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JAPAN
Aug 1, 2005

Life for Miyake's residents full of challenges

Six months after the evacuation order was lifted for residents of Miyake Island, life remains fraught with challenges ranging from frequent toxic gas warnings to mountains of unprocessed garbage.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2005

Bound by a common cause

LONDON -- When Chinese President Hu Jintao was in Moscow in early July, he sought to strengthen the "strategic partnership" between China and Russia that his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed in Moscow four years ago.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 1, 2005

Tax Commission's plans show irrational thinking

In a report on income taxes for individuals released June 21, the Tax Commission called for a set of proposals to revamp the system. The proposals included: 1) ending tax breaks and further hiking taxes; 2) cutting deductions for salaried workers; and 3) reviewing a proposal to automatically deduct 380,000...
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2005

SDF transport planes to get refuel upgrade

The Defense Agency plans to seek funding to make Air Self-Defense Force C-130 transport aircraft capable of receiving in-air refueling, agency sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 1, 2005

Olive branch to Iran overdue

A new Iranian government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be inaugurated Aug. 4. While outgoing President Mohammad Khatami is a moderate, Ahmadinejad is a hardline conservative whose relations with the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush are likely to be tense. As this is undesirable...
MORE SPORTS
Jul 31, 2005

Hirayama goes Dutch

Japan Under-20 striker Sota Hirayama flew out of Tokyo on Friday hoping to impress Feyenoord as he joins the Dutch League side on trial.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 31, 2005

Will Hanshin still be in swing after 'road trip of death'?

The Hanshin Tigers are in a position to win their second Central League pennant in three seasons, but they will have to get by a jinx that has plagued Tigers teams in the past: the "shi-no-rodo" or "road trip of death."
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 31, 2005

Man United whips Urawa on Rooney's double

SAITAMA -- Wayne Rooney shrugged off a barracking from Urawa Reds fans to score two second-half goals, including a stunning chipped effort, as Manchester United completed its tour of Japan on Saturday night with a 2-0 win at Saitama Stadium 2002.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 31, 2005

Dragons outlsug Giants for 10th straight win

Kazuki Inoue hit a go-ahead homer and Alex Ochoa drove in four runs Saturday night as the Chunichi Dragons beat the Yomiuri Giants 10-7 for their 10th straight victory.
EDITORIALS
Jul 31, 2005

Rescue from property sharks

Fraudulent and malicious sales methods victimizing innocent people have become a social issue. In a typical case, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested four former salesmen last month on suspicion of having cajoled or pressured some 5,400 people in 34 prefectures into signing contracts for...
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2005

Asthma-attack system in offing

The health ministry has started working on setting up a nationwide emergency system to prevent fatalities due to asthma, ministry sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
Features
Jul 31, 2005

Retail mecca reborn

Many of Japan's thousands of shotengai (mom-and-pop retailers' districts) are struggling these days as customers desert them for major department stores, discount shops and suburban malls. The Osu district of Nagoya, though, is a notable exception. Bucking the nationwide downturn, this area is popular...
Japan Times
Features
Jul 31, 2005

Fare to love -- or loathe

If you plan on visiting Expo 2005 Aichi, you may find you have to join long, long lines and brave the summer heat to get into the most popular pavillions. And should you go through Nagoya on your way back home, don't be surprised to see more long lines in the city center. But these long waits are nothing...
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2005

Thousands gather in support of retaining pacifist Article 9

Thousands of people attended a rally Saturday in Tokyo to protest against changing the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 31, 2005

Only the names change as U.S. policy blunders on

Don't blame it on the neo-cons.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2005

Dawn of New Wave

If you're reading this on Sunday then most likely you're not at the Fuji Rock Festival this weekend. But if you're kicking yourself for not having made the trip to Naeba, you still have a chance to enjoy at least a fraction of the Fuji fun, because six bands who are playing at the festival will be doing...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 31, 2005

What six reasonable men can do

REASONABLE MEN, POWERFUL WORDS: Political Culture and Expertise in 20th Century Japan, by Laura Hein. Berkeley, Calif.; University of California Press, 2004, 328 pp., $45 (cloth). This is the compelling story of how six prominent intellectuals shaped the conventional wisdom that came to characterize...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 31, 2005

Book bite

SEEING JAPAN (three-volume boxed set), by Charles Whipple, Juliet W. Carpenter, Kaori Shoji. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2005, approx. 90 pp. per volume, 11,400 yen (cloth). "Seeing Japan," the boxed set, presents three different visual journeys: Japan as a whole, plus the country's two famous cities...
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2005

Kanebo created big slush funds

Kanebo Ltd., already under fire for falsifying financial statements for years, used the pretext of buying back cosmetics products that were being sold at heavily discounted prices to raise money for slush funds, it was learned Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2005

Believe what you will in the new Tibet

BRUSSELS -- Any visit to Tibet is liable to leave you breathless. At Tibetan altitudes, oxygen is only 60 percent of what it is at sea level, with the result that it takes several days to acclimate. Yet it is clear from the start that Tibetan reality, at least on the surface, is very different from its...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 31, 2005

Breach the defenses of marriage with a smile

FORTRESS BESIEGED, by Qian Zhongshu. Penguin Classics, 2005, 426 pp., £18.99 (cloth). 1937 was a rotten year for China. Japanese forces moved their operations from the Peking to the Shanghai region, the Nationalist lines in Nanjing collapsed, and the remnants of the resistance moved their troops deeper...

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