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JAPAN
Sep 6, 2005

JCP wants united front on postal bills

The Japanese Communist Party plans to call on other parties to join hands to scrap the postal privatization bills that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi aims to resubmit to the Diet after Sunday's general election, JCP chief Kasuo Shii said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2005

Takashimaya to sell diamond for 1.9 billion yen

Takashimaya Co. said Monday it will sell a 66-carat diamond for 1.895 billion yen -- the most expensive jewelry it has ever handled -- at its Nihonbashi department store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2005

Small shops wake up and smell the coffee to fend off big chains

As self-service coffee shop chains saturate the market, their small-scale, often pricey predecessors are feeling the squeeze, and those in Tokyo and Osaka are struggling to survive by focusing on their uniqueness.
EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2005

A child-rearing environment

Policy proposals for creating an economic and social environment conducive to childbearing and child-rearing should be an important issue for voters to consider in next Sunday's Lower House election. An accelerating decline in the birthrate, followed eventually by a smaller labor force, will have a great...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 4, 2005

How to beat the high price of Japanese pro baseball tickets

Have you ever thought about going to a Japanese baseball game but, upon checking prices, thought the tickets are rather expensive?
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 4, 2005

NHK's "Dramatic Earth" offers a history of New York City and more

It's generally agreed that New York City is the most dynamic and important metropolis in the world. A global center of economics, entertainment, media and sports, as well as being the home of the United Nations, the Big Apple is peerless as a center of attention.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2005

Once more, with feeling

With a mane of wild hair and the darkly circled eyes of the sleep deprived, one could easily mistake Kieran Hebden for a grad student up too late at the lab. There is little evidence in his striped polo shirt and khaki shorts that he is one of the more sought after electronica producers and performers....
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2005

Women-only salons offer refuge after last trains

There is good news for weary women in Tokyo who stay out late and miss their last trains after working long hours or hanging out with friends.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 3, 2005

El Haddawi seeks sensational Bavarian waterfall

On any normal day, Thomas Farnbacher can wave to his partner, Ingo Taleb-Rashid, across Lake Chiemsee in Bavaria. "I live one side with my wife and children in a small village. Rashid lives on the other. The lake is too big to see one another, of course. But we know we are there."
Sep 1, 2005

Defense Agency wants 5 trillion yen

The Defense Agency on Wednesday requested 4.89 trillion yen in the fiscal 2006 budget to increase the capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces to counter threats to national security, including acts of terrorism, missile attacks and natural disasters.
Sep 1, 2005

Absentee voters get chance to cast ballots

Japanese voters living abroad were given a chance to cast their ballot Wednesday for the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election, with special offices opening in Sydney, Seoul, Beijing and other major cities.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2005

TSE panel doesn't see regulatory spinoff

Tokyo Stock Exchange executives indicated Tuesday chances are slim for the bourse to transfer its regulatory duties to a new firm when it goes public as early as this fiscal year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 31, 2005

The nature of the mind

Shunmyo Masuno calls his works "expressions of my mind," and they have the power to stir up depths of emotion and even tap into the subconscious. They are not psychedelic paintings, however, nor are they virtual reality installations -- they are gardens. And the man who creates them is a Buddhist priest....
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Aug 30, 2005

MBAs, names and clothes

Business schools On the subject of business schools in Tokyo, Temple University was recommended, writes Scott. He is currently a student at Montreal, Canada's McGill University and they have a good MBA program in Tokyo called MBA Japan taught through English.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 30, 2005

Spoiled pooches live the good life

Whether it's "wan-wan," "bow-wow" or "ruff-ruff," dogs in Japan are all speaking the same language: life here ain't too dog-gone bad.
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2005

Japan's green economic edge

There are two meanings to the axiom that the 21st century is the century of the environment: (1) Global environmental problems will become more serious, and (2) environmental problems will be the driving force of economic development.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2005

Government looking to boost adoption rate

The welfare ministry plans to dispatch staff across the country who specialize in finding foster parents for kids separated from their biological parents because of abuse or other problems, it was learned Sunday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 28, 2005

Postal reform gets stamp of approval from celeb politicians

Opponents of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal reform plans have a number of complaints, but the point they tend to harp on about, presumably because it's the only one the average citizen can appreciate, is the downsizing of post offices in far-flung regions.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 28, 2005

Intelligent Design: One chance encounter explains it all

Ijust happened to be reading the Kansas City Star the other day when a fascinating article caught my eye. The Star reported, in its Aug. 2 edition, that the Kansas Board of Education has approved a draft of new science standards proposed by supporters of so-called Intelligent Design.
EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 2005

Fading hopes for a UNSC seat

Japan's long-cherished desire to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council remains as strong as ever, but realizing that aspiration in the near future is becoming extremely difficult in the face of stiff objections from certain countries. The government's strategy for expanding...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2005

Envoy to help U.N. mission in Sudan

The government said Friday it will send a diplomat to a U.N. mission in Sudan next month to help the world body's peacekeeping operations in the African country, government officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2005

Art show by visually impaired offers a hands-on experience

Seeing with their hands -- that is what young visually disabled artists did to create works for an ongoing exhibition at Gallery Tom.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2005

U.S beef faces further study, bureaucratic steps

More study on the risk of imported U.S. beef being infected with mad cow disease is needed before reopening the Japanese market, a food safety panel said Wednesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 25, 2005

River grasshopper

* Japanese name: Kawarabatta * Scientific name: Eusphingonotus japonicus * Description: This is a grasshopper with a mottled, stone-gray or brown body that is very difficult to spot. Males are between 25-30 mm long, females between 40-43 mm. The large hind legs (femurs) have a herring-bone pattern,...
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2005

National universities generate 110 billion yen profit

All of Japan's 89 national universities except one posted a combined gross profit of about 110 billion yen in fiscal 2004, with Osaka University at the top pf the heap with 7.1 billion yen in earnings, the government said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2005

LDP again at the crossroads

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi views the forthcoming general election, set for Sept. 11, as a national referendum on his top-priority plan to privatize the postal system. "I would like to ask the people whether they are for or against postal privatization," he told a nationally televised press conference,...

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