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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2005

EU must act in a unified manner to catch U.S., keep lead over China and India

The European Union needs to take a regionwide approach -- in addition to independent efforts by member countries -- as it tries to catch the United States in labor productivity and remain competitive vis-a-vis emerging powers like China and India, a top economic adviser to the French government told...
MORE SPORTS
Dec 25, 2005

Technology keeping Mizuno key player in sports market

It's funny how fate plays a role in life.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 24, 2005

Asada, Valentine win FSAJ Awards

Figure skater Mao Asada, the Grand Prix Final and world junior champion this year, and Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine have been selected as the top Japanese and foreign sports figures for 2005 in voting by the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 24, 2005

WeLoveSnow.com puts Yuzawa on winter map

Neil Riley is up to his eyes in snow. And he's delighted.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 24, 2005

Born and raised a 'gaijin'

The other evening after pushing my way onto the same train car as always, I hung there on my commuter strap and broke momentarily from my rush hour funk to find my reflection staring back at me from the window. There I stood with my shoulders sagged, my necktie loosened and a work world of fatigue weighing...
MORE SPORTS
Dec 23, 2005

Moromizato to make impact

Shinobu Moromizato, who earned her 2006 U.S. LPGA tour card earlier this month, has vowed to give it her best shot on women's golf's most prestigious tour and has made retaining exempt status for 2007 her top priority.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2005

JAL inspection ends but safety problems continue

The state will end its special inspection of Japan Airlines Corp. but continue to closely monitor the mishap-prone carrier since it is still having safety problems, the transport ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2005

Pyongyang talks to push three topics

Tokyo will try to get Pyongyang to commit to "three-track talks" on the abductions, security and settlement of Japan's past harsh rule during their weekend bilateral meeting, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 23, 2005

Britain's new political setup

LONDON -- Just as commentators have been writing about a fundamentally new political "setup" in Japan, following Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's overwhelming election victory, so also the same language is being used about British politics.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2005

Agency expects coldest winter since '85

The Meteorological Agency revised its prediction Thursday and said this winter would be the coldest one seen in the past two decades.
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2005

U.S. expects sluggish beef exports in '06

U.S. beef exported to Japan is estimated to total about 100,000 tons in 2006, one-third the level prior to the ban imposed in December 2003, the president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2005

Tokyo, Pyongyang to talk on weekend

Japan and North Korea have agreed to resume working-level government talks Saturday and Sunday in Beijing, and Tokyo again will demand the abduction issue be resolved, the top government spokesman said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2005

Perception of safe beef

The government lifted a ban on imports of U.S. and Canadian beef last week. The ban had been in force for Canadian beef since the discovery in May 2003 of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), popularly known as mad cow disease, in that country. The ban on U.S. beef followed in December of...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2005

Key straits get high-tech map

Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have jointly drawn up electronic sea charts of the Malacca Strait and Singapore Strait, the Japan Coast Guard said.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 20, 2005

Ho, ho, homesick

Santa's checkin' his list twice to see who's been naughty or nice and foreigners from all corners of the world are wishing their stockings will be filled with things they can't find in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 2005

Upgrading the Defense Agency

The Liberal Democratic Party has rather suddenly started airing the idea of upgrading the Defense Agency to a ministry. The party proposed the upgrade in its platform for the Sept. 11 general elections and the prospects for making it happen look stronger now that New Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 20, 2005

Names, cards and insurance

Naming a child I have heard that Japan does not allow middle names, even for children with foreign parents. Why not? Is there a way I can "sneak in" a middle name? Can I use a hyphen? I really want my children to have middle names.
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2005

Small step toward 'one East Asia'

The concept of an East Asian Community -- a broad regional grouping that would bring together countries in East Asia and other areas in economic, political, security and other fields of common interest -- took a formal step toward realization last Wednesday at a summit meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Leaders...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 18, 2005

What did you read about Asia this year?

Donald Richie THE COLUMBIA ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN JAPANESE LITERATURE, edited by J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel (Columbia University Press) This new take on Japanese modern classics -- old standbys and lots of recent writing as well -- is big (864 pages and it's only the first volume). It includes examples...
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2005

2 trillion yen in tax increases to take effect in fiscal 2006

The ruling coalition approved over 2 trillion yen worth of tax increases Thursday to be implemented in fiscal 2006. The hikes include the elimina tion or reduction of tax breaks, a cigarette levy increase and higher tax rates on wine and so-called third-category beers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 17, 2005

Lee Colegrove

In 1965, his senior class was studying drama in Lee Colegrove's university English course. The students asked him, "Can we continue to read drama after we graduate?" Pleased, he set up for them a reading group to meet regularly in his Tokyo apartment.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 15, 2005

JLPGA to add three events

The Japan LPGA tour will add three tournaments to its schedule in 2006, taking total prize money to a record level as a new generation of players continue to boost interest in women's golf in Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2005

Brokers pushed to give up Mizuho blunder plunder

Six brokerages, including the Japanese unit of Switzerland's UBS group, have agreed to relinquish the 16.8 billion yen windfall from the settlement of Mizuho Securities Co.'s erroneous sell order for J-Com Co. shares, industry sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 15, 2005

Director Koki Mitani and the gentle indecision of Japanese juries

When 44-year-old writer/director Koki Mitani was young, he got so excited watching "Twelve Angry Men," a classic American jury-room film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Henry Fonda, that he wanted someday to make his own original version.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 15, 2005

Bridging cultural currents

SEOUL -- It has long been known, though usually not mentioned in public discourse in Japan, that Korea has played a vital role in the transmission of Chinese culture to the country, starting with the introduction of Buddhism in 538. As of Oct. 28, the 60th anniversary of Korea's National Independence...
COMMENTARY
Dec 14, 2005

Countdown to Taiwan's co-optation

The resounding defeat of Taiwan's ruling party in recent local elections means that China may soon be able to take Taiwan by a combination of enticement and threat. That could occur after Taiwan's March 2008 presidential elections, in the leadup to the Beijing Olympics.

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