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JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

Princess' funeral to cost 131 million yen

The Cabinet said Friday it will spend 131 million yen in taxpayer money on the funeral of Princess Takamatsu, an aunt of Emperor Akihito.
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2004

Gear shift on constitutional change

The Liberal Democratic Party recently came under public criticism for "going to extremes" in its bid to update the Constitution, Japan's first democratic charter that took effect in 1947. The criticism has prompted the party to alter its plans for constitutional reform. The party appears to have recognized...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Dec 24, 2004

The rundown of the big countdowns

Another year has whizzed on by and the silly season is upon us again. Those of you who haven't yet had enough of overeating and overdrinking might find some of the Christmas dinner options of interest. Otherwise, hold off on the food, tighten that belt and get ready to dance in the New Year.
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2004

DPJ lacks drive to take power

Many Japanese want the Democratic Party of Japan to take power in the next general election in the hope that a DPJ victory will usher in a two-party system that puts Japanese politics on a sounder footing. The party's latest annual convention, however, must have left people wondering whether the DPJ...
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 22, 2004

JVC uses donations to dig wells, improve water in Laotian villages

Japan International Volunteer Center kicked off a project in 1997 to promote environment-friendly agriculture at villages in Vientiane Prefecture, Laos.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Dec 22, 2004

Dreams for a perfectly set table come true

"Everybody sets out to do something, and everybody does something, but no one does what he sets out to do," said Irish author George Moore of the good intentions that abound in life. Setting an idea in motion is often more important than the end result, whether one creates products, ideas, or life itself....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2004

The sound of 2004

Rock and blues Animal Collective, "Sung Tongs" (Fat Cat): An acoustic hootenany reinvented for the electronic era. Exhilarating, innocent of any apparent influence, and completely unlike anything else released this year (or maybe ever). (S.T.)
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 22, 2004

Kubo, Tsuboi recalled

Japan coach Zico recalled Yokohama F. Marinos striker Tatsuhiko Kubo and Urawa Reds defender Keisuke Tsuboi for home friendlies against Kazakstan and Syria in the buildup to February's World Cup qualifier at home to North Korea.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2004

Government adopts FTA policy focusing on partners in Asia

The government on Tuesday approved a basic plan to promote free-trade agreements, prioritizing accords with Asian trading partners to help build an East Asian community.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 21, 2004

Grey to play in Japan

Wallaby center Nathan Grey, a member of the Australian national squad at the 2003 rugby World Cup, is set to join the Kyushu Electric Power team, team officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2004

Detainees seeking asylum claim abuse by guards

Lawyers working on behalf of people seeking asylum in Japan filed a criminal accusation Monday against the head of the Higashi-Nihon Immigration Center and its guards, alleging they assaulted and injured detainees.
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2004

Price of exclusivity too high

"Nippon Chinbotsu" -- Japan Sinks -- was the title of a 1980s best-selling novel that predicted how massive earthquakes would push the Japanese islands below the waters of the Pacific. The drenched survivors would head for Australia.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2004

Chief Yasukuni priest brings business savvy to shrine

At one time, Toshiaki Nambu was just an ordinary employee at Dentsu Inc., the nation's top advertising agency, working with such clients as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.
Dec 20, 2004

Chief Yasukuni priest brings business savvy to shrine

At one time, Toshiaki Nambu was just an ordinary employee at Dentsu Inc., the nation's top advertising agency, working with such clients as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 20, 2004

Consumption tax, reforms, incentives key to future growth

The Keidanren in September released a simulation of the medium- to longer-term prospects for Japan's fiscal policies and social security programs. The simulation made itclear that unless the fiscal structure of the Japanese government is reformed, Japan's outstanding public debt will likely expand to...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 19, 2004

Gang of Four

The news that Gang of Four is reuniting has been acknowledged happily by folks who grew up with the lads from Leeds back in 1979. Younger folks who love the band but want them to remain in the history books seem less pleased. Fans of The Futureheads, one of the many new British bands that shamelessly...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 18, 2004

Mourinho's moaning about Henry's goal just a diversion

LONDON -- There should have been no controversy.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2004

State petitioned to ID bones linked to Unit 731

Scholars and residents of Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, submitted a petition Wednesday to the central government to have a superimposing method used to confirm whether human bones dug up there belong to six wartime prisoners who may have been subject to atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army's infamous...
Dec 16, 2004

State petitioned to ID bones linked to Unit 731

Scholars and residents of Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, submitted a petition Wednesday to the central government to have a superimposing method used to confirm whether human bones dug up there belong to six wartime prisoners who may have been subject to atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army's infamous...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2004

Egypt backs Japan's UNSC quest, troop dispatch to Iraq: ambassador

Cairo supports Japan's bid to be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and its deployment of Ground Self-Defense Force troops to southern Iraq, Egyptian Ambassador to Japan Hisham Badr said.
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.
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,...
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...
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2004

IRCJ looks to sell off Daiei units

The Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan plans to sell more than half of some 110 companies in the Daiei group as part of its rehabilitation of the supermarket chain, industry sources said Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 10, 2004

Popular ex-Hawk Traxler dead at 37

Sad news reached Japan recently with the word that Brian Traxler, a former member of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, had passed away at the age of 37 in San Antonio on Nov. 19.
COMMENTARY
Dec 10, 2004

End the tunnel view of Asia

SINGAPORE -- In its second term, the Bush administration needs to pay more attention to Asia in general and Southeast Asia in particular.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2004

State names hospitals in blood scandal

The health ministry on Thursday disclosed the names of 6,916 hospitals and 17 medical suppliers believed to have stocked a hepatitis C-tainted blood product that caused one of the largest medical disasters in Japan's postwar history.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2004

Tokyo lodges complaint over China ship in EEZ

Tokyo has lodged a protest with Beijing against unannounced research activities being carried out by a Chinese ship in Japan's exclusive economic zone around Okinotorishima Island, the nation's southernmost territory, officials in Tokyo said Wednesday.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past