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JAPAN
Jul 20, 2006

Defense expert set to head academy

A former member of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's advisory body on security issues will be the next president of the National Defense Academy, government sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2006

Korean-Japanese bridges the gap for movie crew

Born in 1978 as a third-generation Korean in Japan, Chung Ji Hye used to hesitate about revealing her family background to her friends.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2006

Koizumi cools momentum on Pyongyang sanctions push

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday Japan should hold off before imposing more economic sanctions on North Korea, depending on whether Pyongyang responds "seriously" to the international condemnation of its July 5 missile tests.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2006

LDP sees bureaucratic white paper glut

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has begun studying how to restructure the annual issuance of government white papers, both to cut costs and to reduce the work of bureaucrats, but how much of a reduction can be made is uncertain as bureaucrats themselves are cool to the idea.
EDITORIALS
Jul 19, 2006

Hope of the marketplace

The Bank of Japan's lifting of its zero-interest rate policy last week represents an end to an extraordinary policy that continued for five years and four months. With its decision, which marks a step toward normalization of the nation's monetary policy, the central bank has signaled that the Japanese...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2006

Better schools trump caste preferences

BOMBAY -- The United States has long been divided over what it calls "affirmative action," a system of racial preferences intended to overcome the lingering consequences of slavery and discrimination against black Americans. India is now becoming divided in much the same way, and for much the same reason...
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 2006

Mr. Putin takes center stage

Leaders of the G8 countries — the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia — will gather in St. Petersburg over the weekend for their annual summit. In the beautiful city, which Emperor Peter the Great founded in 1703 as his "window on the West," Russian President...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2006

BOJ terminates zero-rate policy

The Bank of Japan ended nearly six years of rock-bottom interest rates Friday, abandoning its "zero-interest-rate policy" and hiking the unsecured overnight call rate to 0.25 percent on the strength of Japan's steadily improving economy.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2006

Bridge bid-riggers face fines, prison

Prosecutors on Friday asked the Tokyo High Court to fine 23 bridge builders and imprison eight former senior officials accused of rigging bids for bridge construction projects financed by the now-defunct Japan Highway Public Corp. and by the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2006

Ex 'All Star' admits drug-use guilt

A former member of the rock group Southern All Stars pleaded guilty Thursday to using stimulant drugs and marijuana during his first trial session before the Yokohama District Court.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2006

Japan yields to resolution by China, Russia

In an apparent compromise to China and Russia, Japan intends to draw up a U.N. draft resolution that condemns North Korea's July 5 missile test-launches but may not include strong measures such as sanctions, which Tokyo had earlier pushed, several government officials said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2006

Moral boost for Mr. Putin

Russia's most wanted man is dead. Shamil Basayev, the leader of Chechen rebels who has masterminded acts of terror that have claimed hundreds of lives, was killed this week in an explosion. His death is a victory for the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a blow to the cause Basayev headed;...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2006

Look deeply into Putin's eyes

LONDON — As the leaders of the G7 countries meet in St. Petersburg this week I hope they will have another look into the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is five years since U.S. President George W. Bush looked into those eyes and claimed to be able to see Putin's soul, which he found to...
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Mizutani gave millions to North-linked NGO

." In spring 2003, the secretary general introduced the ex-chairman to a man identified as a member of a North Korean panel on foreign economic cooperation, the sources said.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2006

Diet member dorms to be razed, sites sold

Two public dormitories for House of Representatives members on prime land in Tokyo will be demolished under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's drive to dispose of government assets for fiscal reconstruction.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 11, 2006

A way forward?

Last month, Diet member and Senior Vice Minister of Justice Taro Kono publicized a new action plan for immigration.
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2006

Japanese icon to leave the field

Mr. Hidetoshi Nakata, a key playmaker for Japan's national soccer team, has announced that he will retire from the sport as a professional. This international midfielder and national superstar has contributed much to the upsurge in popularity of soccer among Japanese since the mid-1990s.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jul 11, 2006

Yoshiko Sakurai

Yoshiko Sakurai, 60, is known as Japan's bravest and most responsible journalist. Her in-depth investigations have unnerved members of the establishment for decades. After 16 years as the nation's top newscaster, she quit television in 1996 to dedicate herself to writing. Sakurai has published more than...
SOCCER
Jul 8, 2006

Ogasawara tops J. League voting

Kashima Antlers midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara, a member of Japan's World Cup squad, collected a record 521,862 votes to lead the list of players selected for the upcoming All-Star match released Friday by the J. League.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2006

Unions, business halt panel's attempts to change labor law

A government advisory body discussing changes to working hours and an increase in overtime pay has become bogged down in opposition from both companies and labor groups.
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2006

Best laid plans of parents

The arrest June 22 of a high-school student on suspicion of arson and murder in connection with a fire at his home that killed his stepmother, half brother and half sister highlights the straits in which many students preparing for entrance exams may find themselves. The incident serves as a warning...
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2006

GSDF not affected by reported Samawah blasts: Nukaga

Troops from the Ground Self-Defense Force preparing to pull out of the southern Iraq city of Samawah were not affected by explosions reported in the city, Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2006

Yakuza held over intimidation attack

An underworld figure has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing the son of nonfiction writer Atsushi Mizoguchi in Tokyo in January because of an article he wrote on a crime syndicate, police said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2006

Japan seeks UNSC action if Iran snubs incentives

Japan plans to call for the U.N. Security Council to discuss imposing sanctions on Iran if Tehran does not promptly respond to the incentives package presented by six countries for resolving the nation's nuclear standoff, according to Japanese government sources.

Longform

Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?