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JAPAN
Apr 8, 2006

Yokota's spouse South Korean

A DNA analysis suggests that the husband of Megumi Yokota, a Japanese national kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977 at age 13, is a South Korean who was also abducted by the North, a Japanese government official said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2006

Problems in textbook screening

The Education, Science and Technology Ministry has screened and approved 306 textbooks, most of them for first-year high-school students, for use from next spring. Departing from the original screening policy, the ministry has accepted inclusion of topics and concepts beyond the scope of the current...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 8, 2006

Clothes as a threat to society from 1950s to now

Told in advance by his publisher that Paul Gorman would be waiting in the reception area of Hotel New Otani, I find him jet-lagged, with a cold, and wearing a 25-year-old T-shirt that in suitably faded fashion screams "SEX PISTOLS" across his chest.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2006

Foreign students' goal of career proves elusive

In line with the government's campaign launched in 1983 to boost the number of foreign students in Japan to the 100,000 mark, the figure came to some 117,000 in 2004.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 7, 2006

Turntable takedown

In junior high, when Kentaro Okamoto first encountered DJing on a televised DJ battle, he could never have suspected that he would end up winning the 2002 DMC World Final Championship for his talent on the turntables, or spinning alongside hip-hop royalty like The Roots and Pharcyde.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 6, 2006

Yanagisawa leaves hospital, seeks early comeback

Japan and Kashima Antlers striker Atsushi Yanagisawa left a hospital Wednesday after undergoing surgery for a fractured bone in his right foot.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2006

U.S. is its own worst enemy

HONG KONG -- U.S. congressmen heartily congratulated themselves when -- after their outcry -- Dubai Ports World backed off and decided to relinquish control of the U.S. ports that were included in its takeover of P&O.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 6, 2006

An art born of Saicho's syncretism

This year marks the 1,200th anniversary of the founding of the Buddhist Tendai sect in Japan, when Priest Saicho (767-822), posthumously known as Dengyo Daishi, received court permission to establish a school of religious study and training at Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hie to the northeast of Kyoto....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 6, 2006

Soylent green is now money

Written in 2003 by German playwright Rene Pollesch, "Soylent Green ist Menschenfleisch, sagt es allen weiter! (Soylent Green is people, tell everybody!)" is like a great sand dune full of hidden diamonds. Four actors -- three anonymous women and a man -- speak in monologues to each other and the audience...
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2006

Privatization of JR Tokai complete after 20 years

The Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency said Wednesday it has sold all of its 12.77 percent stake in Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), completing the privatization of the firm 20 years after the breakup of the Japanese National Railways.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 6, 2006

Your greatest fears become reality

Awee figure of a man, dressed in a cuddly gray Dangermouse jumpsuit, enters a wrestling ring screeching, "Dangermouse saves the day!" Three menacing-looking Japanese pro-wrestlers proceed to chase him around the ring, smashing fluorescent light bulbs on his head as he tries to fend them off with his...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 6, 2006

Tokyo Shock Boys have no fear, but they do have limits

Part of Dirty Sanchez's six days in Japan was spent with their spiritual forefathers, The Tokyo Shock Boys, known in Japan as Dengeki Network. The boys, who are now in the their late 30s, have been on the comedy circuit since 1990, entertaining audiences with don't-try-this-at-home-kids stunts, things...
MORE SPORTS
Apr 5, 2006

Asada to skate in team competition

Figure skating sensation Mao Asada is scheduled to take part in a tournament pitting professional and amateurs in a team competition between Japan, North America and Europe in May, organizers said Tuesday.
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 5, 2006

Zico to announce roster on May 15

Japan coach Zico said Tuesday he will submit the 23-man World Cup finals roster to the Japan Football Association on May 15.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2006

Aso says he can't understand why Hu won't talk

Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday characterized as "beyond comprehension" Chinese President Hu Jintao's ruling out a summit with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi unless he stops visiting Yasukuni Shrine.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2006

Half the members of beef safety panel step down

Half of the 12-member group of experts tasked with assessing the safety of U.S. beef have apparently resigned, because the government announced their replacements Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2006

China told to come clean on defense costs

is the reason why China's image, for the most part, comes out (to the international community as) negative," Miyamoto said, adding that he hopes to urge China to take steps toward more disclosure of its defense spending and convince the country that such a move would be to its own benefit. Miyamoto meanwhile...
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2006

Hope dims for plebiscite bill

Now that the budget bills for fiscal 2006 have cleared both houses of the National Diet, one of the focal issues for the remainder of the current session will be how to reconcile conflicting views between the ruling and opposition parties over legislation on plebiscites, a process indispensable for amending...
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2006

Larger vehicle sales down; minicars strong

Domestic new vehicle sales excluding minicars edged down 0.7 percent from the previous year to total 3.9 million units in fiscal 2005 -- which ended Friday -- due to weak passenger car sales, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2006

850,000 new grads enter workforce

An estimated 850,000 new graduates from colleges and high schools joined the workforce Monday, up several hundred thousand from last year as many companies hired more young people on the back of the economic recovery and ahead of the upcoming mass retirement of postwar baby boomers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 4, 2006

Students bring school to book

It was payday, and Shawn Hannold's bank account was empty. A phone call from a coworker alerted Hannold the paychecks hadn't shown up in the accounts that morning.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 4, 2006

Permanent residency and names

Permanent residency Having been granted permanent residency a couple of years ago, I have been concerned about ensuring that I do not jeopardize it by overlooking any technicalities.

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