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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 13, 2005

What is your purpose of studying Japanese?

Stuart Kirby Teacher, 30 My main reason for studying Japanese is to understand my karate sensei when he's yelling at me, and, obviously, if you're going to live here a while, then you're missing out on a lot by not studying Japanese.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Dec 13, 2005

Ritsuko "Ritzie" Kojima

Ritsuko "Ritzie" Kojima, 53, has worked as a hospital social worker and interpreter. Ten years ago, she quit her hospital job so she could take care of her ailing mother and her own family. A mother of three sons, she's a great chef who loves throwing big parties at her home in Kumamoto Prefecture in...
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2005

Panel to combat epidemics induced by global warming

The Environment Ministry will set up a special advisory panel to look into diseases that may become epidemics in the near future as temperatures rise in Japan due to global warming, according to ministry officials.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 11, 2005

Nihon TV's late-night series "NNN Document 05" focuses on asbestos and more

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the births of both the Liberal Democratic Party and rock 'n' roll. Though NHK might be expected to analyze the former, it has decided to celebrate the latter. On Dec. 12, 13 and 14 at 11 p.m., the BS-2 channel will present a three-part look at "The Birth of Rock:...
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2005

Frustrated bureaucrats pen reform ideas

When Ichiro Asahina, a 32-year-old bureaucrat at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, was studying at Harvard University between 2001 and 2003, he had time to think about what Kasumigaseki, Tokyo's governmental hub, meant to him and to Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2005

Foreigners face checks on Japanese ancestry

The Justice Ministry said Friday it will tighten standards for granting long-term resident status to foreigners of Japanese descent in the wake of the murder last month of a 7-year-old girl in Hiroshima, allegedly by a Peruvian man who may have Japanese ancestry.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2005

Trailblazing volunteer reflects on path to NGO icon status

When Keiko Kiyama went to Yugoslavia in the early 1990s to help people in the war-torn region, many Japanese probably thought her a bit eccentric.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2005

Dutiful extension in Iraq

The government has extended by another year the deployment of Self-Defense Force (SDF) troops in Iraq. The extension, decided at Thursday's Cabinet meeting, came about by changing the basic plan under an ad hoc law that allows SDF soldiers to engage in noncombat activities in Iraq. The decision follows...
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2005

Diet will ask Aneha to testify next week

, Moriyoshi Kimura, president of Kimura Construction, and Akira Shinozuka, the Tokyo branch manager of the now-bankrupt contractor. The land ministry tried Thursday to formally notify Aneha that he was stripped of his first-class architect license Wednesday, but he was not at his home in Ichikawa, Chiba...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Dec 9, 2005

Drumming up an apocalypse

Afrirampo are a whacked-out crackpot girl duo just out of their teens from Osaka, which is famous for its out-there noise-rock scene.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2005

Beef-safety report being misused: panelist

The key messages in Thursday's report by the Food Safety Commission's prion committee have been misinterpreted by the media and the government, and the panel itself was used to serve political ends, the panel's deputy chairman declared Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2005

No funds earmarked for new war memorial yet: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday the government has yet to decide whether to allocate funds for a new war memorial under the fiscal 2006 budget.
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2005

Silence isn't always golden

With the Dec. 31 deadline for compiling the fiscal 2006 budget approaching, the government recently made a series of decisions, including placing a heavier financial burden on people aged 70 years or older receiving medical service, the creation of a single public-lending institution out of the current...
COMMENTARY
Dec 8, 2005

Opportunities seized, missed

HONOLULU -- U.S. President George W. Bush, during his recent visit to Asia, seized the opportunity to reaffirm Washington's commitment to the promotion of democracy, free and fair trade, and political and especially religious freedom. But other opportunities were missed in terms of better defining America's...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2005

Ambassador tapped to probe abductions

Japan on Tuesday appointed its ambassador to Norway as special envoy for overseeing human rights issues, including North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens, government officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2005

Tokyo plans to pull GSDF from Iraq by Aug. 31

Tokyo told Washington in November that it will begin withdrawing the Ground Self-Defense Force from Iraq in June and finish by the end of August, government and ruling coalition sources revealed Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 7, 2005

Step up the war on AIDS

The 2005 report by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is a shocking reminder that the number of HIV/AIDS cases worldwide has hit an all-time high, exceeding 40 million people for the first time.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2005

Severe weather disrupts transport in many areas

Snow and strong winds disrupted transportation networks in many parts of the country Monday, with the Meteorological Agency warning of more snow to come.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2005

Peace between pace-setters

The takeover battle between Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and Rakuten has ended in a draw of sorts -- for now at least. The two companies have buried the hatchet, so to speak, and have agreed to start talks on forming capital and business ties.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2005

Yasukuni won't wash as diplomatic card, Koizumi says

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi toughened his diplomatic stance toward China and South Korea on Monday, saying the two countries are trying to use issues related to his visits to Yasukuni Shrine as "a diplomatic card" against Japan.
COMMUNITY
Dec 6, 2005

Jumping for soy

Today the humble soybean has emerged as the closest thing there is to a super-food. Health experts (and food companies) have proclaimed soy a miracle bean and promoted it as the key to maximum longevity and disease prevention. It's said to play a positive role in preventing heart disease, cancer and...
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2005

Most support ending male-only succession

A survey on Imperial succession showed Monday that 71.9 percent of respondents support allowing the male-line Imperial tradition to be broken, saying the child of a female monarch should be able to become an emperor or reigning empress.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2005

Government planning first ODA for use against terrorism

Japan is considering providing grant in aid to Indonesia and the Philippines to support their fight against terrorism, government sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2005

Panel to ponder overseer to handle foreign aid loans

The government on Friday appointed former Prosecutor General Akio Harada as head of an advisory panel tasked with discussing which entity should handle foreign-aid loans, a pending issue in the process of consolidating state-run financial institutions.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers