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JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

JAL misleading discount ads pulled

The Fair Trade Commission ordered Japan Airlines on Friday to discontinue advertisements and announcements of discount fares on domestic routes the carrier has never offered.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2006

Trade balance swung back into black in February

Japan posted a customs-cleared trade surplus of 955.7 billion yen for February, swinging back into the black from a 351 billion yen deficit in January, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2006

Police search Chongryun affiliate over '80 abduction

Police raided six locations Thursday, including an Osaka business group affiliated with the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun), over North Korea's abduction of Tadaaki Hara in 1980, they said.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2006

Aso frets India-U.S. deal's NPT effect

Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Wednesday he is worried the civilian nuclear-cooperation deal between the United States and India could undermine the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
EDITORIALS
Mar 23, 2006

Trilateral breakthrough Down Under

Japan, the United States and Australia last weekend held historic trilateral talks in Sydney to discuss their views of the region and the world. The three countries have a range of shared interests and concerns. Only by working together can they ensure that their strengths and diplomatic tools are used...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 23, 2006

A grand splash

Just before Japan's economy took a downturn, the Tokyu railroad conglomerate celebrated good times with the construction of the splendidly designed Bunkamura arts complex just behind its flagship department store in Tokyo's Shibuya district.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2006

LDP offers deficit-trimming tips

Japan can cut its deficit by more than 100 trillion yen in five years by allowing firms to put their names on landmarks like the Rainbow Bridge, selling off prime land and securitizing state loans, a Liberal Democratic Party fiscal reform subpanel said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2006

Government economist calls for boosting foreign labor

A scholar involved in the government's efforts to formulate a new economic strategy based on globalization called on Japan on Monday to accept more foreign labor as its rapidly aging population continues to shrink.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

Obituary: Toshinao Yoneyama

Toshinao Yoneyama, an honorary professor of cultural anthropology at Kyoto University, died of gastric cancer at a hospital in Kyoto on March 9, his family said Monday. He was 75.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

'Sakura' trees threatened by witches' broom

Japan's emblematic "sakura" cherry trees have been infected by a contagious mold disease known as witches' broom in at least 18 prefectures, a study by the Flower Association of Japan showed Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2006

Convenience store sales fall 2.4%

Sales at convenience stores in Japan dropped 2.4 percent in February from a year earlier on a same-store basis to 483.54 billion yen, declining for the 19th consecutive month, an industry body said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

Futenma relocation plan won't be tweaked, Abe says

The government does not plan any changes to the Japan-U.S. plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station within Okinawa, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Monday.
SOCCER
Mar 21, 2006

JFA to lobby for Club World Cup berth for J. League champions

Japan Football Association President Saburo Kawabuchi said Monday he will continue to lobby for world governing body FIFA to reverse a decision not to allow J. League champions to play in the Club World Cup.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2006

Demand beat supply by end of '05

Excess in supply was eliminated in Japan's gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2005 for the first time in about eight years, the Cabinet Office said Monday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 20, 2006

What the Merchant of Venice might think about BOJ policy

"The quality of mercy is not strained."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 19, 2006

LaRocca provides even more punch to lineup of Swallows

The Hanshin Tigers have their "JFK" pitching relay, but now the Tokyo Yakult Swallows can counter with their "LIRR" quartet of sluggers. No, it's not the Long Island Railroad, but second baseman Greg LaRocca, third sacker Akinori Iwamura, left fielder Alex Ramirez and first baseman Adam Riggs.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 19, 2006

Is this really just good fun?

You couldn't miss him if you tried: The guy in the skintight black vest and hotpants is popping up wherever you look in Japan these days, thrusting his pelvis on television, striking his signature "Y" pose on magazine covers and boasting about his beefy workouts in subway ads.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Mar 19, 2006

Toys that transformed the world's way of play

What is it with Japan and robots? For whatever reason, they have been an integral part of the national psyche for decades. While Toyota's automated production lines might be the first thing that springs to mind, robotic creatures, from Astroboy to Aibo, have also become an integral part of the nation's...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 19, 2006

Myths behind the rise of the mobile

PERSONAL, PORTABLE, PEDESTRIAN: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life, edited by Mizuko Ito, Daisuke Okabe, and Misa Matsuda. Massachusetts: MIT Press, 357 pp., $39 (cloth). Consider the refrigerator. The changes this appliance brought in its wake are monumental. Thanks to that big humming machine in the kitchen,...
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

In court ruling flip-flop, NHK reporter can hide source

The Tokyo High Court on Friday accepted an NHK reporter's refusal to reveal a news source, saying news-gathering activities are a premise for the freedom of press that serves the public's right to know, which is an indispensable component of a democratic society.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

Lower House wants Nishimura to quit

The House of Representatives passed a resolution Friday urging former Democratic Party of Japan member Shingo Nishimura, who is on trial for allegedly violating the Attorney's Law, to step down.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

LDP OKs sanctions bill targeting North Korea rights abuses

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved a bill Friday that would require the government to impose sanctions on North Korea if it failed to make progress in addressing its human rights abuses, including the abductions of Japanese.

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