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JAPAN
Sep 17, 2006

Cult facilities raided across the nation

The Public Security Intelligence Agency inspected 25 Aum Shinrikyo facilities nationwide Saturday morning after the death sentence for its founder, Shoko Asahara, was finalized the day before.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2006

Survey with S. Korea to start Oct. 7

Japan and South Korea will conduct their joint radioactivity survey near the disputed islets in the Sea of Japan from Oct. 7 to 14, Foreign Ministry officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2006

New Komeito chief to quit on Sept. 30

attends a meeting Saturday of the party's prefectural representatives in Tokyo, along with (from second to left) acting President Toshiko Hamayotsu, Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba and acting Secretary General Akihiro Ota. KYODO PHOTO
JAPAN / LASTING IMPACT
Sep 17, 2006

Former member recounts Aum's control

First in a series
JAPAN / LASTING IMPACT
Sep 17, 2006

Timeline of Asahara's court saga

Following is a chronology of events linked to the trial of Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara:
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2006

Three die, 29 hurt as typhoon nears Kyushu

A powerful typhoon approaching Kyushu triggered flash floods and landslides Saturday that killed three people in Saga Prefecture.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2006

Aneha wins fight to be granted bail

Disqualified structural engineer Hidetsugu Aneha, indicted on charges related to the building-safety scandal, should be granted bail soon, now that a court has rejected an appeal by prosecutors against his release.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2006

Long inevitable goodbye of Tony Blair

LONDON -- In early 1999, Paddy Ashdown, then the leader of Britain's Liberal Democratic Party (and since then, as Lord Ashdown, Europe's envoy in Bosnia), was found with a woman not his wife and forced to resign his post.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 17, 2006

Noodles with attitude

Chairman Mao Zedong -- who back in 1935 wrote that his nation's basic task was "to oppose the attempt of Japanese imperialism to annex China" -- obviously had some, shall we say, issues with the Middle Kingdom's diminutive neighbor to the east.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 17, 2006

Nihon TV's "2,000 Days That Will Linger in History" and more

Pretty soon we won't have Junichiro Koizumi to kick around any more, at least not as prime minister, and for those of you who are already feeling nostalgic for the "Koizumi Theater," Nihon TV will present a two-hour dramatization of his administration Monday at 9 p.m.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 17, 2006

Monsters out of the closet

MILLENNIAL MONSTERS: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination, by Anne Allison, foreword by Gary Cross. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006, 332 pp., 48 b/w photos, $24.95 (paper). When I was a child, toys from Japan were kept in the cheapest bins of Woolworth's and Newberry's. Sparkler-wheels...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 17, 2006

Bizarre bouts of self-expression

Nearly 300 spectators cheered wildly as disco music blared. A spotlight picked out two fighters approaching the ring to kick off a puroresu (prowrestling) event held recently in a Tokyo town hall.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 17, 2006

Adding some passion to our plastic world

PLASTIC CULTURE: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World, by Woodrow Phoenix. Kodansha International, 2006, 112 pp., fully illustrated, 3,150 yen (cloth). Plastic toys were once considered cheap, disposable and replaceable -- bright and cheerful mass-manufactured dolls, model cars and trinkets that needed...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 17, 2006

Self-censorship conjures ominous echoes of the past

These days a simple but potent Japanese word is appearing in the media with inordinate frequency. It is hannichi, which means "anti-Japanese." An incident last month brought to mind an earlier era, when the word hannichi was also in common currency. Some words skip decades, returning to haunt the national...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 17, 2006

Struggling to put the brakes on the culture of drunk driving

What makes a crime more heinous than another? We usually think it has to do with intention. Murder, which implies pre-meditation, is more seriously punished than manslaughter, which implies lack of premeditation.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 17, 2006

Heartbreak heaven for staff

It's 9 o'clock on a Monday morning. A phone rings in an office and the boss picks it up. At the other end she hears the fragile voice of one of her staff telling her she broke up with her boyfriend the day before. "I would like to take a shitsuren kyuka," the staffer says. Unperturbed, the boss replies:...
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2006

Murakami now plans court battle

Yoshiaki Murakami, the founder of Japan's best-known investment fund, intends to plead not guilty to insider trading charges despite admitting to them at the time of his indictment, judicial sources said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2006

Have a nice 'sol'

It's that time again. Every so often, life on our planet just seems so bleak there's nowhere to look but out. That was certainly the case this past week. Not only did the usual whack-a-mole wars keep flaring and simmering, even good things had their dark sides. Here in Japan, the welcome birth of a prince...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 17, 2006

Take a wild ride on the Orient Express

THE OTTOMAN CAGE by Barbara Nadel. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, 312 pp., $23.95 (cloth). DRAGON FIRE by William S. Cohen. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2006, 383 pp., $24.95 (cloth). "One of the most frequently asked questions that I get as a British author," Barbara Nadel tells the e-zine...
SUMO / Basho reports
Sep 16, 2006

Kisenosato halts Asashoryu's streak

Grand champion Asashoryu of Mongolia was handed his first loss Friday on a day of upsets at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 16, 2006

Cole's tall tale: Move to Chelsea not about money

LONDON -- I was halfway through writing this column when there was a knock at the door.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 16, 2006

Aoki, Swallows give Romano tough time

It took getting ahead for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows to get even.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2006

Princess, baby check out of hospital, head for palace

Prince Hisahito made his first public appearance Friday afternoon as he and his mother, Princess Kiko, left the hospital to go home.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji