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SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 13, 2004

Time to put distractions aside and get season under way

LONDON -- The buildup to what promises to be the closest, most exciting Premiership ever has been overshadowed by the Football Association soap opera, the Patrick Vieira saga and more recently Michael Owen's propoesed move to Real Madrid.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2004

Asian currency zone beckons

There is no doubt that the stable renminbi (RMB) exchange rate, pegged at about 8.25 yuan to the U.S. dollar, has helped China's economic development. It has brought about enormous production capacity in the export industries. Meanwhile, the sharp increase in exports to the United States has prompted...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 8, 2004

Happy Democrats suffer some nostalgia

WASHINGTON -- A lot of Democrats arrived home from the 44th national convention of their party happy that the performance of their new nominee exceeded their expectations and that the entire presentation was positive and error-free.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2004

DPJ loses another ploy to derail pension reforms

The House of Representatives on Thursday voted down an opposition camp no-confidence motion against Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi and a Democratic Party of Japan bill to repeal recently enacted pension reform legislation.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2004

DPJ loses another ploy to derail pension reforms

The House of Representatives on Thursday voted down an opposition camp no-confidence motion against Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi and a Democratic Party of Japan bill to repeal recently enacted pension reform legislation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Aug 6, 2004

A feel of the real Edo

The Marunouchi business district, the national government center of Kasumigaseki, and the Diet building in Nagatacho all stand on land that in the Edo Period (1603-1868) was reserved exclusively for daimyo lords.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2004

No hurry to soothe China

The recent jeering of Japanese by Chinese soccer fans in the Asian Cup soccer tournament in China has not prompted Japan to speed up talks over a proposed secular war memorial, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2004

No rush on some 9/11 panel proposals

WASHINGTON -- The recent 9/11 Commission report is without a doubt one of the most thorough, most important and best studies by any such independent group in recent decades in the United States. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry and now President George W. Bush, as well as much of the...
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2004

Libyan envoy says Tripoli seeks deeper ties with Tokyo

Libyan Ambassador to Japan Muftah Faitouri said Tuesday that his country has opened itself to the international community by abandoning its weapons of mass destruction.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2004

Libyan envoy says Tripoli seeks deeper ties with Tokyo

Libyan Ambassador to Japan Muftah Faitouri said Tuesday that his country has opened itself to the international community by abandoning its weapons of mass destruction.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2004

DPJ's Fujii calls on Hashimoto to quit over scandal

Hirohisa Fujii, secretary general of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, said Sunday that former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto should resign from the Diet for allegedly receiving an undeclared 100 million yen donation from a dentists' group.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2004

Fistful of troubles for Chirac

PARIS — Ever since French President Charles de Gaulle vetoed Britain's entry into the European Common Market and took his country out of the integrated military structure of the NATO alliance, France has had a reputation as a country that knows how to say "no" — a reputation greatly bolstered by...
EDITORIALS / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jul 30, 2004

Taking care of business

The extraordinary Diet session that opens Friday should be an occasion to review the outcome of the July 11 Upper House election. This is true especially for the Liberal Democratic Party, which failed to win its targeted number of seats. Yet neither the LDP nor the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 26, 2004

Separate but equal acts of reconciliation

NEW YORK -- In "My Life" (Knopf, 2004), former U.S. President Bill Clinton writes: "Elizabeth Eckford, who at 15 was deeply seared emotionally by vicious harassment as she walked alone through an angry mob, was reconciled with Hazel Massery, one of the girls who had taunted her 40 years earlier."
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2004

Strange bedfellows

Strange segues: Yes, festivals give audiences an opportunity to sample everything from classic hits to upcoming trends. And yes, an eccentric juxtaposition of bands can reveal unexpected musical relationships or introduce you to new music. But somethings just don't belong together like this downright...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 18, 2004

Hard-boiled and stuck to Thai ways

"When I finish a book I collapse and say, 'That's it. Never again,' " sighs Bangkok-based author Christopher G. Moore. "About three, four months later the demons pull me back, and the whole mad process starts over."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2004

Dental donation scandal widens

Tamisuke Watanuki, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, has admitted to accepting a 5 million yen donation from the scandal-tainted Japan Dental Association, his office said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2004

Look who's turned 64

Ringo Starr, the oldest and quaintest Beatle, turned 64 earlier this month. For baby boomers everywhere, his July 7 birthday was as sobering in its way as New Year's Day 1984, when reality finally overtook George Orwell's grim fable about a dystopian future. The British novelist finished writing "Nineteen...
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2004

A tale of two occupations

HONG KONG -- History did not repeat itself in Iraq as the Americans naively expected. While it has become obvious that U.S. intelligence reports and analysis were deficient in the runup to the war, less attention has been paid to the fact that the United States occupied Iraq imbued with a dubious historical...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 14, 2004

Slices of life don't quite hit the spot

At Five in the Afternoon Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Samira Makhmalbaf Running time: 105 minutes Language: Persian Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Take Care of My Cat Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Jeong Jae Eun Running time: 112 minutes Language:...
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2004

Constitutional revisionists see gain

Diet forces vowing to keep the Constitution intact lost further ground in the House of Councilors election, as the Japanese Communist Party suffered a major setback and the tiny Social Democratic Party barely hung on, according to final results released Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2004

Singer, skier, Korean win seats

Okinawa singer and peace activist Shokichi Kina, one of the celebrity hopefuls who ran in Sunday's House of Councilors election, won a seat in the Diet.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2004

Last Greens Japan representative falls

Atsuo Nakamura, the leader and only member of the Greens Japan party in the House of Councilors, lost his seat in Sunday's election, according to the final results announced Monday by the Central Election Administration Committee.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2004

Poor LDP showing suggests Koizumi magic wearing thin

The setback suffered by the Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's House of Councilors election indicates that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's magical voter appeal is ebbing.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 11, 2004

Believe it ... or not

Japan's vast hoard of war booty known as Yamashita's Gold was long thought to be buried in caves in the Philippines. But in their book 'Gold Warriors,' Sterling and Peggy Seagrave sensationally claim that the treasure trove was secretly recovered -- and continues to oil the wheels of politics in Japan...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jul 11, 2004

Exile in America inspired a revolution

MOSCOW -- George Balanchine was an exile thrice. The first time came without his consent and even without his prior knowledge, as his family went from its native Georgia in the Caucasus to the capital of Russia, St. Petersburg, before he was born.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years