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COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2005

Soft power matters in Asia

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts -- U.S. President George W. Bush recently returned from Asia after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit, but he should continue to pay attention to another Asian summit to which he was not invited. In December, Malaysia will host an East Asian Summit that...
COMMENTARY
Dec 5, 2005

Koizumi's success hinges on transparency

LOS ANGELES -- The Japanese are trying to sell their Asian neighbors a plan to rearm militarily -- and become more like a "normal" nation and less like a thoroughly defeated World War II aggressor. In their view, this shouldn't make anyone nervous.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2005

China's environmental health challenges

NEW YORK -- The recent environmental crises in China underscore the need to improve the mechanisms for preventing environmental disasters and responding more effectively to environmental emergencies. For the past few decades, China has maintained significant economic expansion while greatly improving...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 5, 2005

Privatization hurdles: Japan Post should compete with banks on level playing field

The government bills drafted to privatize the state-run postal services were finally enacted into laws in mid-October, but there will be two major challenges ahead as privatization is carried out.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 4, 2005

Imano surges into lead

Yasuharu Imano fired a bogey-free 63 Saturday to grab a one-shot lead after three rounds of the Nippon Series JT Cup.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 4, 2005

Fantastic finish

TODOROKI, Kanagawa Pref. -- Gamba Osaka clinched its first-ever J. League championship on a dramatic final day of the season Saturday, beating Kawasaki Frontale 4-2 as Cerezo Osaka conceded a last-gasp equalizer to FC Tokyo that denied it the title.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 4, 2005

Carp skipper Brown can't wait for spring training

New Hiroshima Carp manager Marty Brown is excited about his challenge and can't wait for spring training to begin.
EDITORIALS
Dec 4, 2005

On Iraq, another war of words

Not for the first time, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has become an object of media derision over a language question. The word-loving secretary is always a tempting target, but this time -- as in the past -- journalists might have done better to hold the jokes. Words are the media's stock in...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 4, 2005

Between life and death stands culture

FINAL DAYS: Japanese Culture and Choice at the End of Life, by Susan Orpett Long. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 288 pp., $45 (cloth). This book asks how the final days might be different for Japanese patients and for those in the United States. Both Japanese and Americans state that they...
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2005

Defense info pact eyed with U.S.

Japan will study the feasibility of concluding a pact with the United States to prevent defense information from leaking, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2005

New title will be needed for husband of empress

The government plans to include the official title of a reigning empress's husband in its bill to allow a female on the throne, government officials said Saturday.
BASKETBALL
Dec 4, 2005

X League title game set

Quarterback Manabu Tatsumura completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ken Shimizu in the first quarter and made another to tight end Sumitaka Ando in the second period to power the Obic Seagulls to a 13-7 win over the Asahi Beer Silver Star at Yokohama Stadium in the X League Final 6 semifinals...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Dec 4, 2005

Shogo Kariyazaki: Flower power at his fingertips

Shogo Kariyazaki is one of Japan's most flamboyant and outspoken authorities on beauty.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 4, 2005

Japan's show-biz hacks fail to raise ante 24 / 7

Last Monday was a pretty busy day for Tokyo's entertainment reporters. At 11 a.m. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, fresh from spending Thanksgiving in Pakistan, held a press conference in Shinjuku to promote their movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"; and then at 2 p.m. across town at the Imperial Hotel in Hibiya,...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2005

HIV prevention programs need to grow

BANGKOK/MANILA -- In a region that is home to two-thirds of the world's population, an HIV prevalence rate of 0.4 percent -- significantly lower than sub-Sahara Africa -- translates into more than 8 million adults and children living with HIV. More than 1 million people were newly infected with HIV in...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 4, 2005

Complexity drawn from emptiness

THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF IMAGES by John Mateer. Fremantle, Australia: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2005, 61 pp., A$22.95 (paper). The poet John Mateer has published previously in South Africa, where he comes from, Australia, where he now lives, and Indonesia, which he has traveled in. A group of his poems...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 4, 2005

NHK's "Project X" on the Takarazuka production of "The Rose of Versailles" and more

Takarazuka, the all-female musical theater company based in Hyogo Prefecture, made its first-ever trip to South Korea last month with a revival of the troupe's most popular musical, "The Rose of Versailles." Riyoko Ikeda's 1970s manga, upon which the musical is based, has been translated into 10 languages...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 4, 2005

Read at your peril: Blair blasts Bush's al Jazeera 'joke'

On November 22, the Daily Mirror newspaper in Britain published an exclusive article headlined "Bush Plot to Bomb his Ally." A subsidiary headline said: "President Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a 'Top Secret' No. 10 memo reveals."
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2005

Folly of vying to rule rather than serve

KATMANDU -- The struggle over Nepal's political future seems to be unsolvable. Just as one group gains the upper hand and consolidates support for their cause, the opportunity slips away in a haze of bullets or boycotts.

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