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BUSINESS
Nov 26, 2004

Tax panel pushes hikes in 2005

The Tax Commission recommended Thursday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi raise both income and residential taxes in fiscal 2005 in what would be the first significant tax increases in six years.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2004

Tougher visa requirements planned for entertainers

The government plans to impose stricter work-visa requirements on foreign entertainers to fight human trafficking, according to the outline of a draft action plan.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2004

Watchdog group raps proposed defense policy

A group that monitors Japan's defense policy warned Monday that a new security policy recommended last month by an advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi could violate agreements under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, as it would allow nuclear retaliation against use of other weapons...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Nov 21, 2004

Walking back to happiness

Ever since the 1970s, when "jazzercise" and jogging became a national craze, America has trotted out a long list of health gurus, with Richard "Sweatin' to the Oldies" Simmons, Jane Fonda, Cindy Crawford and Paula Abdul among those going gold with their exercise videos.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Nov 21, 2004

Toilet humor in the Tokyo underground

"Tell Franck he's an asshole," barks David Pallash down the phone to me. "And that he is just tooooo French."
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Koizumi faces heavy APEC weekend

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left Friday for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Chile, where he will have to juggle a wide range of diplomatic issues that span the Pacific.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 20, 2004

Why Johnny can't read 'kanji'

Here's a quick communication survey of your typical long-term foreign resident of Japan, particularly one from the West.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Asbestos use still widespread in Asia, as are its ills: expert

Asia needs to ban the use of asbestos and conduct studies on people who have become ill from exposure or asbestos-related diseases will never end, according to a specialist.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 20, 2004

Hula dance teaches sexuality, spirituality, respect

"I was around 5 (years old) when my mother and grandmother taught me the basics of Hawaiian hula, steps called 'ka-holo.' I've loved it ever since," says Keisuke Yasuda.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2004

Derailment mars shinkansen safety myth

Reverberations from the bullet train derailment in Niigata Prefecture on Oct. 23 continue to echo across Japan, as experts debate whether it was luck or skill that saved the day for the passengers roughed up by the series of strong earthquakes.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2004

Government is urged to offer more help for foreigners with HIV, AIDS

A group of researchers and nongovernmental organizations is urging the government to reinforce support measures for foreigners with HIV or AIDS in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2004

Calls mount for sanctions on North Korea

Calls to impose economic sanctions on North Korea grew louder Tuesday among the Liberal Democratic Party and relatives of abductees to the reclusive state, who charged that the latest talks in Pyongyang were effectively fruitless.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2004

Lower House panel debates foreign suffrage bill

A House of Representatives committee on Tuesday began deliberating a bill to enable permanent foreign residents of Japan to vote in local elections.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 17, 2004

Mound relief almost backfired for MLB pitchers

The visiting Major League Baseball All-Stars left Japan Nov. 14 with a 5-3 series victory over their All-Japan opponents but, ironically, a change in the pitching mounds designed to help the big leaguers for the final three games of the tour almost resulted in disaster for the visitors. Let me explain....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2004

Yokota's 'remains' brought home

Japanese officials returned Monday from Pyongyang with what they were told are the cremated remains of Megumi Yokota, who according to North Korea committed suicide after being abducted to the reclusive state in 1977.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 16, 2004

How old is too old to teach?

Too old? G. is a a 60-year-old native English speaking female who has earned a BS in Elementary Education and an Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 16, 2004

Health care puzzles

Broad coverage? The Japanese health insurance system is designed to cover you anywhere in Japan, though prices vary from region to region.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 16, 2004

International voyage of dance

More than 120 top contemporary dancers from 11 nations will take part in Dance Biennale Tokyo 2004, Nov. 15-28.
Japan Times
Features
Nov 14, 2004

A snapper's-eye view

Fashion is all about image, so it is no surprise that the men and women driving the looks from behind the camera often become some of the most powerful and in-demand people in the business.
COMMENTARY
Nov 14, 2004

Asia won't go back to being an also-ran

HONOLULU -- I am often asked why our think tank is located in Hawaii. Apart from the sun, sand, sea and surf, there is a very good reason: The world looks very different from Honolulu. We're parked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Tokyo is a lot closer than Washington, D.C. When we look out over the...
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

Consumers help GDP edge up just 0.1%

Slumping corporate spending and exports caused the economy to slow to a crawl in the July-September period, with real gross domestic product expanding just 0.1 percent from the previous quarter, Cabinet Office data showed Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 13, 2004

Tsutomu Kasai

Dartmoor in southwestern England is an extensive national park of open skies and wild moorland. Granite rocks, peat bogs and heather characterize the land, where wild ponies run free. When Okehampton, a small town on the edge of Dartmoor, was planning a new hospital, garden designer Tsutomu Kasai of...
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

Lawyers go after reformist debt collector

An American businessman who tried to improve the way debts are collected in Japan from the oft yakuza-linked intimidation route was arrested last week amid growing pressure by lawyer groups to crack down on unauthorized parties encroaching on their turf.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

Machimura admits Koizumi's shrine visits hurt China ties

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on Friday became the first Cabinet member to openly acknowledge that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine are impeding top-level visits between Japan and China.

Longform

Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?