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LIFE / Language
Mar 28, 2006

Modern teaching tools capitalize on 'Japan cool'

Enter a British school and Japanese is likely to have been left outside the classroom. According to statistics from the United Kingdom's National Centre for Languages (CILT), last year 978 students took Japanese at GCSE level, the public exams taken at 16 after which students can leave school or continue...
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2006

Okinawa base issue not cut and dried with locals

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. -- It's a chilly, rainy evening in late January, but more than 1,000 people pack the center of town to hear a speech by Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, the head of the Nago Municipal Assembly.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 28, 2006

Cheese, eBye and reiki

Say cheese AP asks: "Where can I get a wide range of foreign cheeses in Japan? They are so expensive in supermarkets, and often not in good shape."
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2006

Deregulation of broadcasters pushed

The government will consider easing shareholding limits among media organizations to help boost the capital strength of Japanese broadcasters and increase their global competitiveness, a senior communications ministry official indicated Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 28, 2006

Kokudo wraps up Asia League title

Takahito Suzuki scored the go-ahead goal with less than five minutes left in the final period Sunday as Kokudo beat the Nippon Paper Cranes 4-3 in decisive Game 5 of the playoff final to retain its Asia League title.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 28, 2006

Offi's Zumi Stool, Tadao Hoshino's dresser drawers, the 'Shadow Series' chairs, Muji's Wagon Set

With the cherry blossoms finally blooming and spring-cleaning in the air, it's a good time to think about updating your home's interior. And it isn't only a few university students who will be looking for new furnishings to go with the new digs that they move into at the start of Japan's school year...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 28, 2006

How do you make a good first impression in a new job?

Hiroshi Aimoto Public servant, 39 The office is a kind of society, so relationships are important. Appearance is also important. Try to be neat with a good suit, a nice tie and a clean shave. Never be late. Japanese companies don't trust people who are not punctual.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2006

Government still struggling to meet realignment deadline

The government still hopes to finalize plans to realign the U.S. military presence in Japan by the Friday deadline although it has yet to win consent from affected communities, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2006

Household assets down 11% from '99

Financial assets and home equity held by households averaged 39 million yen as of the end of November 2004, a drop of 11.1 percent from 1999, when the last survey was conducted, according to a survey by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry released Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2006

Kanebo's book-cooking execs avoid prison time

The Tokyo District Court handed suspended prison terms Monday to former Kanebo Ltd. President Takashi Hoashi and ex-Vice President Takashi Miyahara for colluding with auditors to cover up over 160 billion yen in capital deficits in fiscal 2001 and 2002.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 28, 2006

Times get tough for teachers

English teaching in Japan is not what it used to be. Conditions are changing; the work is harder to come by, wages are falling, and staff are increasingly taking their employers to court.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Mar 28, 2006

Takao Tsue

Takao Tsue, 80, is the Honorary Chief Priest of Osaka City's Imamiya-Ebisu Shrine, famous for the Toka Ebisu festival held every January, which attracts over 1 million people over three days. According to legend, the shrine was established in AD 600 by Shotoku Taishi, and written records show that Tsue's...
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2006

Overseas production ratio hit record high 16.2% in '04

The overseas production ratio of Japanese manufacturers rose 0.6 percentage point from the previous year to a record high of 16.2 percent in fiscal 2004, up for the fifth straight year, according to an annual government survey released Monday.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 27, 2006

Injury casts shadow on Yanagisawa's World Cup prospects

Japan international Atsushi Yanagisawa's chances of playing at this summer's World Cup were left hanging in the balance Sunday after tests revealed the Kashima Antlers striker has fractured a bone in his right foot.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 27, 2006

Kokudo wins 2nd straight Asia League title

Takahito Suzuki scored the go-ahead goal with less than five minutes left in the final period Sunday as Kokudo beat the Nippon Paper Cranes 4-3 in decisive Game 5 of the playoff final to retain its Asia League title.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2006

Nakada projected winner in race for Yokohama mayor

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) Hiroshi Nakada, incumbent mayor of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, is set to win re-election to his second four-year term, according to a Kyodo News exit poll that showed him well ahead of his challengers in Sunday's election.
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2006

China and Russia ready to deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China last week to kick off "the Year of Russia in China." The festivities, which Russia will reciprocate next year with "the Year of China," are sure to trigger the usual excited speculation about ties between the two continental giants.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Mar 27, 2006

Ishibashi's 'alternative reality' for Japan

NEW YORK -- A reader of my Jan. 30 column ("Another side to Japanese-Korean history") wrote to comment and, in the course of subsequent correspondence, wondered about an "alternative reality" or a "what if" in Japan's history before World War II. He had in mind, in particular, "Secretary (Cordell) Hull's...
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2006

Obituary: Ayako Koshino

Ayako Koshino, a veteran fashion designer in her own right and mother of the three famous designer daughters Hiroko, Junko and Michiko, died of a stroke early Sunday, her family said. She was 92.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2006

Hamas sets out to put first things first

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- As it struggles to form a government for the Palestinian territories, Hamas seems to be clutching the biblical verses of Ecclesiastes rather than the desires of the Quartet (United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations), which is charged with trying to bridge...

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes