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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2007

Road map to fighting drug-resistant TB

GENEVA-- A much larger tuberculosis drug-resistance problem exists than researchers previously thought. New global data on TB, published this month by the World Health Organization (WHO), highlight serious weaknesses in many national TB programs, increasing the potential for widespread TB drug resistance....
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2007

20 Seiyu stores to start selling U.S. beef

Seiyu Ltd., the supermarket chain owned by Wal-Mart, said Monday some of its stores will start selling U.S. beef at a time when most major retailers here are still reportedly worried about possible health hazards.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Mar 27, 2007

KOKUYO, MUJI, PILOT and MONO for spring

Spring is in the air, and that means two things: a city draped in the pink of cherry blossoms -- hey, pink is the new black, so get with it; and the start of a new school year. So I'll concentrate this month's picks on a few items that will make you more productive with a touch of a style.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2007

Upper House authorizes 83 trillion yen 2007 budget

The House of Councilors on Monday evening approved the 82.91 trillion yen fiscal 2007 budget following its endorsement by the chamber's budget committee earlier in the day.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 27, 2007

'Multicultural Japan' remains a pipe dream

In February, education minister Bunmei Ibuki called Japan "an extremely homogenous country." Eighteen months earlier, now Foreign Minister Taro Aso described Japan as having "one nation, one civilization, one language, one culture, and one race." What was notable about these comments is that they were...
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2007

A Japanese sense of humor?

Japanese and Germans are thought by some "Anglo-Saxons" to have many similar qualities, including a lack of a sense of humor and a tendency to take themselves too seriously. I don't think the former is fair; the latter is closer to the mark.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Mar 27, 2007

Masahiro Murata

Masahiro Murata, 35, is a hair and makeup artist whose salon, MaQueen, just behind the Kabuki-za theater in Ginza, is a sanctuary for both his loyal clients and staff. Murata loves people, and especially beauty in them, which he believes manifests itself in the way one treats others. As one of Japan's...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 27, 2007

Fingerprint law furor revisited

Thomas in Tokyo wrote to Lifelines in response to my Jan. 9 answer to an inquiry from reader Nick on the new law requiring the photographing and fingerprinting of foreigners on their entry into this country. I wrote that Japan Helpline is coordinating a response to the measure.
LIFE / Language
Mar 27, 2007

Sakura songs home in on the reassuringly familiar

It is late March, and the crowds are about to descend in droves on the parks and gardens for hanami, or cherry-blossom viewing.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 27, 2007

How can the government better spend its money?

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 26, 2007

Marines, Fighters tie again

CHIBA -- There was a little wind, a lot of rain and a lot of mud. All in all it was absolutely horrible weather for about four innings at Chiba Marine Stadium. Although through it all Chiba Lotte pitcher Hiroyuki Kobayashi pitched an absolute gem.
BASKETBALL
Mar 26, 2007

Five Arrows wrap up excellent weekend with win

The Takamatsu Five Arrows gave an impressive two-day primer on hoops over the weekend at Ariake Colosseum.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2007

Turn Japan-South Korean ties into a real partnership

HONOLULU -- We are dismayed by the current state of Japan-South Korean relations. The two countries are natural partners. Both are U.S. allies, democratic societies, and share similar values and security concerns. During the Cold War, both Japan and South Korea feared expansion of communism from the...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Mar 26, 2007

Jury system doesn't guarantee justice

NEW YORK -- My U.S.-Japanese business consultant friend John Gillespie dropped by and, upon hearing that my wife Nancy had been summoned to jury duty, said Japan should introduce a similar system.
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2007

Strengthen U.S. trade ties

Japan is gearing up to conclude more free trade or economic partnership agreements with foreign governments. So far, Japan has been less enthusiastic about FTAs and EPAs than Western countries but is changing its tack due to difficulties expected in the new round of multilateral trade talks under the...
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2007

A showdown in Pakistan

The removal of the chief justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court may have triggered the biggest political crisis yet for President Pervez Musharraf. The government claims Justice Iftikhar Chaudry is corrupt. His supporters counter that his real offense is his independence and argue that Pakistan's democracy...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Mar 26, 2007

From steel and coal deal to integration: EU fetes 50 years of history

On Sunday, Europe marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the historic agreement that established such bodies as the European Parliament and the Court of Justice.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 25, 2007

Maki, Takahara power Japan past Peru in exhibition

YOKOHAMA -- Seiichiro Maki broke his scoring duck and Naohiro Takahara continued his rich vein of form with another goal as Japan beat Peru 2-0 in a friendly at International Stadium Yokohama on Saturday evening before 60,400.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell