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JAPAN
Aug 8, 2004

Government eyes more local control of schools

Local governments may be empowered to do away with the current uniform elementary and junior high school years and set these periods according to local needs, according to a draft plan for reforming the nation's compulsory education system.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 8, 2004

Japan hopes to bear it out to gain a World Heritage Site

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization convened the 28th World Heritage Committee in Suzhou, China in early July to screen candidates for World Heritage sites, which are cultural or natural treasures meant to be preserved intact forever. The big news out of the session was...
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2004

Red Cross failed to recover donated blood after hepatitis case

The Japanese Red Cross Society failed to recover blood donated by 37 people for transfusions even after it learned that a woman who received some of that blood became infected with hepatitis B, Red Cross officials said Saturday.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 8, 2004

The art of seeing

Photographer Jun Akiyama is taking ostrich strides down a Tokyo sidewalk, snapping pictures on a flimsy-looking tourist camera. Click! A child's curious glance is frozen in grainy black-and-white. Click! Akiyama catches a moment of anxiety on an old woman's face.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 8, 2004

Happy Democrats suffer some nostalgia

WASHINGTON -- A lot of Democrats arrived home from the 44th national convention of their party happy that the performance of their new nominee exceeded their expectations and that the entire presentation was positive and error-free.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 8, 2004

Hosoki Kazuko in TBS's "Zubari Iu Wa Yo! and more

Fortune tellers and paranormals used to be quite popular on Japanese TV until the Aum Shinrikyo affair made people a little nervous about certain kinds of unorthodox beliefs. In the past few years, however, such TV personalities have slowly made a comeback. The most striking example is Kazuki Hosoki,...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2004

Where have all the angry fathers gone?

First of all, let me make it clear that I certainly do not consider myself to have been a perfect father. At the same time, though, I can also say that I did not bring tears to my family through domestic violence, and I did not bring my family to the verge of breakup through debauchery. I was, I would...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 8, 2004

All of Japan between two covers

JAPAN ENCYCLOPEDIA, by Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002, 1102 pp., 48 illus., 14 maps, $59.95 (cloth). This large, beautiful and indispensable volume is a translation of "Le Japan: Dictionnaire et Civilisation," published in 1996, the year of the author's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 8, 2004

Three glorious days in musical heaven

The Fuji Rock Festival went off without a hitch or a typhoon this year. Philip Brasor, Simon Bartz, Jason Jenkins and Mark Thompson were there to bear witness.
EDITORIALS
Aug 7, 2004

Rationale for denuclearization

Fifty-nine years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is a disturbing sense that the world could be headed for more, not less, nuclear weapons. As the world's first and only atom-bombed nation, Japan is destined to do everything in its power to strive for the nonproliferation and...
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2004

Proposed emissions trading, carbon tax set to be hard sell

The introduction of an emissions trading system and a carbon tax would be effective in reducing Japan's greenhouse gas emissions, an Environment Ministry panel said in an interim report released Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2004

Jenkins meets with military lawyer for second day

Accused U.S. Army deserter Charles Jenkins met a U.S. military lawyer from South Korea for the second day Friday in Tokyo, government sources said, offering no details on how the talks progressed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2004

'Mushiking' bug-contest arcade game a hit with kids, parents

Sega Corp.'s "Mushiking" ("The King of Beetles") arcade game is a hit with kids and their parents.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2004

Forex reserves grow by $1.25 billion

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves in July grew by $1.25 billion from June to $819.2 billion, the second-highest on record, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2004

Employee pension scheme suffers its first deficit

The employee pension scheme unexpectedly registered its first-ever deficit in fiscal 2003, which ended last March, forcing the Social Insurance Agency to tap reserves, the agency said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2004

Creating a more caring China

HONG KONG -- China under President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji astounded the world with its economic growth, reflected by a substantial increase in gross domestic product year after year. Yet the current leadership of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are making it clear that they have...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2004

High expectations await Lee Hsien Loong

SINGAPORE -- After nearly 14 years at the country's helm, Goh Chok Tong has announced that he will step down as Singapore's prime minister on Aug. 12. Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will become the nation's third prime minister since it gained independence in 1965. It is believed that Goh will...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 7, 2004

Bon ancestor worship going to the dogs

It's almost Bon, the festival of the dead, a time when the spirits return to their ancestral homes. On our island, that's a lot of returnees. With the population dying off so rapidly, the ratio of spirits to living people is so great that at Bon, the living become a minority.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2004

Hitachi, Matsushita eye LCD tieup

Hitachi Ltd. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. are considering jointly manufacturing large liquid-crystal display panels for flat-screen televisions, officials of the two companies said Friday.

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