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COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 8, 2004

Hidden plight of detainees

'What did I do to the Japanese people," asks Merdem Yousif. "I came to Japan because I thought the people would be warm-hearted. It was my big mistake. I should have gone to another country."
COMMENTARY
Jun 1, 2004

Koizumi took the right risks

The success or failure of summit diplomacy depends primarily on whether it promotes the pursuit of medium- and long-term national interests -- not on whether it yields short-term, specific results. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's May 22 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il should be evaluated...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 30, 2004

Geography, history flex E. Asia's 'quadrilateral'

THE GEOPOLITICS OF EAST ASIA: The Search for Equilibrium, by Robyn Lim. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, 208 pp., £65 (cloth). East Asia is a dangerous neighborhood and thus professor Robyn Lim admonishes Japanese leaders to abandon "head in the sand" pacifism and acknowledge that at the dawn of the 21st...
JAPAN
May 29, 2004

British ambassador looks to deepen global partnership

Japan and Britain should deepen their partnership on global matters, including dispute settlements, British Ambassador to Japan Stephen Gomersall said in a recent speech in Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 28, 2004

Diet cracks down on overstayers, widens door for refugees

The Diet on Thursday enacted a law that toughens penalties imposed on illegal aliens in Japan -- but expands the window of opportunity for prospective asylum-seekers.
JAPAN
May 28, 2004

Accounts may be tied to al-Qaeda

Police have discovered bank accounts in Japan that might have been part of an underground bank for the al-Qaeda network, investigative sources said Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
May 27, 2004

Tokyo plays host to Super Powers Cup

The Japan Rugby Football Union will host the second playing of the Super Powers Cup in Tokyo on Thursday at National Stadium with the tournament concluding on Sunday at Chichibunomiya.
JAPAN
May 26, 2004

Jenkins issue treaty-bound

Tokyo would probably be treaty-bound to hand over Charles Robert Jenkins, an alleged U.S. Army deserter and husband of a Japanese repatriated abductee, to the United States if he comes to Japan and Washington demands his extradition, the top government spokesman said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 25, 2004

More pension information and hiking

Pension I I am a foreign national living and working in Japan. I have heard that when I leave Japan, I will be reimbursed for my contributions to the national insurance , unemployment insurance or national pension plans.
COMMENTARY
May 25, 2004

Iraq and the end of history

U.S. President George W. Bush says often that the American aim in Iraq is to promote something called "democracy." But what is this democracy?
COMMENTARY
May 24, 2004

Blowing smoke on tobacco

The government has begun belated efforts to restrict smoking in Japan, which has long been a smokers' haven. In May 2003, the government enacted the Health Promotion Law to reduce exposure to passive smoking. In March it signed the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control --...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 23, 2004

Jury not in yet on who came out ahead at summit

PYONGYANG -- Although Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi returned to Japan on Saturday with the offspring of four repatriated Japanese abductees, many may be wondering whether he gained enough for what he offered.
JAPAN
May 22, 2004

Nation waits as Koizumi jets to Pyongyang

Expectations are high in Japan that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who will visit Pyongyang on Saturday for his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, will return with the families of the five repatriated abductees.
JAPAN
May 21, 2004

Al-Qaeda operative used car-dealer cover to launder cash

A senior al-Qaeda operative who hid out in the city of Niigata for more than a year may have been laundering money while in Japan, police sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 18, 2004

Students pay price in visa crackdown

When American students Angela Luna and Richard Nishizawa tried to board a plane bound for San Francisco in March, airport authorities threw them in a small holding cell and held them incommunicado for several days before banishing them from Japan for five years.
JAPAN
May 18, 2004

Nukes, abductions progress key

Japan will not resume normalization talks with North Korea unless there is progress on the abduction issue as well as Pyongyang's suspected nuclear weapons program, the top government spokesman said Monday.
MORE SPORTS
May 17, 2004

'Brave Blossoms' disappoint in draw with South Korea

How time flies. Was it only seven months ago in the tropical heat of Townsville, Australia, that Japan played such scintillating rugby that it scared the living daylights out of both France and Scotland during its adventures down under in the 2003 Rugby World Cup?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 15, 2004

If it's cricket, it's TV Masala's Club Masala

What luck to pick up a promotional flier for Club Masala -- the first Indian subcontinent cable TV network operating in Japan -- in a branch of the curry chain Samrat. Interesting, I thought, and zipped off an e-mail. Now here I am with its president, Nofil Iqbal, who, it transpires, was born in Pakistan....
JAPAN
May 14, 2004

Experts doubt merits of Koizumi Pyongyang trip

Widespread suspicion over North Korea's agenda has failed to dampen speculation that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may visit Pyongyang in the near future to secure the passage to Japan of the families of the five repatriated abductees.
JAPAN
May 14, 2004

China warned over Senkaku foray

Japan lodged a protest Thursday with China after a Chinese marine research vessel entered Japan's exclusive economic zone without prior notice near one of the disputed Senkaku Islands, Foreign Ministry officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 11, 2004

These scientists stick to their harpoons

In a cramped laboratory, a biologist with the Institute of Cetacean Research prepares plugs taken from whales' ears for age analysis. Scientists study their reproductive habits and food sources, along with the mercury levels in their tissue.
JAPAN
May 10, 2004

Koizumi can get abductee kin: Pyongyang

North Korea earlier this year told Japan through informal channels that it would allow the relatives of five repatriated Japanese to leave the country if Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi goes to Pyongyang to pick them up, government sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
May 10, 2004

Koizumi can get abductee kin: Pyongyang

North Korea earlier this year told Japan through informal channels that it would allow the relatives of five repatriated Japanese to leave the country if Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi goes to Pyongyang to pick them up, government sources said Sunday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 9, 2004

If only divorces were scripted by TV writers

It's easier to get a divorce in Japan than anywhere else in the world. If both parties agree, all they have to do is affix their seals to a document and their union is instantly dissolved -- no trial separation period, no grounds, no mess.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan