put up with constant "ijime" from two other teachers, who finally got their way and are having me fired. No reason was given for my firing.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 10, 2004

Six sure-fire gift ideas for fellow wine-lovers

There appears to be an entire cottage industry dedicated to making the kind of wine-themed gifts that imbibers everywhere are hoping not to receive this season -- our favorite of which is the doormat which says, "We love good wine. Did you bring any?"
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 5, 2004

Way of the corporate giant robot

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, by Yoshiyuki Tomino, translated by Frederik L. Schodt with an introduction by Mark Simmons. Stone Bridge Press, 2004, $14.95 (paper). Yoshiyuki "Kill 'em All" Tomino is the mega-prolific creator of the Mobile Suit Gundam phenomenon, known, perhaps a little patronizingly, as the "Star...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 9, 2004

When stumped, real English teachers 'goflibberate'

The other day I had coffee with a foreign friend who bore the fizzled hair and drooping face of long years of English teaching in Japan. It looked like the blood had been sucked from his skin and bicycle-pumped into his eyeballs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 2, 2004

Democrats Abroad: last chance to vote Bush out

Lauren Shannon is both a director and the front-of-house manager of Fujimamas, the highly successful restaurant bar and cafe in Jingumae, central Tokyo. An American citizen, she is also the vice chair of Democrats Abroad.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 25, 2004

Joan Burk

This year, the Association of Foreign Wives of Japanese celebrates its 35th anniversary. Founder Joan Burk says she has a special bond with the unique organization. "I think of AFWJ as my baby," she wrote from her present home in Canada. "I will always be interested in everything about AFWJ and its members....
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 21, 2004

When it happens, it happens

A whirlwind romance Shortly before I was to return to Australia, I went to a Christmas party in the small town where I was studying Japanese.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 7, 2004

What's a (Western) woman to do?

Many Western women in Japan complain that, despite plentiful romance in their home countries, they now face a dating desert.
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2004

ACCA admits customer data leak

High-speed Internet access provider ACCA Networks Co. said Thursday that personal data on 339,177 customers has been leaked.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2004

Bigotry hounds former Hansen's patients

At first, Japanese victims of Hansen's disease were jubilant after a court fined a hot spring resort that turned them away last year. Then came the hate mail.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2004

Counselors now target Japanese overseas

The growing number of Japanese nationals residing abroad -- expected to surpass 1 million by 2006 -- is being matched by the need for specialist counseling agencies that help with the stress of living in an alien culture.
EDITORIALS
Aug 18, 2004

How will postal privatization help?

Japan's postal savings system, along with mail and insurance services, is to be privatized over a 10-year period beginning in 2007, according to the guidelines drawn up by the government's Economic and Fiscal Policy Council earlier this month. The question is how to transform the system into a viable...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 16, 2004

A fairy tale warning for financial giants

Oscar Wilde is the spinner of some of the finest tales in literary history. He wrote for a very wide-ranging public, including children. His fairy tales are truly fine. It is a characteristic of Wilde's fantasy tales for children that they contain profound insights into the very real world of adult folly...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION '04
Jul 7, 2004

Net-based campaigning still long way off

Candidates vying for House of Councilors seats in Sunday's election will not have the luxury of updating their positions or activities via the popular medium of the Internet.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2004

Stay-at-home sales agents cash in on Internet revolution

Housewife Tomoko Kobayashi puts on her Web businesswoman's hat at 9 a.m., after all her morning chores are out of the way.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji