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JAPAN
Dec 12, 2004

Women's work may go underground

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering reviewing the law banning women from working at mines and tunnel construction sites, aiming to expand their labor opportunities, ministry officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2004

Heart surgeon under suspicion of malpractice

Three patients with defective heart valves died between January and March 2003 after undergoing operations performed by the same cardiac surgeon at Tokyo Medical University Hospital, informed sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2004

LDP panel wants tax cuts ended in fiscal '06

The Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel is moving to propose abolishing tax reductions in fiscal 2006 on condition that the economic recovery is maintained, political sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2004

North Korea may get deadline to fully explain Yokota's fate

Japan will set a deadline for North Korea to give a full and honest account of the fate of abductee Megumi Yokota if it does not respond sincerely to a protest Japan filed over the matter, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2004

Stricter limits eyed for farmed tuna

The Fisheries Agency has decided to impose tougher limits on imports of farmed bluefin tuna due to criticism that tuna farms have caused environment pollution and overexploitation, agency sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

Brewing emotions and desires

GREEN TEA TO GO: Stories from Tokyo, by Leza Lowitz. Printed Matter Press/SARU Press international, 177 pp., 2004, 1,500 yen (paper). Is there such a thing as women's literature -- books that authorize a unique take on life, as opposed simply to literature penned by women, work tinged with female sensibilities?...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

Wrapping things up in time for Christmas

Tokyo bibliophiles will no doubt look back at 2004 as the year in which a revered Tokyo institution -- the Maruzen book store -- moved from its original location in Nihombashi, where it had operated since 1870, to a new home on the first through fourth floors of the OAZO Building in Marunouchi. While...
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2004

Yachi tabbed as vice foreign minister

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura has decided to appoint Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Shotaro Yachi as vice foreign minister, according to sources.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2004

Guam native tells Tokyo gathering of WWII atrocities

Juanita Cruz was only 8 years old when she saw her mother being raped by Japanese soldiers. At 10, she saw her 5-year-old brother killed.
Features
Dec 12, 2004

'Trophy' reflects on what might have been but for bed freeze-out

Seated elegantly at a table in a Tokyo cafe, 37-year-old Kazumi Nakazawa is recalling the brief period seven years ago when it wasn't obvious her marriage was doomed.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 12, 2004

Until dearth do us part

It is a condition that many married Japanese know all too well.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 12, 2004

The Stars

In the spectrum of Japanese psychedelia, The Stars occupy a poppy middle ground: They are neither as noisy (nor mystical) as Acid Mothers' Temple or Ghost, nor do they opt for the atmospheric faux folksiness of Maher Shala Has Baz or The Tennis Coats. Instead, the tunes of singer-songwriter You Ishihara,...
Features
Dec 12, 2004

Sex-starved wives get men on prescription

Champions of conventional concepts of matrimony may well be shocked -- dismayed, even -- by the current slew of stories in Japanese magazines detailing just how likely the nation's married women are to have sex outside their marriages.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

The short and the sweet of popular Japanese theater

A GUIDE TO THE JAPANESE STAGE: From Traditional to Cutting Edge, by Ronald Cavaye, Paul Griffith and Akihiko Senda. Foreword by Nomura Mansai. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2004, 388 pp., many illustrations. 2,310 yen (paper). A convenient, pocket-size volume, this entertainment guide recommends "plays...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

Nostalgia is a green monster

GODZILLA ON MY MIND: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters, by William Tsutsui. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 240 pp., $12.95 (paper).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 12, 2004

The Donnas: "Gold Medal"

Ditching their Ramones-like pseudonyms on their sixth album, The Donnas move beyond whatever novelty appeal they've retained since their high-school days in Palo Alto, Calif. Though they were never really a punk band, their artless energy endeared them to the kind of indiephiles who think innocence of...
Dec 12, 2004

Women's work may go underground

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering reviewing the law banning women from working at mines and tunnel construction sites, aiming to expand their labor opportunities, ministry officials said Saturday.
Dec 12, 2004

Heart surgeon under suspicion of malpractice

Three patients with defective heart valves died between January and March 2003 after undergoing operations performed by the same cardiac surgeon at Tokyo Medical University Hospital, informed sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 12, 2004

Nihon TV's "Sekai wo Kakeru Hiro-tachi" and more

The aura surrounding people who become successful abroad is perhaps more pronounced in Japan than in other countries. There's a sense that the cultural gulf separating Japan from the rest of the world is deeper and more difficult to cross, so when someone does it successfully it seems more impressive....
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2004

Haneda-Kimpo flights to increase

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has decided to tell South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun this week that Japan will increase the number of shuttle flights between Tokyo's Haneda airport and Seoul's Kimpo airport to promote exchanges between the two countries, government sources said Saturday.
Dec 12, 2004

LDP panel wants tax cuts ended in fiscal '06

The Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel is moving to propose abolishing tax reductions in fiscal 2006 on condition that the economic recovery is maintained, political sources said Saturday.
Features
Dec 12, 2004

'Clueless' husband rues lost love

Masatoshi Hoshino, a 56-year-old distribution company manager in Tokyo, had an arranged marriage 16 years ago to a woman he met just six months before.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 12, 2004

Lord Shrimp gets deep-fried over New Year's special

While surfing for coverage of the most recent NHK scandal on commercial television, I naturally had my radar tuned for expressions of schadenfreude, especially on the wide shows, where commentators enjoy a little more freedom to be critical. But there hasn't been much gloating. Last Monday, the host...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 12, 2004

Revealing 'The Japanese Sensibility': Innocence

How can innocence and worldliness coexist in a people? Does not the black whip of cynicism, with its burr and sting, send naivete sailing for more gentle and accommodating shores?
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2004

Give Japan's royal diplomacy a chance

Something is amiss within Japan's Imperial household. For nearly a year now, the Crown Princess Masako has suspended her official functions for "health reasons." The public knew next to nothing about the details of her disposition or the effectiveness of treatment, for reasons that included the extreme...
Features
Dec 12, 2004

'Betrayal' in bed began after happy family was complete

As he was growing up, Shinsuke Horiuchi assumed marriage and physical affection went hand-in-hand. Then wedlock showed him how wrong he was.

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