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JAPAN
Oct 15, 2005

Postal bills become law

The hotly contested postal-privatization bills that have been at the center of a political firestorm this year were finally approved Friday, passing through a House of Councilors plenary session with relative ease.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2005

Hashimoto still can't recall check

Former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto took the witness stand Tuesday over his party faction's unreported donation from the Japan Dental Association, but the 100 million yen question is: Who was controlling the purse strings at the time?
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 9, 2005

Breaking the silence on sexuality in Japan

GENDERS, TRANSGENDERS AND SEXUALITIES IN JAPAN, edited by Mark McLelland and Romit Dasgupta. London: Routledge, 2005, 218 pp., £60 (cloth). Now that the conspiracies of silence have begun to evaporate, scholarly works on gender and transgender have begun to proliferate. This very interesting collection...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 9, 2005

Roll up! Roll up! For a freak show starring 'Koizumi's children'

Adding salt to its wounds, it was reported recently that the Democratic Party of Japan paid 129 million yen to the American public relations firm Fleischmann-Hillard to buff its image in 2004. Though it might have helped in last year's Upper House election, the company's strategy didn't seem to work...
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2005

Homemaking guru in hot water for talking about food in lieu of Diet

New Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Makiko Fujino, the "charismatic housewife" elected in the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election, took heat from her colleagues Friday after she missed a Diet session the day before to make two public presentations on cooking in Fukuoka, officials of the ruling...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 6, 2005

Dialogues of the heart

"It wasn't my intention to make any grandiose political statements here," Sally Potter said in an interview to promote the release of her new film, "Yes," in Japan. "I just wanted to show that dialogue and a relationship were possible between two people from two completely different cultures. Of course...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 4, 2005

Hidden wisdom of 'the guv,' Shintaro Ishihara

Adored by large sections of the Japanese public, reviled in equal measure by the foreign community and courted tirelessly by the domestic media: There are few more divisive figures in Japan today than Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2005

High court cans Yasukuni suit

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by 39 plaintiffs who sought damages from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the state for psychological stress they claim his August 2001 visit to Yasukuni Shrine caused.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2005

Toward a nuclear Japan?

The United States cannot stop nuclear proliferation, even though Japan and others will expect it to keep trying. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) has allowed North Korea and Iran to develop nuclear weapons on the sly. What will Japan conclude from this?
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2005

Merkel too weak to derail Turkey's bid

LONDON -- The near-tie in the Sept. 18 German poll, in which Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder came from 13 percentage points behind conservative challenger Angela Merkel in late August to less than one point behind her by election day, has thrown German politics into turmoil.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 26, 2005

Constitutional debate welcome

NEW YORK -- I was recently intrigued by the constitutional debate -- not in Iraq, but in Japan -- when I read a book on the art of writing, "Bungei Tokuhon," that Yukio Mishima dictated in 1958.
COMMUNITY
Sep 25, 2005

America's chip off the old block can't promise potatoes forever

When I was studying Soviet politics at graduate school in the 1960s, my professors were adamant about one thing: Soviet leaders viewed the world through the prism of their ideology (Marxism-Leninism), while we Americans were democratic, pragmatic and open to discourse.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2005

Koizumi to steer new lawmakers clear of factions

The Liberal Democratic Party leadership launched a series of study sessions Tuesday for its 83 fledgling House of Representatives members, a move expected to further weaken faction influence.
COMMENTARY
Sep 21, 2005

System's flaws help keep Koizumi on top

From the start of the recent Lower House election campaign it was predictable that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's theatrics -- his constant references to magic "kaikaku" (reform) and the alleged benefits from postal-service privatization -- would have its inevitable mesmerizing effect on Japan's...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 20, 2005

Brought to heel

The watchdog role of journalists in Japan is on trial in several cases with enormous implications for freedom of the press here
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2005

DPJ picks Maehara for top spot

The Democratic Party of Japan elected young conservative Seiji Maehara as its new president Saturday, passing over veteran former party leader Naoto Kan after suffering a devastating defeat in the House of Representatives election last week.
Japan Times
Features
Sep 18, 2005

Complexities of beauty

The tall, handsome foreigner took a seat next to a Japanese woman. Drinking in her delicate beauty, he leaned over and asked in a gentle voice: "Would you mind if I talk to you?"
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 17, 2005

Play it again, Sam . . . but with these lyrics

His name is Joe. And Joe says: "If you can't walk, dance. If you can't talk, sing. And you can't hear . . . just make things up."
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2005

Disaster responses redefine 'Third World'

BANGKOK -- "If America and Thailand were both hit by natural disaster, Thais would handle it better," a Thai lawyer once told me.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2005

Koizumi tells acolytes to stay away from factions

Despite the Liberal Democratic Party's overwhelming victory in Sunday's Lower House election, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appears to want to exert even more control over the LDP.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2005

Doi's loss ends 36-year Diet run

Former Social Democratic Party leader Takako Doi failed to retain her House of Representatives seat for a 13th term in Sunday's election, bringing a 36-year Diet run to an end.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2005

Again, a war that affects few Americans

HONOLULU -- In the four years since the terrorist assaults on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, at least two distinct changes in the realm of security have taken place: One seems to have escaped notice; the other is all too evident.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2005

Aussies adjust the moorings

BRISBANE, Australia -- While the historical origins and cultural roots of Australia lie in Europe, its primary strategic alliance is with the United States, its pri- mary security focus is on Southeast Asia, and its major trading partners are in Northeast Asia.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2005

Upper House postal rebel would change stance if LDP wins

Yoshitada Konoike, former state minister for disaster management who voted against the postal privatization bills in August, on Friday told the Liberal Democratic Party, to which he belongs, that he would support resubmission of the bills if the LDP-New Komeito coalition wins a majority in Sunday's election....
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2005

Seiko Noda and Yukari Sato in desperate battle in Gifu

GIFU -- A showdown between two female candidates has all eyes fixed on this sleepy conservative city in the Chubu region.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2005

Urban support seen as key for Horie

ONOMICHI, Hiroshima Pref. -- A small office in front of JR Onomichi Station attracts hundreds of visitors daily as the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election draws near.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Loyalties to party, candidates put to test

Politics are about making decisions, and some of the most difficult ones are those based on where loyalties lie.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2005

Crucial time for U.S.-China-Japan ties

SINGAPORE -- This week will be crucial for the U.S.-China-Japan relationship as U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao begin their summit in Washington on Wednesday, five days ahead of a key general election for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Bush's closest ally in...

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