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COMMENTARY
Jul 23, 2006

Downhill path from fear to proliferation

Why have some of Japan's leaders been talking about the need to acquire the ability to attack North Korean missiles on the launchpads? It's because they know that the United States, despite its overwhelming air and maritime power, cannot credibly threaten North Korea. That is because North Korea holds...
EDITORIALS
Jul 22, 2006

Funding scandal shakes ivory tower

It came as a shock last year when former Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo Suk's claims that he had created stem cells by cloning human embryos turned out to be fraudulent. A recent case at Waseda University in Tokyo is no less surprising, although it mainly concerns the irregular use of...
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2006

47 trillion yen core '07 budget cap OK'd

The Cabinet on Friday approved a 46.8 trillion yen cap on core policy-related outlays in the fiscal 2007 budget, down from 47.5 trillion yen in the fiscal 2006 budget request guidelines and the lowest level in nine years.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2006

Hirohito visits to Yasukuni stopped over war criminals

Emperor Hirohito expressed strong displeasure in 1988 over Yasukuni Shrine's decision in the late 1970s to include Class-A war criminals on the list of people honored there, sources said Thursday, citing a memorandum by a former Imperial Household Agency official.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2006

Defense expert set to head academy

A former member of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's advisory body on security issues will be the next president of the National Defense Academy, government sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2006

Abe set to launch nationwide swing to appeal to public

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe will begin a series of visits across Japan next week to discuss measures to provide a second chance to people whose businesses or careers have failed, although the exercise is largely being as a precampaign ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election...
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2006

2007 budget gets 47 trillion yen general spending cap

The government plans to limit fiscal 2007 general expenditures to about 46.8 trillion yen, down from 47.5 trillion yen in the fiscal 2006 budget request guidelines and marking the lowest level in nine years, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 20, 2006

Japan's anti-North Korea complex

Japan's fevered reaction to North Korea's recent missile tests should not surprise. It is yet another example of the emotional way that an otherwise admirable nation finds it hard to separate causes from effects.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2006

Japan eyes more North Korea sanctions

The government is considering imposing additional sanctions on North Korea, including banning the transfer of financial assets and stricter export controls, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2006

Japan firm on missile position

Japan remains firmly behind its U.N. Security Council draft resolution to impose sanctions on North Korea, despite France's proposed compromise this week, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2006

Racism plagues Western media coverage

GAZA -- Racism is "the belief that one 'racial group' is inferior to another and the practices of the dominant group to maintain the inferior position of the dominated group. Often defined as a combination of power, prejudice and discrimination."
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Koizumi off to Middle East amid Gaza conflict

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left for a five-day visit to the Middle East on Tuesday amid ongoing fighting in the Palestinian territories where Israel has been carrying out a military offensive and concerns back home that North Korea might test-launch more missiles.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Koizumi wants UNSC vote on North Korea before G8

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he hopes the U.N. Security Council votes on a resolution calling for sanctions on North Korea before the Group of Eight summit starts in St. Petersburg, Russia, this weekend.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2006

Abe boosts lead among public as next prime minister

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe has widened his lead over former top government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda as the voters' preferred candidate to succeed Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister, according to a Kyodo News survey.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2006

First strike permitted if attack imminent: Abe

Japan has the right to strike a foreign missile base if the country is under imminent threat of attack, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2006

80% in poll favor strong reaction to North Korea's missile launches

More than 80 percent of respondents to a recent poll say Japan should step up economic sanctions against North Korea following Pyongyang's recent missile launches.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2006

Tanigaki tells BOJ to gauge missile reaction before voting on rate hike

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki urged the Bank of Japan on Friday to gauge the market's reaction to the North Korean missile tests before making a decision on interest rates next week.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2006

Tokyo snubs Pyongyang threat over sanctions

Japan rejected North Korea's demand Friday to drop new economic sanctions over the North's Wednesday missile launches, ignoring Pyongyang's threat of "stronger measures" and "devastating consequences" unless it reversed its decision.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2006

GDP forecast to be upgraded to a real 2.1%

The government plans to raise its economic growth projections in fiscal 2006 to a real 2.1 percent and nominal 2.2 percent, both up 0.2 percentage point from January's estimates, government sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2006

North preparing second Taepodong-2 for launch

will need to make it ready for firing," one of the sources said. Earlier in the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Japan remains on alert, expecting Pyongyang to fire more missiles, although an immediate Taepodong-2 seemed unlikely.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2006

WTO talks require sense of balance, bit of luck

Ending the deadlock in the Doha round of World Trade Organization talks depends on how successfully negotiators can balance their competing interests, plus a measure of luck, the WTO chief suggested Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2006

Key gauge shows firm May growth

A key gauge of the current state of the economy moved above the boom-or-bust threshold of 50 percent in May, the government said Thursday, underscoring the steady growth.
EDITORIALS
Jul 7, 2006

Reaction to reckless action

North Korea test-fired seven missiles into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday in defiance of international calls, direct and indirect, that it refrain from such a reckless action. The launches not only provoked the international community but also push Pyongyang into further isolation, which won't make conditions...
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2006

The Hashimoto legacy

Fortune did not smile on Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto when he sought the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, and the premiership, for a second time in April 2001. He was badly defeated by Mr. Junichiro Koizumi. But Mr. Hashimoto, prime minister from January 1996 to July 1998, who died over the weekend...
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2006

LDP wants 140 trillion yen selloff of government assets

The Liberal Democratic Party's General Council has agreed the government should sell off about 140 trillion yen in assets by the end of fiscal 2015 as a part of its fiscal reform program, party officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2006

Isle tensions flare up again

Tensions between Tokyo and Seoul flared again Monday when South Korea began maritime research in waters around islets under its control that are also claimed by Japan.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2006

Draft budget guidelines OK'd; tax talk put off

The governing coalition approved a draft of 2006 economic policy guidelines Monday, recommending an overhaul of the tax system but without mentioning specific tax increases, ruling party lawmakers said.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2006

July rate hike seen amid rosy 'tankan'

Business confidence among major manufacturers improved in the April-June quarter and fiscal 2006 corporate capital spending is expected to post double-digit growth, the Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey showed Monday, increasing the likelihood that the central bank will raise the key short-term interest...

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