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JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

JR group sees sixth straight rise in holiday traffic

The Japan Railway group said Friday 9.84 million passengers traveled on JR trains during the yearend holiday season, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier, the sixth straight yearly increase.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

Aso to join trilateral security dialogue during Australia visit

Foreign Minister Taro Aso will hold talks with his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on security issues during his four-day visit to Sydney starting Tuesday, Foreign Ministry officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

Record blizzard to reach new depths

Heavy snow hit the Sea of Japan coast Friday and is expected to continue through Sunday, adding more misery to western and northern sections of the country already buried in record-deep snow, the Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

Needle can make you 'drunk': study

Blood-alcohol tests can be inaccurate if the needle is sterilized with ethanol, a research group said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

Tokyo-Beijing fire rages on over diplomat's suicide in 2004

A spat between Japan and China over the 2004 suicide of a diplomat at the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai continued Thursday as Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe urged Beijing to give a "sincere response" over what has been reported as an attempt to extort intelligence.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

Japan, U.S. to hold military realignment talks next week

Japan and the United States plan to hold senior working-level talks next Wednesday and Thursday in Washington on the realignment of the U.S. military presence in Japan, Foreign Ministry officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

Japan, China set one-day talks to ease frictions

Japan announced Friday that it would hold one-day talks with China next week on bilateral ties and a dispute over gas deposits in the East China Sea in an apparent attempt to staunch a rapid deterioration in relations.
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2006

Yosano sees light at tunnel's end

Economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano spoke confidently about the course of the economy Friday, saying it was about to emerge from "a dark tunnel" and show sustainable growth from now on.
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2006

Scandal-plagued NHK expects to rebound in fiscal 2007

Scandal-plagued NHK expects to rebound in fiscal 2007
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2006

Tanigaki heads to U.S. for range of talks

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Friday he will leave this weekend for a seven-day visit to the United States for talks with U.S. policymakers as well as the heads of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

Medical question-and-answer Web site proving popular

An Internet bulletin board that answers medical questions from the public has gathered a strong following since it opened in December, according to the operator of the Web site.
COMMENTARY
Jan 7, 2006

No rest for 'China threat' lobby

I recognize that it (China) is becoming a considerable threat."
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2006

Cold snap heats up kerosene price

The average retail price of kerosene rose 22 yen this week to 1,302 yen per 18 liters, setting an all-time high for the third week in a row as severe weather jacked up demand across the country, the Oil Information Center said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 7, 2006

Buddhist-Christian feminist to speak out at retreat

The Amago Sanso Retreat from Jan. 27 to 29 on the Izu Peninsula may see sparks fly! It will be the 49th annual celebratory gathering of Christian women from all over Japan and other parts of Asia, the same age -- synchronistically -- as its controversial keynote speaker, Hyun Kyung Chung.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 7, 2006

Pamela Weinsaft

A young lawyer on her own in Tokyo, Pamela Weinsaft feels securely independent and completely at home here. She first came to Japan in 1995 to study for a semester at Temple University Law School in Tokyo. She said: "Perhaps 10 years ago, Japan seemed more 'exotic,' but I think one of the things that...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 7, 2006

Getting away? No easy trick

Think you need to get away? In our case, a mother-in-law in dwindling health, jobs of various importance and a sense of responsibility too puffed up for our own good had resulted in this: For six years my wife and I had not taken a vacation. And this in beehive-busy Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 7, 2006

Kagura theater: talking with gods

Every four years on our island, we have a New Year's kagura performance. You don't just sit back and watch kagura; you become a part of it whether you intend to or not. All the other events on the island over the past four years seemed like mere practice sessions compared to kagura.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 6, 2006

Asashoryu nabs second MVP

Mongolian grand champion Asashoryu on Thursday was named the most valuable athlete in Japanese professional sports for the second year in a row. The Japan Professional Sports Association selected Asashoryu for the award after he became the first wrestler in sumo history to win all six meets in a year...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

25 prefectures aid quake checks

Twenty-five prefectural governments are providing subsidies, technical assistance or both to owners of houses and buildings for earthquake-resistance checks, according to figures compiled by Kyodo News on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Researchers plan apolitical surveys near disputed islets

A group of Japanese researchers will conduct underwater surveys around two tiny islets at the center of a dispute with China.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Nikko Citigroup employee makes trading blunder

A Nikko Citigroup Ltd. employee, investing for private purposes, mistakenly placed a buy order on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for 2,000 shares of Nippon Paper Group Inc. instead of two, the investment firm said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Fire rages on over '04 diplomat suicide in China

A spat between Japan and China over the 2004 suicide of a diplomat at the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai continued Thursday as Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe urged Beijing to give a "sincere response" over what has been reported as an attempt to extort intelligence.
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2006

Japan's economic upturn

Last year saw a gradual upswing in the Japanese economy. The stock market revived and many Japanese corporations earned record profits. The average stock price at the Tokyo Stock Exchange has risen by about 40 percent in the past year. Toward the end of 2005, it topped 16,000 for the first time in more...

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell