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JAPAN
Jan 12, 2006

Time for another government shakeup?

It was only five years ago that government ministries were reorganized into 13 entities, but some senior officials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party think it is time for another shuffle.
COMMENTARY
Jan 11, 2006

Can Asia bank on West?

LOS ANGELES -- I recently visited the cradle of the "Asian financial crisis," Thailand. This is the name given to the well-documented sequence of events between 1997-1999 that sent many of Asia's economies and currencies into terrifying tailspins. The crisis originated with the baht, Thailand's currency....
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 10, 2006

Mind the gap

While the exoticism of cultural otherness certainly adds something to the experience of meeting a lover from another country, differences can also be the source of annoyance and complications.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 10, 2006

Men retreat from 'hassle' of loving relationships

We're told that the nation's economy is in its best shape in a decade. While this is "roho (good news)," other things are happening in this country that are not so hot. Literally.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 8, 2006

Unsparing view of Indonesia past

IN THE TIME OF MADNESS by Richard Lloyd Parry. London: Jonathan Cape, 2005, 315 pp., £12.99 (paper). This firsthand account of fin de siecle Indonesia, an era of widespread chaos and violence, takes us into the heart of darkness, searing our consciousness with images of deprivation, fear and mayhem...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 7, 2006

Portsmouth set to get influx of cash from Russian investor

LONDON -- Imagine you won the lottery and suddenly had wealth beyond your wildest dreams.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

Condo scandal shakes engineering industry

As people begin to feel that they can no longer trust their streets to be safe, they have discovered that even the roofs over their heads may also not be secure.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2006

Tokyo-Beijing fire rages on over diplomat's suicide in 2004

A spat between Japan and China over the 2004 suicide of a diplomat at the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai continued Thursday as Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe urged Beijing to give a "sincere response" over what has been reported as an attempt to extort intelligence.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Fire rages on over '04 diplomat suicide in China

A spat between Japan and China over the 2004 suicide of a diplomat at the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai continued Thursday as Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe urged Beijing to give a "sincere response" over what has been reported as an attempt to extort intelligence.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Number of 110 calls to post first fall

The number of emergency phone calls to police using the 110 service across Japan in 2005 is expected to register the first drop on record, the National Police Agency said Thursday. Records have been kept since 1961.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2006

Top execs upbeat about 2006

Hopes were high for Japan's economic resurgence at a New Year's party for corporate executives Thursday at a time when profits are rebounding, consumers are spending and stock prices are at five-year highs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Jan 6, 2006

Tokyo's 'Toontown' is game for a laugh

Outsiders often associate Adachi, Tokyo's northernmost ward, with the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult (still in residence), the recent Tobu Railway Co.'s Takenotsuka crossing accident that cost two women their lives, or the fact that the ward's alluvial ground makes it especially vulnerable if an earthquake...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 6, 2006

Kanda Matsuya: pick your century of soba

New Year in Japan brings with it all manner of ritual and circumstance. Observing the first sunrise. The all-important hatsumode shrine visit. Receiving (and assessing) nenga greetings. Perhaps even the sipping of otoso, the medicinal-tasting sake that guarantees health throughout the next 12 months....
EDITORIALS
Jan 5, 2006

Barriers to U.S. force relocation

An interim report for U.S. base relocation in Japan, prepared by the Japanese and U.S. governments last October, has met stiff opposition in various parts of the country affected by the relocation plans. As things stand now, prospects for a final agreement look uncertain at best.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2006

TSE vows to fix systems as stocks resume climb

Tokyo stocks opened 2006 on a festive note Wednesday, the year's first day of trading, as Tokyo Stock Exchange officials vowed to restore public confidence in the world's second-largest bourse, which was shaken by computer problems last year.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2006

Deal harms Indian interests

NEW DELHI -- A real problem of an ever-shifting goal post has cast a cloud over America's current negotiations with India to implement a much-heralded nuclear deal that is supposed to showcase the emerging global partnership between the world's most powerful and most populous democracies. Seeking to...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2006

LDP landslide buries two-party system

The result of the Sept. 11 general election was a runaway victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, and political chaos. But from the fog of uncertainty that is enveloping Japan there may emerge a new political structure that could some day be called the "2005 order."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 3, 2006

What books would make the best gift for a friend?

Steve Morin Bookshop operator, 27 'Kitchen Confidential' by Anthony Bourdain. It would be a good holiday read. I would buy it for any foodie friend because you see all the good points and bad points of the industry. It's more positive on balance, but it's still an expose of sorts.
JAPAN / FRAMING THE FUTURE
Jan 1, 2006

Elderly of tomorrow can count on technology, researchers say

Poor eyesight and hearing, and reduced physical strength often discourage elderly people from going out alone or visiting unfamiliar places where they can easily get tired or lost.
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2005

Yokohama leads way in trash separation

stopped bringing unnecessary things home, for example by telling shop clerks not to wrap products," he said. But not all municipalities have such stringent recycling policies and many cash-strapped local governments cannot afford to collect the bulky materials.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2005

Rare-disease sufferers want drugs fast-tracked

, a rare, life-threatening disease caused by a deficiency in a lysosomal enzyme. The hereditary, progressive illness causes mental retardation, poor vision and stiffness in the joints. Tomoki's only chance of getting better is to have a bone marrow or blood transplant from an umbilical cord, but his...
COMMENTARY
Dec 30, 2005

Decline of three EU leaders

PARIS -- At the end of last May, French and Dutch voters rejected by a strong majority the draft European constitution worked out by a convention chaired by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. Since all 25 member-states of the European Union had to approve the treaty, the chances of it...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 30, 2005

On and off the charts

Cast an eye over those charts that list the top-selling Japanese pop albums of the year and three musical trends come out on top: There were loose-limbed hip-hop party grooves aplenty (Def Tech and Ketsumeishi); American-influenced punk pop (Ellegarden, Ken Yokoyama and scores of others with Orange County-inflected...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 27, 2005

Lighting brilliance from Kouichi Okamoto

Lighting is many things to many people. For many, it's simply a practical tool to combat darkness. For others, it plays the role of mood enhancer. Carefully calibrated lighting can transform a space both subtly and dramatically.
BASKETBALL
Dec 26, 2005

Team-player Pippen doing Uncle Scottie proud in bj-league

Just like his uncle, William Pippen runs everywhere from the top of the key to underneath the basket. And the efforts have paid off so far.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 26, 2005

Suguri bound for Olympics

Fumie Suguri clinched a spot for the Winter Olympic Games in Turin after coming from behind to win her fifth title and first in three years at the figure skating national championships Sunday, edging teenage sensation Mao Asada with a solid free skate.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Dec 25, 2005

Political 'capital' like dust in the wind

WASHINGTON -- What a year! When 2005 began, there was so much hope and optimism in Washington, even among us Democrats.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?