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EDITORIALS
Mar 7, 2006

A battle that has barely begun

One year since the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control went into effect, Japan's smoking rate still remains high compared with other developed nations. The government needs to create a strong momentum toward lowering the rate.
LIFE / Language
Mar 7, 2006

Shades of green in search for homecoming gift

"There is a green hill far away, without a city wall," goes the Easter hymn, originally composed for children. The Easter holiday, which one is hardly aware of in Japan, figured in one of my trips back to the green hills of Ireland's north where, a long time ago, this hymn was written.
EDITORIALS
Mar 6, 2006

Long-term costs of education reform

In the largely classless society of postwar Japan, educational qualifications, particularly at the college level, have been the key determinant of career opportunities. Hence, standardized admission and low tuition fees ensured that anyone with brains had a chance to attend the top national institutions...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 4, 2006

Investor, philanthropist gives new name to jet set

It is 7:30 a.m. and Takaaki Kawashima has less than one hour to spare before leaving for Narita airport. He's due to take a midday flight to London, arriving in time for dinner with Prince Charles, Camilla and a small group of intimates at Clarendon House. He will leave for Japan again Friday morning,...
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2006

Yasukuni row hurting everyone: scholars

The dispute between Japan and China over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine hurts not only the nations' bilateral ties but also the entire region by hindering regional cooperation, two American experts on China said Thursday.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 2, 2006

Nakata plays down late heroics in Bosnia friendly

Japan midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata heads in the equalizer during second-half injury time in an international friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Dortmund, Germany, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2006

Burned Livedoor investors huddle to weigh options

Takashi Shimokawa, 56, is a staunch believer in digital technology and the potential of multimedia.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2006

Management strife threatens JAL's dominance

Internal struggles have long been the norm at Japan Airlines Corp., but the management row that surfaced in February goes beyond the usual factional strife.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2006

U.S. wants Japanese civilians in Iraq after SDF exit

The U.S. has asked Japan to send a contingent of up to 20 civilians, including diplomats, to Iraq for a new reconstruction project there after Self-Defense Forces troops are pulled out, according to government sources.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 28, 2006

China finding role in WBC

Chinese baseball is a work in progress, and the World Baseball Classic is the next step for the developing international program.
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2006

Fueling trust in rocket science

In the short span of one month, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has successfully launched three rockets, each carrying a satellite. This success has increased trust in JAXA's technological capability, raising Japan's hopes of entering the commercial rocket business.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2006

Cabinet should set aid policy: panel report

A government advisory panel will propose that the prime minister and four other Cabinet members come up with strategies on overseas economic cooperation, according to a draft panel report obtained by Kyodo News.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 26, 2006

Will Barry Bonds play his last game at Tokyo Dome?

News came last week that San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2006 season. The next day, he said he may play several more years. Typical for a guy who often changes his mind, but there's nothing wrong with that.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2006

Tokyo seeks Pyongyang abductors

Japan, via its embassy in Beijing, demanded Friday that North Korea hand over two Pyongyang agents suspected of abducting four Japanese nationals in two separate cases in 1978, the Foreign Ministry said.
EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2006

Building a suicide safety net

Every year, slightly more than 30,000 people kill themselves in Japan. Compared with other countries, the situation is particularly grim. The nation's suicide rate, calculated in terms of the number of suicides per 100,000 people, stands at 25.3 -- compared with 38.7 in Russia, 17.5 in France, 13.5 in...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 23, 2006

Ichiro steps up to the plate in Fukuoka

FUKUOKA -- Ichiro Suzuki is back in Japan, and he is feeling good. The Seattle Mariners star painted the right-field stands at Yahoo Dome from both cages during batting practice at Japan's World Baseball Classic training session Wednesday, looking at ease before, during and after his time at the plate....
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2006

Race is on at the United Nations

The race to succeed Mr. Kofi Annan as the next U.N. secretary general has begun. The job is one of the most high-profile in the world, and one of the most thankless. For all its prestige, the United Nations is a dumping ground for many of the world's most intractable concerns. The secretary general must...
OLYMPICS
Feb 22, 2006

Slump in Turin leaves many back home perplexed

The struggles of Japanese athletes at the Turin Olympic Games have bewildered many back in their country, particularly those who banked on rosy pre-Games medal predictions.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2006

U.S. beef report insufficient: Nakagawa

The U.S. report on its probe into a shipment last month of banned bovine material and measures to prevent a recurrence is "insufficient," farm minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Monday, adding that Japan plans to raise a range of questions with Washington.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2006

Empire of debt has its limits

HONG KONG -- Recent news about U.S. current-account deficits with the rest of the world gives grim pause for thought from Beijing and Tokyo to London, and especially in Washington, for it shows the United States approaching the financial equivalent of a nuclear meltdown.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic