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JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Nov 10, 2005

Abe suggests he'll still go to Yasukuni in new post

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a front runner to be the next prime minister, hinted Wednesday he will keep visiting the contentious Yasukuni Shrine.
Japan Times
Features
Nov 6, 2005

Surveying a state of change

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi led his Liberal Democratic Party to a landslide victory in the Sept. 11 general election he called as a de facto referendum on his drive to privatize postal services.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 6, 2005

The dangerous liaisons of ambassadors to China

AMBASSADORS FROM THE ISLANDS OF IMMORTALS: China-Japan Relations in the Han-Tang Period, by Wang Zhenping. Honolulu: Association for Asian Studies/University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 388 pp., with illustrations, $53.00 (cloth). Relations between Japan and China may be troubled right now, but then they...
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2005

Plan names facilities to be protected first in attack

The Prime Minister's Official Residence, the Imperial Palace and other key facilities have been allocated top-priority status for protection under a prospective missile defense program, according to an operational plan made available Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2005

New policy chief signals softer stance on BOJ

New economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano indicated Monday the administration will respect the Bank of Japan's decision on when to scrap its ultraloose monetary policy.
EDITORIALS
Nov 1, 2005

Caution needed in defense relations

Japan and the United States agreed last week to a new plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station from urban Ginowan in the central part of Okinawa Island to Camp Schwab, located in Nago in the northern part of the island.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 30, 2005

Series wins surprisingly easy for Marines, White Sox

Are you surprised at how easily the Chiba Lotte Marines and Chicago White Sox won, respectively, the Japan Series and World Series?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 30, 2005

What lies beneath the myth of middle-class consciousness

A friend sent me an email about some new people, all Japanese, she had met at a party. There was a young man who had worked in Africa for Medecins Sans Frontieres. One middle-age man had quit a stable job in broadcasting to study French in Paris. A female graduate student in marine biology was also there....
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2005

Ban slams shrine visit, casts doubt on summit

shakes hands with his South Korean counterpart Ban Ki Moon before their meeting in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2005

Risks of U.S. beef low if regulations observed: panel

An expert panel on mad cow disease has agreed there is little difference in the risks posed by beef from North American and Japanese cows, paving the way to lift the ban on U.S. beef imports before President George W. Bush's visit next month.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 27, 2005

International winners at Praemium Imperiale

In 1989 the Japan Art Association established the Praemium Imperiale to reward major contributions to the arts in the fields of architecture, music, painting, sculpture and theater/film. It was the last wish of Prince Takamatsu, who had served as governor of the Japan Art Association from 1929 to 1987,...
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2005

Mr. Rumsfeld's visit to Asia

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has just concluded a quick tour of Northeast Asia. Mr. Rumsfeld is a relatively infrequent visitor to this part of the world, so his trip provides insight into U.S. thinking about security concerns in the region. In particular, the secretary's "frank" discussions...
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2005

A Koizumi promise not worth keeping

HONOLULU -- Last week, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made his fifth visit to Yasukuni Shrine. There was the predictable response from other Asian nations, but it is clear that those protests fall on deaf ears. If the prime minister's determination is plain, so too are the consequences, and they have...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 25, 2005

Tigers learning a tough postseason lesson

The Chiba Lotte Marines have a 2-0 lead in the Japan Series, and with the way the Hanshin Tigers have played the first two games, the Marines could leave Osaka with the Japan Series title.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2005

At last minute, safety panel delays ending ban on U.S. beef imports

A government-appointed panel unveiled Monday a draft report that would pave the way to lifting the 22-month-old ban on U.S. beef imports, saying meat from young cattle poses an extremely low food safety risk.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 24, 2005

Marines batter toothless Tigers

CHIBA -- The Chiba Lotte Marines keep losing bodies, but the Hanshin Tigers keep losing games.
COMMENTARY
Oct 24, 2005

Tired of military presence

As expected, U.S. base-relocation plans in Japan -- part of the U.S. strategy of global troop realignment -- are facing difficulties. Americans living near military bases at home may be opposed to cutbacks for fear of losing jobs, but people in Japan, an island country one-twenty-fifth the size of the...
COMMENTARY
Oct 23, 2005

Look for change next year

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's determination to visit Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine needs to be seen in the perspective. The visit was not necessarily, as Beijing and Seoul seem to believe, a final proof of prime-ministerial evil.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2005

GSDF to train at U.S. base in Okinawa

Japan and the United States have agreed in principle to relocate some training of a Ground Self-Defense Force unit to the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Hansen in Okinawa Prefecture in the hope of improving the interoperability of the two militaries and leading to a future reduction in U.S. bases, informed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 20, 2005

Tagging in Mito galleries

"Street culture" and graffiti came into Japan around the 1990s, primarily as a fashion trend that accompanied the spread of hip-hop music and skateboarding. Traditionally, of course, it has grittier associations with American slums and ghettoes, where it became, at its most politically conscious, an...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 20, 2005

A binational prayer for reconciliation

If any one programming section of the Pusan International Film Festival best represents its dedication to exploring every avenue of filmmaking, it's Wide Angle. This year, the section included more than 80 short subjects, documentaries and animated films. Seven of the feature-length Korean documentaries...
EDITORIALS
Oct 19, 2005

What is Mr. Koizumi thinking?

His landslide victory in the Sept. 11 snap elections and the Diet passage on Oct. 14 of the postal services privatization bills apparently have emboldened Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He made his fifth visit to the Yasukuni Shrine since he came to power in 2001 on Monday, which marked the start...
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2005

Toward the final frontier

China's successful launching last week of its second manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 6, coming just two years after its historic first flight, demonstrates that the country's space program is making steady progress. China's goal, obviously, is to become a "space power."
COMMENTARY
Oct 15, 2005

Statesman test for Koizumi

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has demonstrated that he is a brilliant politician. His resounding victory in the Sept. 11 Lower House Diet elections provides him with an opportunity to demonstrate his brilliance as an international statesman as well.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’