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JAPAN
Jul 30, 2004

Group demands preimplantation genetic diagnosis of embryos

Doctors and patients demanded in court Thursday that the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology allow the controversial preimplantation genetic diagnosis of embryos.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2004

High court upholds death sentence for two culprits in subway gassing

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentences meted out to two Aum Shinrikyo figures over their roles in the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 28, 2004

Director has whale of a time making experimental 'Mind Game'

Now an animation veteran, with 17 years in the business, Masaaki Yuasa still looks young enough, acts deferential enough and dresses down enough to be mistaken for a rank-and-filer. Instead, he is a rising industry star hailed for his work on the "Crayon Shinchan" franchise, the nearest Japanese animation...
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2004

Making the farm sector competitive

The government's economic and fiscal report for 2004, which was released last week, has a subtitle that sounds only too familiar: "No growth without reform." Yet the report deserves attention for two reasons. First, it focuses on the regional economy, a subject that has been more or less overlooked in...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2004

Nuclear fuel report just another coverup?

Revelations that the government apparently buried for a decade a report that says reprocessing spent atomic fuel is much more expensive than burying it is causing a political furor that industry analysts say may pull the plug on the nation's nuclear recycling policy.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 27, 2004

A pottery master and mosquitoes

Bernard Leach John writes that his parents will be hosting Japanese friends in the U.K. this coming autumn.
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2004

Like NTT phone fee, line brokers face extinction

Kanji in the window of a three-story building near JR Okachimachi Station in central Tokyo advertise "denwa tokubai" (discounted telephone lines).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 27, 2004

Know the law

You might have noticed the dragnet in Japan these days.
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2004

Toward stronger Tokyo-Seoul ties

At the Japan-South Korea summit meeting last week, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun agreed that the two countries should work together more closely to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis. The agreement will help provide an impetus to the coming six-nation talks...
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2004

Use and abuse of intelligence

Two official reports come to disturbing conclusions about intelligence failures in the United States and Great Britain. Both identify systemic flaws in the collection and analysis of critical intelligence that resulted in the invasion of Iraq. There is much to learn from these episodes, but the most...
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2004

Postal privatization may see end to guarantee on deposits

The government might strip Japan Post workers of their public-servant status and might end the guarantee on ordinary deposits in 2007, when postal service privatization is phased in, according to government sources.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2004

BSE report set to please beef exporters in U.S.

Japan and the United States compiled a report Thursday stating that blanket testing for mad cow disease has limitations in terms of detecting whether young cows have been infected with the brain-wasting illness.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2004

A third of workers are part-timers, temp staff

Part-time and temporary workers comprised 34.6 percent of the nation's workforce in 2003, up 7.1 percentage points from 1999, mainly due to corporate efforts to cut labor costs, according to a labor ministry survey released this week.
EDITORIALS
Jul 23, 2004

The Philippines' choice

The government of Philippine President Gloria Magapagal-Arroyo has withdrawn its forces from Iraq to save the life of a kidnapped Filipino. The gamble worked. The hostage, Mr. Angelo de la Cruz, was released unharmed this week and the nation -- like much of the world -- has rejoiced in his freedom. Unfortunately,...
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2004

Japan to demand update on fate of 10 abductees

Japan will demand that North Korea issue an interim report next month regarding the fate of eight Japanese abductees Pyongyang says are dead and two others it says never entered the country, government sources said Thursday.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2004

Strange bedfellows

Strange segues: Yes, festivals give audiences an opportunity to sample everything from classic hits to upcoming trends. And yes, an eccentric juxtaposition of bands can reveal unexpected musical relationships or introduce you to new music. But somethings just don't belong together like this downright...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 18, 2004

The literary perfect crime

SAYONARA, GANGSTERS, by Genichiro Takahashi, translated by Michael Emmerich. New York: Vertical, Inc., 2004, 311 pp., $19.95 (cloth). A poet is talking to a refrigerator. The refrigerator with whom he is conversing is Virgil -- yes, that Virgil, author of "The Aeneid" and later Dante's guide through...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2004

Hashimoto linked to shady 100 million yen from dental group

A former Japan Dental Association chairman tied to an embezzlement scandal sent a 100 million yen check from the coffers of the group's political arm to former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto prior to the 2001 House of Councilors election, investigative sources said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 16, 2004

A functional defense and more

Japan's Self-Defense Forces, which came into existence 50 years ago, was described at the time as "armed forces with no war potential." Although that remains essentially true, the SDF is no longer a "passive" organization devoted only to national defense. As this year's defense report, issued earlier...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jul 15, 2004

Japan's kindergartens could serve families better

Procreation just ain't what it used to be.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2004

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis of eggs OK'd

The ethics committee of the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology on Tuesday approved for the first time genetic diagnosis of fertilized eggs prior to implantation, society officials said.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2004

Jenkins sounded out on Japan checkup

The government has sounded out Charles Robert Jenkins, the American husband of repatriated abductee Hitomi Soga, on the possibility of his coming to Japan for a medical checkup, government sources said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 13, 2004

Adoption and no-charge credit cards

Adopting Dave and his Japanese wife want to adopt a baby.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2004

Coalition opts to keep Koizumi

Hours after the Liberal Democratic Party fell shy of its 51-seat target in Sunday's House of Councilors election, leaders of the ruling bloc confirmed Monday they would stay the course under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2004

Summits of East Asian unity

East Asia is moving toward regional integration, albeit at a slow pace. In a series of meetings held in Indonesia from late June to early July, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed on a package of measures to expedite economic, financial, political and security integration. This signals...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2004

Moderate Islam's voice must be heard

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The fact that every day a new "armchair" terrorism expert appears can be viewed as a welcome sign, for it shows that there is growing alertness to the new challenge of our times. Terrorism experts continue to argue over the best ways to confront unimaginable threats, but frequently...
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2004

Dental group donation set to result in charges

Prosecutors are set to establish a case against a former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker and two others on suspicion of embezzlement disguised as a political donation, according to informed sources.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami