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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2004

Cash-strapped video artist soldiers on

Video artist Michael Goldberg counts himself lucky to have been able to work on projects that inspired him: those focusing on cross-cultural communication between Japan and the world.
BUSINESS
Jan 14, 2004

Canadian beef import ban intact

Yoshiyuki Kamei, minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, on Tuesday rejected Canada's request that Japan lift its import ban on Canadian beef.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2004

Falling behind in the FTA race

Free trade is taking a new shape. With the World Trade Organization's new round of multilateral talks on the rocks, countries around the world are taking increasingly to bilateral and regional free trade agreements, or FTAs. Japan is falling far behind in this race, largely because of its protected agriculture....
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2004

Public interest in North Korean problems increasing: survey

Public interest in security issues concerning North Korea has increased substantially over the past year or so, with most people responding to a government survey released Saturday saying they are concerned about the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the North.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2004

Comparison underscores stark contrasts

HONOLULU -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld likes to point to the American occupation of Japan after World War II to assert that America is moving faster to rebuild and reform Iraq than the Americans did in seven years of remaking Japan, starting in 1945. Therefore, he says, Americans and critics...
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2004

Foreign-exchange reserves at all-time high

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves hit a record high of $673.53 billion in December, rising by the biggest margin in a single year due to heavy yen-selling intervention in the currency market, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2004

New defenses for new realities

LONDON -- British defense and security policy has been undergoing a radical reappraisal, as security gurus in their think tanks and military commanders in their operations rooms ponder the unfolding implications of defending a vulnerable island in a world of global terror, rogue states, international...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2004

Koreans bring Christ to people

A rooftop chapel in Tokyo is on an evangelical mission, spreading the word with fire, brimstone, levity -- and food -- to a flock of 200 homeless people every Sunday morning.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2004

Mobile phone giants strive for pre-eminence in 3G market

Anticipating that third-generation services will dominate the mobile phone market within a few years, NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp., and Vodafone K.K. are rolling out new handsets with a range of advanced 3G functions.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 6, 2004

Freedom of speech

Consider this: You are a student in a Japanese J.H.S. Your native language may or may not be Japanese, but you are learning English as a second language like everyone else.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2004

DPJ may agree to relax ban on weapons exports

The Democratic Party of Japan may consider supporting a government proposal to relax Japan's ban on exporting arms, DPJ leader Naoto Kan said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2004

Tokyo, Seoul owe more than symbolism

WASHINGTON -- Deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is in custody, but the struggle to suppress Iraqi insurgents remains. Washington needs allied help to lighten its burden. The most generous aid should come from nations that the United States has defended for decades, particularly Japan and South Korea,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2004

Is 'burying' carbon dioxide the cure for global warming?

As the world's largest emitters of carbon dioxide -- including Japan -- struggle to find quick and effective ways of cutting emissions to curb global warming, projects to store the gas underground are attracting public attention.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2004

Koizumi takes more flak over new year Yasukuni visit

Protests continued Friday in Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine on New Year's Day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2004

Kato back -- but he's not his old self

Two months after his Diet comeback in November, Koichi Kato seems to be in two minds over whether to keep a low profile until he is no longer dogged by scandal -- or else reclaim his outspoken political identity.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

Tokyo can aid key ally by luring it back into multilateral fold

It is often said that 9/11 has changed the world. Certainly, the world being swayed by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the wake of that event appears to prove the saying correct.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2003

Visaless foreigners easy scapegoats

One night in December, Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara got together to "inspect" the Kabukicho entertainment district in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, as dozens of government officials, reporters and spectators dogged their steps.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 30, 2003

Truth gets trampled by good stories

And why did the cops take 1,772 calls before deciding that someone was pulling their chain? We don't know. And we don't know why, or even if, the following people did these strange things, but heaven forbid we'd let the truth stand in the way of a good story.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2003

ASDF advance team off to Mideast

A 20-member Air Self-Defense Force team left Narita airport Friday for Kuwait and Qatar, spearheading Japan's deployment of military units to undertake humanitarian activities in Iraq.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2003

Pyongyang offers to free abductees' kin -- but there's a catch

North Korean officials told Japanese lawmakers that Pyongyang is ready to send the family members of the five former Japanese abductees to Japan if they go to the Pyongyang airport to meet them, Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Katsuei Hirasawa said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2003

Tokyo kept war redress out of '67 Singapore accord title

Japan and Singapore compromised over the name of a 1967 agreement on reparations for World War II, referring to the pact by the date it was signed without characterizing its nature, according to newly declassified diplomatic documents.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2003

Okinawa return sought in '68

A leading politician in 1968 sought a partial return of administrative rights in Okinawa ahead of the full return of the U.S.-occupied prefecture, but Washington rejected the demand, according to diplomatic documents declassified Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2003

Tokyo hesitant to grant Iraq debt relief

There are no doubts about Japan's support for the United States in Iraq. Tokyo was a strong backer of the U.S.-led invasion, is a top contributor to reconstruction and just approved a plan to send troops to the region.
COMMENTARY
Dec 22, 2003

Courageous decision on Iraq

LONDON -- The Japanese government's decision to send members of the Self-Defense Forces to take part in humanitarian efforts in Iraq was a courageous one.

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