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JAPAN
Jul 14, 2007

U.S. sex slave resolution about human rights, not Japan-bashing: Honda

and Rep. Jim Costa talk as they wait for a markup session on the sex slave resolution to start in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 26 on Capitol Hill. AP PHOTO
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2007

Upper House campaign commences

The campaign for the July 29 Upper House election has officially started. It is the first national election since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in September 2006. Under the Abe administration so far, the Fundamental Law of Education has been revised to instill patriotism in children and strengthen...
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2007

Are SIA workers the pension scapegoat?

Naoyuki Haga, chief secretary of the Social Insurance Agency employee union, fears he and many of his coworkers will lose their jobs when a new government-backed corporation begins handling pension payments in 2010 and the SIA is closed down.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 10, 2007

No tieups for Kokumin Shinto: Watanuki

Although the leader of Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) has ruled out the possibility of forming an alliance with another party, that doesn't mean he isn't interested in cooperating on policy where possible.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2007

DPJ airs pledges for upcoming race

as the backbone of this manifesto is 'People's lives are the priority,' " DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa said of the platform for the July 29 Upper House race. "We must engage in politics on the same footing as the people." Brushing off the ruling bloc's attack on his plan to raise money through administrative...
COMMENTARY
Jul 9, 2007

Next stage of emission cuts

Speaking at the 13th International "Future of Asia" conference in Tokyo May 24, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a set of comprehensive strategies for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Funding scandal hits farm minister

has given an explanation." In the 16-year period up to 2005, a total of 22.8 million yen was registered as rent, 71.6 million yen as personnel costs, 13.5 million yen as utility costs and 15.6 million yen as other miscellaneous costs, according to the funding reports.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 8, 2007

Japan, just a puppet of America?

Client State: Japan in the American Embrace, by Gavan McCormack. New York: Verso Press, 2007, 246 pp., $29.95 (paper) Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi are usually portrayed as assertive nationalists, but come off here as dutiful and submissive gophers carrying out the...
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2007

Taiwan seen losing military edge to China

The military balance between China and Taiwan is shifting in Beijing's favor and the qualitative superiority of Taipei's fighting force may soon be lost, the Defense Ministry warned Friday in a report.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2007

Ozawa hits Abe over Kyuma remarks

Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma's remarks on the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were an easy target for Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa during a policy debate Sunday in Tokyo with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
EDITORIALS
Jul 1, 2007

Passing of a statesman

Former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa was a leader of postwar Japan's mainstream conservatism who strove to rebuild Japan while preventing it from retracing the militarist path. He died Thursday at 87.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2007

Expense-reporting bill passed, slammed

The Diet on Friday enacted a revision to the Political Funds Control Law aimed at keeping better tabs on how lawmakers use their funds, though critics charge the legislation is riddled with loopholes and will not result in increased transparency.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2007

Mull foreign currency reserve-management fund: Yamamoto

Japan should debate setting up a fund to manage its foreign-currency reserves, Financial Services Minister Yuji Yamamoto said, a signal the nation may diversify its assets from U.S. Treasuries.
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2007

Jockeying for a favorable impression

The successful push by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito to extend the Diet session by 12 days to July 5 appears to represent a partisan move to change the political situation in the coalition's favor. This is the ninth extension of a regular Diet session held before a scheduled...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2007

Office weighs less in the work-life balance

After his son was born last April, Hyogo Prefecture civil servant Akira Hirabayashi decided to cut back on overtime at work. He yearned for more time with little Susumu and also wanted to give his wife, Chie, a chance to return to her teaching job at an elementary school.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2007

Pension bills rammed past panel

The ruling bloc forced three controversial bills through a House of Councilors panel Thursday night in a hasty attempt to put a lid on the nation's pension data woes.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2007

Supporters laud U.S. motion on 'comfort women' as first step

Supporters of surviving wartime sex slaves praised a U.S. congressional committee's Tuesday approval of a resolution calling on Japan to officially apologize.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2007

Low number of organ transplants

Ten years have passed since the Organ Transplantation Law was enacted, allowing organ transplants from brain-dead people. So far there have been only 56 of these organ transplants. The latest was carried out on June 14 and 15, using the heart, pancreas and kidneys from a woman in her 50s. The small number...
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2007

Hazy fiscal reform plan

The government has approved an economic and fiscal reform plan for 2007 that will serve as the basis for compiling the fiscal 2008 budget. It encompasses a variety of policy measures that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration thinks are necessary to ensure both economic growth and financial reconstruction....

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past