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BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 22, 2006

Roster of foreign players nearly complete for 2006 season

Spring camps begin for the 12 Japan pro baseball teams in just 10 days, and there has been a flurry of activity in the past week with the Central and Pacific League clubs signing new-and second-hand-foreign players and finalizing rosters for the coming season. Following is a team-by-team update on the...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2006

Koizumi: U.S. can't stop Yasukuni visits

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told U.S. President George W. Bush in November he would not stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine even at the request of the United States, sources familiar with bilateral relations said Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 22, 2006

Flag-makers aren't the only beneficiaries of patriotism in sport

Tabloids utilize a clever kind of shorthand for their headlines in order to fix the attention of people as they pass by news-stands. My favorite one recently was a Nikkan Gendai header announcing "Ichiro's abnormal enthusiasm for WBC."
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2006

111 sister-cities with South despite row

As of the end of last year, 111 municipalities in Japan had established ties with South Korean cities, including three more cities that had formed links since last April, according to a report released Friday by an international exchange group.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2006

Tokyo, Seoul ink bilateral crime pact

Japan and South Korea signed a bilateral treaty Friday to facilitate and speed up their cooperation on criminal investigations, government officials said.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2006

BOJ sees economy improving, hints at end to ultraloose policy

The Bank of Japan on Friday upgraded its view of the economy for the first time in four months, stepping up the upbeat tone of its assessment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 19, 2006

"Stuff Happens" : So what do you think about it?

The night I got back home from the premiere of "Stuff Happens," the BBC World television news led off with a report on a further mess in Iraq -- the chief judge in the trial of deposed president Saddam Hussein had resigned following criticism of his "soft attitude" toward the defendant. I felt strongly...
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2006

Foreign tourists hit record high 6.73 million

The number of foreign tourists to Japan in 2005 is estimated to have been a record high 6.73 million, up 590,000 from the previous year, transport chief Kazuo Kitagawa said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2006

Nonresidents' net buying of stocks sets new record

Net purchases of Japanese stocks by nonresident investors hit a record high 12.624 trillion yen in 2005 as net buying exceeded 1 trillion yen for the sixth consecutive month in December, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jan 17, 2006

Suicide

Dear Alice:
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2006

Brisk exports to U.S., China up account surplus 15.1%

The current account surplus grew 15.1 percent in November from a year earlier to 1.418 trillion yen for the third straight monthly increase, due to brisk exports to the United States and China, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2006

New Post job may go to ex-Toyota exec

The government is eyeing Toshihiro Takahashi, currently vice president of Japan Post and a former Toyota Motor Corp. managing director, to assume the post of president of a company that will manage over-the-counter services of post offices starting Oct. 1, 2007, sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 15, 2006

Spreading the word on popular literature

THE BAMBOO SWORD AND OTHER SAMURAI TALES by Shuhei Fujisawa, translated by Gavin Frew. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2005, 254 pp., 2,400 yen (cloth). Japanese critics have long made a distinction between taishu bungaku, "popular literature," which is simple entertainment, and jun bungaku, "pure literature,"...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / WEEK 3
Jan 15, 2006

Home sweet 'death-defying' condo homes

Scandal continues to swirl around erroneous -- and potentially lethal -- structural assessments of hotels and condominiums by former architect Hidetsugu Aneha. Few, however, would detract from the universally accessible, "barrier-free" design of most modern Japanese condos. Few except Shusaku Arakawa,...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Jan 15, 2006

Solo savior on the streets

For the past 14 years, former high-school teacher Osamu Mizutani has had no rest as he has devoted himself to helping troubled youths put their lives back in order.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 15, 2006

NHK has a public duty so how about free streaming from its library?

Since last August the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan (NAB) has been running a nationwide TV ad campaign to promote television commercials.
SOCCER / World cup
Jan 14, 2006

World Cup tickets on sale Sunday

Tickets allotted for Japan's matches in the 2006 World Cup soccer finals in Germany will go on sale beginning Sunday, the Japan Football Association said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2006

Catching the kabuki spirit

Kabuki, which dates back some 400 years to Izumo no Okuni, the leader of a women's theatrical troupe that caused a sensation in Kyoto, now appears to be riding an upsurge. Recently, the kabuki world saw a series of events that have caught people's attention and increased their interest.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2006

Aso also wants Yasukuni to be LDP poll nonissue

Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday he thinks visiting Yasukuni Shrine should not be an issue in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race this fall, echoing remarks by the prime minister and the top government spokesman.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2006

WWF faults Sydney parley for fostering fossil fuel dependence

The Japanese branch of an international environmental watchdog on Friday blasted an agreement struck the previous day in Sydney by Japan, the United States and Australia to transfer to the developing world advanced technologies to combat global warming. The technologies are cleaner, but are still based...

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