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BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 22, 2004

Firms think little of government statistics, questionnaire shows

Among government statistics detailing the condition of the Japanese economy, the Cabinet Office's quarterly estimates of gross domestic product, the Finance Ministry's report on corporate activity, and the "tankan" survey by the Bank of Japan are widely known. But there are many other economic statistics...
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2004

Dollar falls to 103.75 yen on remark by Snow

The dollar slipped close to its lowest level of the year Thursday in Tokyo, entering 103 yen territory as market players dumped the currency in the belief that the United States tacitly approves of its weakening.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2004

Constitutional changes eyed to let female on throne, legalize military

A Liberal Democratic Party panel has compiled an outline for revising the Constitution that would allow for a "military force for self-defense," the Emperor as head of state and a female on the Imperial throne, LDP sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2004

Calls mount for sanctions on North Korea

Calls to impose economic sanctions on North Korea grew louder Tuesday among the Liberal Democratic Party and relatives of abductees to the reclusive state, who charged that the latest talks in Pyongyang were effectively fruitless.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2004

Beijing says tech glitch led to sub intrusion

China extended an apology Tuesday to Tokyo after admitting that one of its submarines intruded into Japan's territorial waters off Okinawa last week, an incident it laid to "technical errors," Japanese officials said.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2004

Koizumi firm -- no peace treaty until all isles returned

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi renewed on Tuesday his vow to conclude a peace treaty with Russia only after it recognizes Japan's sovereignty over the four disputed islands off Hokkaido.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2004

Yokota's 'remains' brought home

Japanese officials returned Monday from Pyongyang with what they were told are the cremated remains of Megumi Yokota, who according to North Korea committed suicide after being abducted to the reclusive state in 1977.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

Machimura admits Koizumi's shrine visits hurt China ties

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on Friday became the first Cabinet member to openly acknowledge that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine are impeding top-level visits between Japan and China.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

P-3C seen in new light

The role of P-3C Orion patrol planes in the detection earlier this week of an unidentified submarine in Japanese waters has drawn attention to their sub-detection capabilities.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

China's sub intrusion sparks Tokyo protest

Tokyo lodged a strong protest Friday with Beijing after confirming that a submarine that intruded into Japan's territorial waters off Okinawa earlier this week belongs to the Chinese Navy.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

Delegates meet Yokota's spouse in North

Japanese negotiators in North Korea met Friday with the apparent husband of a Japanese citizen who was kidnapped by Pyongyang's agents in 1977 and, according to the North, died in the reclusive state, a Japanese official said.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2004

Embassy worker told to pay fine

The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday ordered a Japanese employee of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tokyo to pay a 150,000 yen fine for a traffic accident she caused in 2002 on her way home from escorting a Sri Lankan Cabinet minister to a hotel.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2004

Unidentified submarine intrudes near Okinawa

An unidentified submarine briefly entered Japan's territorial waters off the Okinawa Islands early Wednesday, and Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol aircraft were sent to track it.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2004

'Economy watchers' index off again

Business confidence of workers with jobs sensitive to economic trends worsened in October for the third straight month as typhoons pushed up retail prices, which in turn dampened consumer sentiment, the government said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2004

Koizumi says troops in Iraq are still in a 'noncombat zone'

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday he still considers the southern Iraqi region around the city of Samawah a "noncombat zone," despite the Iraqi government declaring a state of emergency for most of the nation.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2004

Defense Agency says SDF cut would put reactors in danger

An internal Defense Agency document says that cuts in Self-Defense Forces personnel and equipment as proposed by the Finance Ministry could leave nuclear reactors open to attack and hamper disaster relief operations.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2004

Child-rearing costs average 16.1% of living expenses

It takes an average of 46,400 yen per month to raise a child, or 16.1 percent of a household's total living expenses, according to a survey by an organization affiliated with the Cabinet Office.
COMMENTARY
Nov 6, 2004

French divide over Turkey

PARIS -- On Dec. 17 leaders of the 25 European Union states will consider Turkey's request to join their club. That doesn't mean Turkey is set to be admitted anytime soon. For budgetary reasons, it's not likely to happen before 2015.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2004

Koizumi hopes U.S. ties deepen

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday he hopes to further develop Japanese-U.S. ties through his close personal relationship with President George W. Bush, who was re-elected in a neck and neck race with Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2004

Jenkins gets 30 days in jail, dishonorable discharge

CAMP ZAMA, Kanagawa Pref. -- Sgt. Charles Jenkins was given a 30-day jail sentence and a dishonorable discharge Wednesday after pleading guilty before a court-martial at Camp Zama for deserting his U.S. Army unit and fleeing to North Korea in 1965.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2004

Sporadic rocket attacks on SDF camp don't constitute combat, officials say

While a rocket attack that damaged a storage container at the Ground Self-Defense Force camp in Samawah, southern Iraq, on Monday rattled the government, Japan remained adamant that the area is still a noncombat zone and that the troops can stay.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2004

Koda was not executed because of SDF: officials

Government officials Monday defended the activities performed by the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq, saying the recent execution of a Japanese hostage there was the work of terrorists and was not triggered by local Iraqi people's anger toward the troops.
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2004

Bin Laden exploiting Western divisions

SEOUL -- Ban Ki Moon, ordinarily a mild and discreet gentleman, could barely contain smoldering anger over the "October surprise" as he sat down for breakfast with me just hours after Al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language news network, released a videotape apparently starring the inimitable Osama bin Laden....
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Nov 1, 2004

Japan now must ponder extending SDF mission

The tragic end to the Shosei Koda hostage crisis may influence Japan's policy of deploying its ground troops in Iraq, especially as their one-year mission will soon expire, officials and analysts say.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 1, 2004

Antimonopoly Law reform amendment falls short of the mark

A proposed amendment to the Antimonopoly Law was submitted to the Diet on Oct. 15 -- as promised by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2004

Confusion reigns over Iraq hostage

The government was thrown into confusion Saturday over the fate of a Japanese man who had been taken hostage by militants in Iraq threatening to kill him unless Japan withdraws its ground troops from the country.
EDITORIALS
Oct 31, 2004

Resounding victory for Afghanistan

Mr. Hamid Karzai, the interim leader of Afghanistan, has won that country's first presidential ballot. The election is a momentous accomplishment for Afghanistan, a country that has been torn by war for decades. Mr. Karzai's win is a victory for him personally, but it is also an incalculable victory...
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2004

Hosoda scrambles to defend Emperor's comment

Emperor Akihito did not violate the Constitution when he said teachers and students should not be forced to sing the national anthem and pay homage to the flag, the top government spokesman said Friday.

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