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BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2006

Postal savings, insurance caps face gradual hikes

The head of a governmental advisory panel on Japan Post is ready to recommend gradually raising the maximum deposit in postal savings in the planned privatized bank and boosting the coverage limits in the envisioned insurer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 4, 2006

Gonna make you sweat

The Japanese love bath-time, whether it be in a hot spring (onsen), a public bathhouse (sento), or a soak in the tub at home (o-furo). Bathing in Japan really is something of an art that verges on an obsession. Of course, the Japanese didn't invent it (the ancient Romans take credit for that), but they...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 3, 2006

Things to watch as BOJ restores interest rates

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest banking group, raised the rates it offers on time deposits with a maturity of one year or over on March 20. The increase varies according to the size of the deposit and the length of maturity. The annual rate for a five-year deposit under 3 million yen,...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 2, 2006

How it all began for Baseball Bullet-In 30 years ago

Believe it or not, it was 30 years ago this week when the "Baseball Bullet-In" first appeared in the pages of The Japan Times. I was 27 years old and still a student at Sophia University on Tokyo when the first column ran on April 4, 1976.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 1, 2006

Josephine Branders

Belgium, a small European country with a beguiling medieval air, is beloved on many counts. With the ancient buildings, public squares and marketplaces common to many European countries, Belgium has also its own enduring distinctions. It is popularly known for its long history of specialist lace-making....
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2006

Bill to fingerprint, photograph arrivals clears Lower House

The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to require fingerprinting and photographing of foreigners entering Japan as a measure to prevent terrorism.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 31, 2006

Here's one castle to crow about

They may be unloved and unwanted, but even their detractors would have to admit that Japan's crows are tough, resilient critters. It is, then, entirely appropriate that the oldest castle in Japan should be named after these intimidating birds. The Japanese of yore had quite a fondness for naming their...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Mar 31, 2006

Lauren gets his Tokyo landmark

Omotesando, Tokyo's premier luxury brand boulevard, has recently been furnished with a string of ultramodern shrines to consumable design, crafted in concrete and steel and glass. That makes Ralph Lauren's vast whitewashed neoclassical monolith -- which opened yesterday -- seem even more like something...
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 30, 2006

Kubo and Tamada to lead the line against Ecuador

Keiji Tamada and Tatsuhiko Kubo renew old acquaintances as strike partners for Japan on Thursday in a friendly against Ecuador, with national team boss Zico confident the spark is still there between the two.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Marines find hope in new diplomatic tool: English

URUMA, Okinawa Pref. -- At first glance, it looks like the typical English conversation school found throughout Japan -- students armed with pencils and notebooks listening to a Western instructor drill them in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Vote cuts term of U.S. force budget

A House of Councilors plenary session approved Wednesday a new Japan-U.S. agreement that takes effect in April on Japan's host-nation support for U.S. forces stationed in the country.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Change to allow foreign political funds

Running for office doesn't come cheap. Politicians need money for posters, vans, venues for speeches and meals for volunteers. The problem for aspirants to office is that political donations are falling, and corporate money in particular is dwindling fast.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2006

Iraq to get first reconstruction loans

The government announced Tuesday that it will extend yen loans totaling 76.5 billion yen for reconstruction in Iraq -- its first such assistance to the conflict-ravaged country in 20 years.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2006

News rivals hit Yasukuni visits

Recent events in the nation's normally staid print media have surprised readers of the powerful Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun.
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2006

Skating on thin ice

Shizuka Arakawa's Olympic triumph and the media hype surrounding women's figure skating belies the grossly inadequate training environment that Japan's top skaters face and the escalating training costs they shoulder in the absence of meaningful support from the government or corporations.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2006

Okinawa base issue not cut and dried with locals

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. -- It's a chilly, rainy evening in late January, but more than 1,000 people pack the center of town to hear a speech by Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, the head of the Nago Municipal Assembly.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 28, 2006

Cheese, eBye and reiki

Say cheese AP asks: "Where can I get a wide range of foreign cheeses in Japan? They are so expensive in supermarkets, and often not in good shape."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 28, 2006

Times get tough for teachers

English teaching in Japan is not what it used to be. Conditions are changing; the work is harder to come by, wages are falling, and staff are increasingly taking their employers to court.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Mar 28, 2006

Takao Tsue

Takao Tsue, 80, is the Honorary Chief Priest of Osaka City's Imamiya-Ebisu Shrine, famous for the Toka Ebisu festival held every January, which attracts over 1 million people over three days. According to legend, the shrine was established in AD 600 by Shotoku Taishi, and written records show that Tsue's...
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2006

Alleged U.S. leak irks Defense Agency

A top Defense Agency official was furious after reading front-page stories on March 15 here about Japan's negotiations with the United States.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2006

Lawmakers reveal global cultural heritage preservation bill

A nonpartisan group of lawmakers will draft a bill to help restore cultural heritage lost in Afghanistan, Iraq and other war-torn areas, the lawmakers said Saturday.
Japan Times
Features / JAPAN FASHION WEEK FALL/WINTER 06-07
Mar 26, 2006

Virtual retailers forge fortunes with fashion

There's a revolution going on in the Japanese fashion world -- but it is nowhere near the catwalks. The revolution is happening on the web.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

New rules to doom used electrical goods shops?

The phones at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have been ringing off the hook since early February when it suddenly and quietly changed its enforcement of a 2001 law on electrical appliance safety.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2006

Rising demand triggers expansion of rare metal reserves

Japan will expand the scope of its rare metal reserves to include such substances as platinum, indium and rare earth metals as increased demand from China has triggered concern about global supply shortages, according to government sources.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2006

China hopes 'anime' fair will promote exchanges

Representatives from China's animation industry, visiting Tokyo for a trade fair, expressed hope Thursday that an international "anime" animation trade show scheduled for this summer in Shanghai will help promote cultural exchanges with Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2006

METI calls for exchanges, investment to raise growth

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry proposed Thursday that Japan boost its personnel exchanges and financial cooperation with other Asian economies to strengthen the country's global competitiveness.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 23, 2006

Zico stands behind out-of-favor captain Miyamoto

Japan coach Zico on Wednesday played down concerns over captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto's lack of playing time at J-League club Gamba Osaka and insists he is still the man to lead the Asian champions.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person