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JAPAN
Apr 26, 2006

Koizumi era one of change, tension

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who pledged to "destroy" his own Liberal Democratic Party when he became its president five years ago, will probably be remembered for putting in place much-needed structural reforms.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2006

Learning from Chernobyl

At 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear-power accident in history occurred at Chernobyl, Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Twenty years after the accident, the name "Chernobyl" and a view of the 90-meter-high concrete and steel sarcophagus covering Reactor Four at the power...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 26, 2006

Dark sleeper

* Japanese name: Donko * Scientific name: Odontobutis obscura * Description: The enigmatically named Dark sleeper is a perch-like fish in the order Perchiformes. Members of this, the largest order of vertebrates, include 40 percent of all fish. They are typically fat-lipped, grumpy-looking fish and...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 26, 2006

A voice of reason countering Big Oil's clout

The United States government may be hemorrhaging money in Iraq, but the financial condition of America's oil companies and their top management couldn't be rosier.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 25, 2006

What's your holiday plan?

BHeather Cone Scuba instructor, 29 I'm going to Beijing with my girlfriend. It's going to be two girls cruising the Great Wall, shopping for handbags and shoes, because we can't find any that fit our big feet in Japan, and drinking whatever they drink over there.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2006

For female 'otaku,' a coffee house all their own

Opening the thick wooden door to the Swallowtail coffee house in Tokyo, a man in a black tailcoat greets female customers: "Welcome home, Madam."
EDITORIALS
Apr 23, 2006

Tiger's language snafu

Many Japanese think English is taxing enough already without native English-speakers arguing among themselves over the correctness or propriety of this or that word. It happened again after the latest U.S. Masters golf championship in Augusta, Ga., when it seemed more media ink was spilled over Tiger...
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 Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Apr 21, 2006

Psychedelic radar 04.21

Saturday, April 22
EDITORIALS
Apr 20, 2006

Bill warrants thorough debate

Only two weeks after it was sent to the chamber's floor and with little debate, the Lower House has passed a bill that will allow the fingerprinting and photographing of foreigners as they enter Japan. The legislation is now in the Upper House. The Justice Ministry says that the bill to revise the Immigration...
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2006

New moneyed class spends big at luxury retailers

Evidence that the economic recovery is creating a "new wealthy class" while leaving others to struggle is showing up in department stores and other luxury retailers that are outperforming their convenience store cousins.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 18, 2006

Sound trucks

Dear Alice,
COMMENTARY
Apr 16, 2006

Democracy? Good leaders matter more

SINGAPORE -- The notion of multiparty democracy as an ideal one-size-fits-all form of government is, I am sorry to have to report, not exactly bowling people over these days. Take a look at Thailand and the Philippines, which Washington has often enshrined on its ideological placards as a pair of shining...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 16, 2006

Unlike with the French, a lack of fight spells future gloom for Japan's workers

While traveling through Europe recently I tried to get a handle on the controversy surrounding France's now abandoned First Job Contract (CPE) law, which was meant to make it easier for companies to hire young people. However, those same young people thought the law would make it easier for companies...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 16, 2006

'15th Anniversary Drama of Chibi Maruko-chan' on Fuji TV and more

Two years ago, Fuji TV wanted to adapt its popular Sunday evening animated TV show about a precocious third-grader, "Chibi Maruko-chan," as a live-action drama feature, but couldn't find a little girl actress who looked enough like the cartoon character with her distinctive pageboy hairstyle.
EDITORIALS
Apr 15, 2006

Abduction issue not resolved

The Japanese government has announced DNA analysis results that indicate that the daughter of Ms. Megumi Yokota, a Japanese abducted by North Korean agents in 1977, was very likely fathered by a South Korean man also abducted by the Pyongyang regime in the 1970s, a Mr. Kim Young Nam. There is now a strong...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 15, 2006

Maureen Tan

When Mutsuko Miki, widow of former Prime Minister Takeo Miki, set up the Asian Ladies Friendship Society in 1968, she could not have projected how the society would rate in 2006. To her gratification, ALFS today, expanded to the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society, has 24 member countries and a general...
COMMENTARY
Apr 14, 2006

Tattered NPT needs repairs

LONDON -- What has become of the globally agreed regime designed to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons -- the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT)? The answer these days is that while it has served the world well for many years it is now in tatters.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Apr 14, 2006

Knight expands fashion empire

Eccentric British fashion designer Paul Smith is currently presiding over a rollout of stores across the globe. Following on from the December 2005 opening of a bubblegum-pink store on Melrose Avenue, L.A., last week he was in Tokyo to unveil a four-story flagship in the Aoyama district. Later this year...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 13, 2006

Lennon's love and peace legacy on display

To commemorate the wedding of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and their peace activities during the late 1960s, the John Lennon Museum in Japan is hosting a special exhibition until July 31 titled "John and Yoko's Love & Peace Activities 1968-1970."
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2006

A hazard named Winny

It seems not a day passes without news on leakage of confidential information from governmental and other entities onto the Internet. The types of information leaked are vast and the content is critical -- Self-Defense Forces-related documents, quake-resistance data for nuclear-power plants, access codes...
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 12, 2006

Promotions, trips and an NHK departure

With memories of the Osaka Haru Basho starting to fade, a lot of sumo fans will be looking to May 7th and the first day of the Natsu Basho in Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 12, 2006

Peacock butterfly

* Japanese name: Kujaku-cho * Scientific name: Inachis io geisha * Description: Instantly recognizable, with its chocolate-brown body, striking red wings and eye spots, the peacock is in the Nymphalid family of butterflies. In members of this family, the front pair of legs are reduced and useless for...
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2006

JAL, Skymark presidents give unsworn Diet testimony

have to secure robust profit." The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry launched a special inspection into Skymark in March after it was found to have flown a plane nine months past its repair deadline.
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 2006

Mr. Ozawa takes the DPJ's helm

The Democratic Party of Japan -- which has plunged into a crisis following the resignation of its young leader Seiji Maehara over a bogus e-mail fiasco -- chose Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, a heavyweight veteran politician, as its new leader. As leader of the No. 1 opposition party, the tasks facing Mr. Ozawa are...
Japan Times
Features
Apr 9, 2006

Off the road from Damascus

Megumi Yoshitake's experience of living with the Bedouin is quite probably unique. Although her primary medium is photography, here she also offers some written snippets of memory and expression from her numerous sojourns in the Syrian Desert since the 1980s.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan