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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2006

Reshaping U.S.-ROK alliance

HONOLULU -- The U.S.-South Korea alliance is at a turning point. South Korea has become a modern, vibrant democracy and a dynamic economy with global reach. Despite the nuclear crisis with North Korea, inter-Korean reconciliation has taken root and South Korea feels confident enough to seek a more independent...
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 30, 2006

Kubo and Tamada to lead the line against Ecuador

Keiji Tamada and Tatsuhiko Kubo renew old acquaintances as strike partners for Japan on Thursday in a friendly against Ecuador, with national team boss Zico confident the spark is still there between the two.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2006

TV broadcasters to get OK for holding firms to add stations

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry plans to authorize private TV broadcasters to set up holding firms that would then control a number of broadcasters via equity stakes, ministry officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Marines find hope in new diplomatic tool: English

URUMA, Okinawa Pref. -- At first glance, it looks like the typical English conversation school found throughout Japan -- students armed with pencils and notebooks listening to a Western instructor drill them in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2006

Retail sales rose 1% in February

Retail sales rose 1 percent to 9.86 trillion yen in February compared with the previous year as fuel prices continued to rise and new minivehicles sold well, the government said in a preliminary report Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2006

Itoyama sheds half of JAL shareholdings

Eitaro Itoyama, a former lawmaker and one of Japan Airlines Corp.'s largest shareholders, said Wednesday he has sold half of his stake in the airline holding firm on the stock market.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Japan wants to limit realignment tab to 50%: Aso

Japan wants to keep its share of the expenses for moving some 8,000 U.S. Marines to Guam from Okinawa to under half, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2006

Rakuten, TBS to keep tieup negotiations going

Rakuten Inc. and Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. announced Wednesday they have agreed to extend their tieup talks for three months until the end of June.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Vote cuts term of U.S. force budget

A House of Councilors plenary session approved Wednesday a new Japan-U.S. agreement that takes effect in April on Japan's host-nation support for U.S. forces stationed in the country.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Koizumi to visit Africa, Sweden

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is planning an April 29-May 5 trip that will take in Ethiopia, Ghana and Sweden in a bid to reinforce Japan's relations with Africa and discuss the Scandinavian nation's successful social welfare system, the government said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 30, 2006

Getting down to just art

In the development of contemporary art scenes in Asian countries over recent years, a strong tendency has been for artists to buck the yoke of tradition and steer well clear of anything that might remotely resemble their nation's folk art -- unless of course their intention was to mock it.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2006

Canberra-Jakarta ties sink

SYDNEY -- Fragile relations between Indonesia and Australia have taken a nosedive, again, and Canberra is concerned that any sudden venting of anger in Jakarta may wreck years of painstaking efforts at building up mutual good will. The Indonesian ambassador has been recalled from Canberra "for consultations."...
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2006

U.S. agrees to beef precautions

The United States agreed Wednesday to train workers handling beef exports to Japan and to double its final checks on beef shipments headed here, according to government officials on both sides.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 30, 2006

21st-century ambient narratives

Mood rings, lava lamps, liquid oil color projections.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Change to allow foreign political funds

Running for office doesn't come cheap. Politicians need money for posters, vans, venues for speeches and meals for volunteers. The problem for aspirants to office is that political donations are falling, and corporate money in particular is dwindling fast.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Textbooks given state makeover

, which it controls.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 29, 2006

Japan's Davis Cup team selected

Japan will field the team of Go Soeda, Goichi Motomura, Satoshi Iwabuchi and Toshihide Matsui for its upcoming matchup with Thailand in the second round of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania zone, the Japan Tennis Association said Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 29, 2006

Yoshida wins 5th straight title with victory at Japan Queens

Reining Olympic and world champion Saori Yoshida won her fifth consecutive title Tuesday with a solid victory over rival Chikako Matsukawa in the final at the Japan Queens Cup.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2006

Firms raided in floodgate bid-rigging

Investigators from the Fair Trade Commission searched about 40 offices of more than 20 machinery makers Tuesday over suspicions that they rigged bids on contracts for public floodgate projects.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2006

Nuclear agency OKs Shikoku Electric MOX plan

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency issued a permit Tuesday to Shikoku Electric Power Co., allowing it to proceed with development of a "pluthermal" nuclear power system that will generate electricity by burning a fuel mixture containing plutonium at its No. 3 reactor in Ikata, Ehime Prefecture....
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2006

Iraq to get first reconstruction loans

The government announced Tuesday that it will extend yen loans totaling 76.5 billion yen for reconstruction in Iraq -- its first such assistance to the conflict-ravaged country in 20 years.

Longform

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