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JAPAN
Oct 31, 2004

Confusion reigns over Iraq hostage

The government was thrown into confusion Saturday over the fate of a Japanese man who had been taken hostage by militants in Iraq threatening to kill him unless Japan withdraws its ground troops from the country.
JAPAN
May 29, 2004

Two Japanese reported killed south of Baghdad

Two Japanese freelance journalists died after their vehicle was attacked by unidentified assailants in the city of Mahmudiyah, about 30 km south of Baghdad, a Foreign Ministry official in Tokyo quoted Iraqi hospital officials as saying Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2004

People of Myanmar need Asia's support to hasten their passage to democracy

BANGKOK -- It was ridiculous to hear Myanmar's prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt, call on the literati to collaborate with the government in building a military-dominated nation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2004

Japanese trio held hostage in Iraq

Three Japanese civilians have been taken hostage in Iraq by a terrorist-related group that has threatened to kill them if Japan does not withdraw its troops from the country in three days.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

Crackdown has publishers running scared

Yasunori Okadome last month suspended publication of his profitable monthly gossip magazine Uwasa-no-shinso (The Truth Behind Rumors), due to fears that a lawsuit could put him out of business for good.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2004

DPJ lawmaker denies taking aide's pay

A senior lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Japan denied Tuesday he registered as his publicly paid secretary a woman who did not work for his office.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2004

Bird flu so far hasn't led to consumer panic seen with 2001 BSE outbreak

Consumers responded calmly Wednesday to news of the first outbreak of avian flu in Japan since 1925.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jan 7, 2004

Putin's plan takes aim at democracy

MOSCOW -- 2004 is a leap year. Merely an astronomical convenience in most countries, in Russia a leap year has been traditionally regarded as a bad year, potentially charged with calamities. Ironically enough, none of the country's worst years was a leap year: neither 1917, when the Communists took power,...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 9, 2003

Did sports rags hire students to stuff ballot box for Godzilla?

A couple of selections from the mail bag this week.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 26, 2003

Jiro Hirano

When he was poised between high school and university in the late 1950s, Jiro Hirano had a vague idea that in life he wanted to do "something international." He knew he didn't want to study at the University of Tokyo, as his father and brother and cousins had before him. "I wanted to have a way of my...
COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2003

China's systemic incompetence can sicken world

HONG KONG -- An ugly new strain of atypical pneumonia has medical scientists working overtime in their research laboratories across the world, as they strive to discover why a growing number of patients are now suffering and dying in many nations from this previously unknown virus that is being blamed...
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2003

African reporter seeks more balance

A Zimbabwe-born journalist wants the Japanese media to broaden its perspective and interest in African issues and be more balanced in its coverage. To help achieve this goal, he's calling for the establishment of an African news agency in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 2, 2003

In pursuit of 'reality,' TV sinks to new depths

Last week, a judge ruled in favor of NHK in the public broadcaster's libel suit against Kodansha. The publisher's monthly magazine Gendai ran an article in Oct. 2000 that said NHK persuaded fishermen in Indonesia to re-create a method for catching fish involving explosives for a news report. The court...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2003

New privacy bill unshackles media

A new version of a privacy-protection bill features an exemption clause for news media and professional writers and may thus ease concerns about restrictions on press freedom, according to a draft obtained Wednesday by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2002

Press clubs stymie free trade in information: EU

When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made his historic visit to North Korea on Sept. 17, the only foreign journalists allowed to accompany him were a select few from the United States and South Korea.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Alleged abductees' kin hopeful, skeptical

Families of those believed to have been abducted to North Korea welcomed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's plan to visit the Stalinist state next month as an opportunity to make some headway on the thorny issue.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 2, 2002

Who's got the scoop on the Shenyang Five?

The disagreement between the foreign ministries of Japan and China over the attempted defection by five North Koreans at the Japanese consulate in Shenyang was intensified by a comment made early on by LDP Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda. During a press conference, Fukuda looked at the assembled...
LIFE / Digital
May 23, 2002

Net making inroads on World Cup

South Korea has already won the World Cup, virtually.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2002

Media must probe collusion: group

Japanese news media should make greater efforts to shed light on collusive ties between politicians and bureaucrats in the wake of revelations of close relations between lawmaker Muneo Suzuki and the Foreign Ministry, members of an advisory committee to Kyodo News have said.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Feb 24, 2002

Like mama, like son

George's Bar, on a corner of the former site of the Defense Agency headquarters in Roppongi, needs no introduction to its hundreds of regulars. For those who haven't dropped by recently, though, I have some good news and some bad news.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2001

Royal baby expected to bring 14 trillion yen boost to economy

The birth of a royal baby is expected to motivate the Japanese to spend 14 trillion yen, providing welcome stimulus to the decelerating economy.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 16, 2001

Documenting an unprecedented disaster

Crises, it is often said, bring out the best and the worst in people. In the case of the terrorist attacks that took place in the United States on Tuesday, the best was illustrated by citizens waiting five hours to donate blood, while the worst was exemplified by service stations gouging customers for...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 23, 2001

Dalton Tanonaka

The face and the voice are instantly familiar to viewers of CNN International's "BizAsia" show. Dalton Tanonaka is the anchor for this daily half-hour coverage of regional economic, corporate and political news, which includes interviews with famous people. Produced out of Hong Kong, "BizAsia" is the...
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 9, 2001

Show me what you've got!

I'd like to greet all the players in the J. League and look forward to seeing the joy of football in Japan this year. I'd specifically like to welcome the new foreign players. My message to you, as well as to the Japanese players, is simply play your best, play football.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Mar 5, 2001

Bush works on tax cuts while Clinton dodges more controversy

WASHINGTON -- "Beauty and the Beast" was on television Monday night -- the movie, not the continuing news saga of our current president and the most recent former one. That show seems to be a never-ending saga.
JAPAN / FREEDOM OF PRESS IN THE BALANCE
Nov 29, 2000

Media considering best way to handle public's loss of faith

An amendment in June to Japan's 54-year-old Canon of Journalism apparently reflects the sense of crisis within the nation's news organizations over the apparent growing public dissatisfaction with the industry.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2000

Kyodo begins work on new offices

Kyodo News, Japan's leading news agency, held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday to commemorate the start of construction of its new 34-story headquarters in the Shiodome district of Tokyo's Minato Ward.
COMMENTARY
Sep 16, 2000

Public TV in the digital era

LONDON -- The British Broadcasting Corporation was a pioneer of public-service broadcasting when it was established in the 1920s. It built up a strong reputation in its early years under its first director, General Lord Reith, although it also earned the nick-name of "Auntie" because it was regarded...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami