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 Jun Hongo

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Jun Hongo
Jun Hongo graduated from Boston University and joined The Japan Times in 2006. He covers a wide range of domestic news, including politics and business. He is an avid Red Sox fan.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2008
Teachers win lost pay over 'Kimigayo'
The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to pay ¥27.5 million in lost wages to 13 former high school teachers who were denied postretirement re-employment because they refused to sing the national anthem.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2008
Shakespeare 'karuta' ambition realized
To be or not to be has never really been a question for Shakespeare aficionado Ayako Yoshimi.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2008
Condemned trio sent to the gallows
Three condemned convicts were hanged Friday and the government released their names and other details in line with the disclosure policy introduced by Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama with his Dec. 7 approval of three other executions.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2008
Lawsuits against Odakyu project from '94 rejected
The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday rejected lawsuits filed by 21 Tokyo residents who demanded that a permit extension allowing Odakyu Railways Co. to finish building roads and elevated railways between Kitami and Setagaya-Daita stations in Setagaya Ward be canceled.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Jan 30, 2008
Finessing the pen-twirl becomes a fine science
Unlike Tamagotchi or the Nintendo DS, the latest Japanese gadget does not bleep, comes without voice recognition system and will not connect to the Internet.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2008
Fishery, consumer groups say no to nuclear reprocessing in Rokkasho
Groups opposed to the nuclear-fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture handed an 850,000-signature petition to the government Monday, demanding it rethink atomic power strategy.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2008
Foreigner registration system to be revised
The government plans to abolish the current registration system for foreigners living in Japan and introduce a new regime similar to that for Japanese residents that will manage them on a household basis, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2008
Chinese youths sue over chemical shell injuries
Two Chinese youths injured by a chemical weapon abandoned in China by the Imperial army at the end of the war sued the Japanese government Thursday for ¥66 million.
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Jan 5, 2008
Aug. 13 field draftee fast-tracked to Soviet gulag
Fourteenth in a series
Japan Times
JAPAN / THIS FOREIGN LAND
Jan 4, 2008
The doctor will see the moneyed and insured, but less fortunate also ail
Third in a series
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2007
Woman admits killing, dismembering husband
A 33-year-old woman pleaded guilty Thursday to killing and dismembering her husband last December but claimed the act was triggered by vicious and persistent domestic violence during their three-year marriage.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Dec 21, 2007
To survive a corporate scandal or to crumble
Reflecting a year that was jam-packed with food makers' scandals, including false labeling, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation announced earlier this month that "nise," meaning "fake," best symbolized 2008 in a single character.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2007
Prison eased for killer of parents
The Tokyo High Court on Monday trimmed two years off the prison sentence of an 18-year-old youth convicted of stabbing his parents to death and causing an explosion at the family's Tokyo residence in 2005, acknowledging the boy suffered at the hands of an abusive father.
Japan Times
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 14, 2007
Readers' contributions aiding struggling refugees in Japan
Third in a series
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2007
Canvassing monk found guilty of trespassing
speaks to reporters Tuesday after the Tokyo High Court found him guilty of trespassing in a trial he says was based on the right to free speech. KYODO PHOTO
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 11, 2007
Hemp OK as rope, not as dope
A Justice Ministry report released last month says the number of Cannabis Control Law violations set a record in 2006, while the amount of marijuana seized dropped to half from the previous year.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2007
Three hanged and named in ministry first
The Justice Ministry executed three death-row inmates Friday and, in a break with its secrecy policy, released their names and details directly to the public.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2007
Japan climate effort needs rethink: experts
One of Japan's goals at the Bali conference on climate change is getting legally binding emission controls placed on developing countries, but many experts doubt the nation's ability to get its own house in order first.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Dec 1, 2007
Editors to single out buzzword of the year
Amplification of the Japanese language reaches its annual culmination every December when editors of Gendai Yougo no Kisochishiki (Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words) crown a word or a phrase as its "ryuko go taisho" — buzzword of the year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2007
Foreign arrivals get biometric scan
NARITA, Chiba Pref. — Japan began fingerprinting and photographing foreigners arriving in the country Tuesday under a revised immigration law to keep terrorists out, drawing criticism from rights groups and foreign residents that their data might be abused.

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'