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JAPAN
Sep 22, 2005

New, returning lawmakers step onto Diet's red carpet

Lawmakers elected Sept. 11, some under a cloud of scandal, started their first official duties Wednesday, attending a House of the Representatives special session.
COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 2005

The meaning behind Koizumi's moves

On the surface, most elections are about personalities, false promises and special interests. But Japan's general election Sept. 11 is about a deeper historical reconciliation -- the effort to resolve differences between the country's cultural and behavioral preferences, and the organizational practices...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2005

2006 named Japan-China tourism year

2006 will be designated as Japan-China Tourism Exchange Year, Japanese government officials said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2005

Abuse taking a growing toll on children worldwide

NEW YORK -- It is a sad paradox that one of the most famous entertainers in the world today should be charged with abusing a child. If Michael Jackson, accused of abusing a boy at his Neverland ranch in California, is found guilty, the verdict will be a tremendous blow to his career.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2004

NHK airs show aimed at restoring public trust

NHK broadcast a special show Sunday night aimed at restoring public trust following a series of embezzlement scandals involving its employees.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 15, 2004

Godzilla is dead, long live Godzilla

What do most non-Japanese, Western or otherwise, know about Japanese films? About Japanese pop culture, period? More than they did a decade ago certainly, but let's get real: Go to a typical family gathering in America — blue state or red, it doesn't much matter — and ask those assembled for the...
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2004

Extra Diet session achieves little; critics declare democracy dead

The 53-day extraordinary Diet session ended Friday with little progress on key contentious issues -- namely a political money scandal and the war in Iraq.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Nov 4, 2004

Captivity conundrum over spared bear

In August 1985, I was in Tokyo awaiting the birth of my youngest daughter. One evening, I got a telephone call from Yoshio Kazama, my friend and next-door neighbor in Kurohime -- the beautiful corner of Nagano Prefecture where I live.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2004

Osaka eyes putting its homeless to work

OSAKA -- Facing central government cutbacks in financial aid to the homeless, Osaka officials are teaming up with the local business community to create a new program that will put some of Osaka Prefecture's estimated 7,700 homeless to work.
JAPAN
May 16, 2004

Japan asks U.S. to pardon abductee's American husband

Japan has asked the United States to pardon a former American soldier living in North Korea whose Japanese wife was kidnapped by the reclusive regime and repatriated in 2002, government sources said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
May 14, 2004

More than just making ends meet

There is something fuzzy about Tuesday's Lower House vote on the pension reform bills. The package was supported by the ruling parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito. But the opposition Democratic Party of Japan approved only a proviso that calls for the integration of the complex pension...
JAPAN
May 2, 2004

U.S. looks to expand Japan's military role

OSAKA -- On Nov. 19, 1953, then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon mounted the podium at a special meeting of the Japan-America Society in Tokyo.
JAPAN / History
May 2, 2004

U.S. looks to expand Japan's military role

OSAKA -- On Nov. 19, 1953, then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon mounted the podium at a special meeting of the Japan-America Society in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2004

English classes all the rage at elementary schools

Teacher Hideo Iida holds up cards featuring simple images for his 17 second-graders to identify, getting them to name the animals, fruit and other items pictured.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2004

Emergency steps target bird flu

The government unveiled a package of emergency measures Tuesday aimed at containing the spread of bird flu, including plans to crack down on farmers who fail to disclose evidence their birds are infected.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2004

Museum marks Bikini blast anniversary

Early on March 1, 1954, the United States exploded a hydrogen bomb, code-named Bravo, on the Pacific Ocean's Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands.
COMMENTARY
Feb 11, 2004

SDF dispatch opens new era for Japan

The dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq marks a watershed in Japan's post-World War II security and defense policy. The SDF has joined U.N. peacekeeping operations several times since 1992. The latest deployment, though designed primarily to support humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2004

DPJ set to submit own proposals on Constitution

The Democratic Party of Japan said Tuesday it will issue constitutional amendment proposals by 2006.
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2004

Koizumi flaunts propensity to curtail 'drastic' reforms

Japan is at a historic turning point, both domestically and internationally. Symbolic of this are pension reform, highway system privatization and the troop dispatch to Iraq. But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "structural reform" initiative appears to have lost momentum since he took office in April...
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

Decision to dispatch SDF troops to Iraq a watershed for defense, security policy

Japan's decision to send Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq, coupled with the decision to introduce a missile defense system, marks a major turning point for the nation's defense and security policy. Never in its 50-year history has the SDF been mobilized for noncombat duties in a foreign country in...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2003

Visaless foreigners easy scapegoats

One night in December, Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara got together to "inspect" the Kabukicho entertainment district in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, as dozens of government officials, reporters and spectators dogged their steps.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2003

Baker arrives to ask for Iraq debt relief

James Baker, U.S. President George W. Bush's special envoy, arrived Sunday in Tokyo to ask for Japan's cooperation in reducing Iraq's foreign debt.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2003

Too soon to say who will foot Yamaichi bill

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Friday that the outstanding balance of emergency loans by the Bank of Japan to Yamaichi Securities Co., which collapsed in 1997, must first be determined before discussing who will foot the final bill.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2003

Sound tidings we bring

The gift of music never fails and you can fill plenty of stockings with these re-releases, compilations and holiday music, handpicked by the JT music elves Tom Bojko, Philip Brasor, Jeff Hammond, Jason Jenkins, Michael Pronko and Suzannah Tartan
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2003

'Basic plan' for Iraq dispatch to omit specifics

The basic plan for sending Japanese ground troops to Iraq for reconstruction assistance, which the Cabinet is expected to approve Tuesday, will omit specifics such as a time frame for the dispatch, Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 2, 2003

Green cards, tenant rights and sewing

Immigration worry Dear Lifelines; My wife and I are returning in January from the U.S.; I am a U.S. citizen and she is Japanese. We had lived in Japan together for 7 years prior to my 2 year U.S. assignment. (I am a regular employee of the Japan branch office.)
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2003

State flip-flops yet again on SDF dispatch

The escalating violence in Iraq has forced the government to once again step back from its on-again, off-again schedule for an SDF mission to the country.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami