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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 2, 2006

Accepting apologies is not so easy

JAPANESE APOLOGIES FOR WORLD WAR II: A Rhetorical Study, by Jane W. Yamazaki. London: Routledge, 2005, 256 pp., £65 (cloth). POLITICS, MEMORY AND PUBLIC OPINION: The History Textbook Controversy and Japanese Society, by Sven Saaler, Munich: Deutsches Institut fur Japanstudien, 2005, 202 pp., 28 euro...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 2, 2006

Buying U.S. out of Okinawa started a habit that is hard to kick

The bombshell that former Foreign Ministry official Bunroku Yoshino dropped last month hasn't had the explosive effect one might expect. Yoshino was in charge of the ministry's American Bureau at the time the United States handed Okinawa back to Japan in 1972, and in an exclusive interview in the Feb....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Apr 2, 2006

Rice rats and romance on the 'River of Nine Dragons'

The rusty boat farts, coughs and chugs slowly along the narrow river channel, a skinny boy perched on its prow shouting directions back to the captain (who does almost as much farting and coughing as his geriatric craft). There's the slop and slosh of oily water round my boots. Three rice rats are busy...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 2, 2006

Murata, Doi come up big for BayStars

Shuichi Murata homered twice and drove in six runs and Yoshihiro Doi held a power-laden lineup to one run over seven sharp innings, leading the Yokohama BayStars to a 9-1 rout of the Yomiuri Giants in the Central League on Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2006

The opposition regroups

Mr. Seiji Maehara's decision to step down as chief of the Democratic Party of Japan, and to take responsibility for a recent e-mail fiasco in the Diet, came suddenly but too late. He leaves the spotlighted position without living up to party members' hopes that he would energize their goals. His resignation...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 2, 2006

A torso squeaks -- but what does it say about the media?

OK, this is confession time. Even though I have lived in Japan for decades, there is something that still absolutely drives me up the wall -- so high up the wall, in fact, that I feel like Spiderman on a Shinjuku skyscraper.
Japan Times
Features
Apr 2, 2006

Taking tanka to a new and timeless plane

Machi Tawara made a spectacular debut as a tanka poet at the age of 25 in 1987, and since then the Osaka-born artist has devoted her life to condensing her world into those neat, rhythmic but not rhyming, 31-syllable compositions.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 1, 2006

Giants rout BayStars on Opening Day

Opening Day must be Koji Uehara's least favorite day of the year, but things change.
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2006

Israel chooses to go forward

Party emerged victorious in national elections held this week in Israel. The win was a victory for interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who took the helm of government -- and the newly formed party -- after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was felled by a stroke. The celebrations will be short-lived as Mr....
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 1, 2006

Play of young Guns illustrates Wenger's eye for talent

LONDON -- We should have known better than to question Arsene Wenger's judgment.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2006

33 metro teachers hit for symbol snub

The Tokyo Metropolitan board of education Friday punished 33 public school teachers who refused to stand to face the national flag and sing "Kimigayo," the national anthem, at March graduation ceremonies.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2006

DPJ positions to change with new guard

Seiji Maehara's decision Friday to resign as Democratic Party of Japan president will probably test the largest opposition party's solidarity and its conservative stance on defense, according to observers and DPJ sources.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2006

Cost of living just got more expensive as fiscal 2006 begins

The April 1 start to the new fiscal year brings with it a number of increases in the cost of living.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2006

Designers, sellers of defective buildings face law with teeth

The Cabinet approved a package of bills Friday from the infrastructure ministry that feature a provision to toughen the maximum penalty for architects and builders who erect defective buildings.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2006

Fuel spike helped push February CPI up 0.5%

The February core consumer price index rose 0.5 percent to 97.6 from a year ago, compared with the 100-point benchmark for 2000, the government announced Friday, marking the index's fourth consecutive year-on-year increase.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2006

Toshiba debuts first HD DVD player

Toshiba Corp. began sales Friday of the world's first commercially available next-generation DVD player in Japan, ahead of the Sony Corp.-led group that is competing with the Toshiba-led camp for new global DVD standards.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2006

China slammed over cryptographer honey trap suicide

The government Friday condemned China for blackmailing a Japanese diplomat in Shanghai two years ago for intelligence, driving him to commit suicide.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2006

Six privatized companies licensed to run highways

The government licensed six privatized corporations Friday to operate the nation's highways on condition that they complete repayment of interest-bearing debts within 45 years retroactive to their privatization last Oct. 1.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 1, 2006

Poems that speak in essence of time in Tokyo

Aileen Fedullo is a young American poet whose observations of people and life in Tokyo over the past decade ("Plastic seasons scraping against eyes") have been sometimes acerbic, often passionate, always penetrating and more often than not jotted down in coffee shops.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2006

TV programs go mobile as One Seg services begin

Starting Saturday, many cell phone users may find their beloved handsets even more indispensable. In addition to tapping out messages to their friends and surfing the Net, people will be able to see digital broadcasts of their favorite TV shows wherever they go, on their mobiles.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 1, 2006

A few gestures of renown -- really

A non-Japanese-speaking friend of mine was telling me a story of how he once tried to talk his way onto a dinner cruise, even though he knew all the seats were booked. Persistence, he figured, plus his clumsiness with the language would work its "gaijin" spell on the English-burdened clerk, who he just...
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2006

Gutierrez stresses safety of American beef

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez repeated the U.S. position Friday that American beef is safe from mad cow disease and urged Japan to lift its import ban.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2006

Daiichi Sankyo to acquire Zepharma

Daiichi Sankyo Co. will buy Zepharma Inc., Astellas Pharma Inc.'s nonprescription drug unit, for 23.5 billion yen on April 13, Daiichi Sankyo and Astellas said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 1, 2006

Josephine Branders

Belgium, a small European country with a beguiling medieval air, is beloved on many counts. With the ancient buildings, public squares and marketplaces common to many European countries, Belgium has also its own enduring distinctions. It is popularly known for its long history of specialist lace-making....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 1, 2006

Victim's best friend: savvy 'avy' dogs

I have just skied down a chute and am buried under more than a meter of snow. I have a two-way radio on and an avalanche rescue beacon. After 20 minutes of deathlike silence, I can finally hear a dog barking in the distance. I've done a lot of back-country skiing in my life, but this is the first time...

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