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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 20, 2006

How sweet it is -- or isn't

My wife bakes in flurries and when the storm hits hardest, our kitchen becomes a virtual hurricane of flour and dough, not to mention Category 5 aromas.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2006

Beef safety audit passes muster

The U.S. has resolved most of Japan's concerns about U.S. beef processors, Japanese government officials said Friday, clearing the way for Japan to lift its import ban on U.S. beef.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2006

Russian flirtation with the fascist threat

MOSCOW -- Today's Kremlin thinks that democracy was being built too quickly in Russia. The government does not say that it is against democracy, only that it is untimely and needs to be delayed -- a logic that manifests itself in most official decisions. Thus, at the beginning of the current decade,...
EDITORIALS
May 19, 2006

Inequalities of pensions

In 1984, the government decided to rectify inequalities between the pension plan for company employees (kosei nenkin) and the one mainly for public servants (kyosai nenkin). Public servants are entitled to receive more benefits by paying smaller amounts of contributions than company employees.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 16, 2006

Airports, pensions, cell phones

Immigration change I am reading a lot about the new immigration laws and the possible changes that could apply in regards to airport arrival/re-entry.
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2006

A quiet burial of a scandal that will haunt Washington

NEW DELHI -- With global attention focused on the U.S.-led face-off with Tehran over the nuclear issue, Pakistan has ingeniously seized the opportunity to give a quiet burial to the worst proliferation scandal in world history, involving the Pakistani transfer of nuclear knowhow and equipment to three...
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2006

Beijing flouts an old rule of separation

LOS ANGELES -- "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's."
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2006

Fixing the freedom to move

LONDON -- Recent marches in the United States by Latin Americans calling for some 12 million illegal immigrants to be given the right to reside and work in "the land of the free" are the most striking manifestation of a problem that affects every advanced country, although the issue is disguised in Japan....
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2006

Conspiring on a weak bill

The ruling and opposition parties are waging a battle in the Lower House's Judicial Affairs Committee over a bill that would introduce the "crime of conspiracy." The crux of the proposal is that one would be punished for joining others to plan a crime even if the crime was not actually carried out or...
BUSINESS
May 11, 2006

Coke recall jumps to 2.37 million bottles

The Coca-Cola group in Japan will increase the number of soft drinks it is recalling, due to suspected iron contamination, to 2.37 million bottles from the initially planned 570,000.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2006

North-South fault line in global politics

On April 28 developing countries voted as a group at the United Nations to shelve management reforms proposed by Secretary General Kofi Annan in the wake of the oil-for-food scandal. Annan had requested more discretion and latitude in hiring, shifting and firing his staff, and controlling the organization's...
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2006

Japan's 'strategy' criticized

Most of the Southeast Asian intellectuals and lawmakers I met with recently while visiting the region made remarks critical of Japan's regional strategies. Some said Japan was unenthusiastic about negotiations on economic cooperation with Southeast Asian countries and instead was giving priority to solving...
JAPAN
May 8, 2006

Mahjong banking on an infusion of new blood

shows banker Liam Hearns which tile to discard during a mahjong lesson in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2006

Tibetans' next hope after Dalai Lama

MADRAS, India -- Railway lines fulfill dreams -- at least in modern times. But the one about to link central Tibet with China threatens to dash hopes.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 7, 2006

Bungling F.A. suits have gone for second best in McClaren

After countless interviews, cloak-and-dagger meetings, secret talks and public humiliation for the Football Association after being turned down by Portugal's Luiz Felipe Scolari, Steve McClaren was named the next England head coach on Thursday -- 99 days after Sven-Goran Eriksson announced he was leaving...
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2006

Old woes for Italy's new government

Three weeks after losing a national election, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has finally conceded the vote. His decision to step down eliminates one headache for the winner, Mr. Romano Prodi, but it is not the most important challenge the prime minister-to-be faces.
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2006

Limiting the economic gaps

Japan is rich because Japanese are poor.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 30, 2006

Harking back to the past in order to secure the immediate future

Thanks to continuing malfeasance on the part of some of its employees, NHK remains in the dog house, so it's tempting to view recent programming decisions with an eye for how they might boost the public broadcaster's standing among subscribers. For example, why has NHK revived not one, not two, but four...
MORE SPORTS
Apr 29, 2006

Deep Impact is the horse to beat

Deep Impact, Japan's triple crown winner in 2005, is back Sunday for his second running this year following a 3 1/2-length victory March 19.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 29, 2006

English media get what they deserve if Big Phil takes charge

LONDON -- Having done much to press the Football Association's hand in forcing it to tell Sven-Goran Eriksson that he will not be the England head coach after the World Cup finals, the English football media found themselves in a pickle.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2006

SMBC to be suspended from derivatives selling

Financial regulators said Thursday they will slap Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. with a six-month ban from May 15 on selling financial derivatives.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 26, 2006

Media's vilification of Bonds shows lack of objectivity

It's a question that has to be asked.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2006

Mourners mark anniversary of JR West crash

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- Relatives of the dead and survivors gathered Tuesday morning to mark the first anniversary of a train crash that killed 107 people and injured nearly 550.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2006

A less than satisfying visit

These days, the official description of the U.S.-China relationship is that it is "complex." This banal characterization is preferred by both governments for several reasons: In addition to being true, it helps deflect pressure from both sides and deflates expectations. All the complexities of the relationship...
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2006

Tokyo court backs reporter on refusing to name source

The Tokyo District Court on Monday accepted in principle a Kyodo News reporter's refusal to reveal a news source in connection with a 1997 report on the taxation of a Japanese subsidiary of a U.S. health food company.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 25, 2006

Aso family's 'slave' link under scrutiny

While Taro Aso's public statements as foreign minister have done little to help ease tensions between Tokyo and the rest of Asia, a family connection to wartime forced labor has raised further questions over his ability to oversee good relations with Japan's neighbors.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2006

FTC to probe 11 firms over shady bids

The Fair Trade Commission is expected to open criminal investigations into 11 major water-treatment plant makers that were raided by the antitrust watchdog in August for allegedly rigging local government bids, sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 23, 2006

Imelda Marcos: Still angry after all these years

The beautiful half of one of the 20th century's most notorious dictatorships, Imelda Marcos has spent two decades fighting attempts to jail her and trace a reputed fortune of billions. On the 20th anniversary of the revolution that ousted her and Ferdinand Marcos from power in the Philippines, she talks...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2006

China's anti-Japan protests led to 77 million yen in damages

Japanese diplomatic missions in China and Japanese-owned businesses operating there suffered a combined 77 million yen in damage from massive anti-Japan demonstrations a year ago, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight