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 Setsuko Kamiya

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Setsuko Kamiya
Setsuko Kamiya is a staff writer and editor covering local news, including legal issues, and has been following the ongoing judicial reform. A 2005 Fulbright journalist grantee, she studied the American jury system in California.
Japan Times
Features
May 8, 2005
Where to go for a lark in the park
There may be no place better than home to haul in friends for a good grilling -- if you have a big enough balcony or a garden. But for those lacking such spaces, or those who just enjoy getting out, here are some barbecue sites where your group may not be alone, but you'll likely be in good company....
Japan Times
Features
Mar 27, 2005
Meister of all he sautes
French, Italian and Spanish are the most familiar European cuisines in Japan. As for Austrian -- well, most people probably don't even realize that the country famed for "The Sound of Music" is also noted for its venerable and enormously varied fare.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Mar 20, 2005
Samba viva samba! Matsudaira style!
With the mercury rising to 17 degrees, March 8 was unusually warm for the time of year in Tokyo. Spring was in the air. At Tokyo Dome that evening, though, it was distinctly subtropical as 20,000 people broke out into a midsummer-style sweat.
Japan Times
Features
Feb 27, 2005
Inquest service fuels ardor for 'democracy'
Earlier this month at a coffee shop near JR Matsudo Station in Chiba Prefecture, Tatsuhiko Ojima, 64, recalled how startled he was two years ago to receive a letter from the Matsudo branch of the Chiba District Court. It notified him he had to attend the court because he had been selected to serve a...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 27, 2005
Preparing for justice that's seen to be done
Criminal hearings are open to the public, but the average person taking a seat in the public gallery would have a hard time understanding what goes on. The procedures are not only unclear, but they are also thickly clothed in legal jargon. What's more, many trials take months, or sometimes even years,...
Features
Feb 27, 2005
New order in court
May 21, 2004, was an epoch-making day for Japan; it was the day the Diet passed a law to introduce a new criminal court system that will involve ordinary citizens in the administration of justice for the first time in postwar history.
Japan Times
Features
Feb 27, 2005
Schools in saibanin front line
One morning late last month, Public Prosecutors Ryuji Hatano and Kunio Ooyama were immersed in an alleged robbery case in court. But the court was in a classroom.
Japan Times
Features
Jan 30, 2005
'Curiosity' at the core of days packed with lots to chew on
Atsuko Tanuma's day begins at 5 a.m. It's a routine she has followed for 17 years, since she started preparing lunch-boxes for her first son when he began kindergarten at the age of 4.
Japan Times
Features
Jan 30, 2005
One life that bridges many realms
Exchanging business cards and checking out what's written on them is a good way to start a conversation, but Ryo Kasuga has so many different job descriptions that you'd hardly know where to start. Not only is he a Buddhist priest, but he's an opera singer and an astronomer who runs a planetarium as...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 8, 2004
Film it and they will come
When in Rome, visitors might not necessarily do as the locals do, but many certainly follow the example of Audrey Hepburn's character in "Roman Holiday" by sticking their hands in the "Mouth of Truth" near the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, or buying a gelato on the steps of Piazza di Spagna.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 8, 2004
Working on a tough shoot
Whether it's a movie, a TV show, a commercial or even a music video, a key decision is choosing where the cameras will roll. To that end, members of film crews are often dedicated to hunting down locations that will satisfy both the directors and producers, and this is where film commissions can play...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Nov 21, 2004
Stepping off the money-go-round
Being part of a worldwide grassroots "festivity" later this week comes at a price, of course -- but the price is no price at all, because Nov. 27 is "Buy Nothing Day," and all you have to do is spend no money.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 31, 2004
Playtime pioneer
On a cloudy morning a couple of weeks ago, 26 noisy 3-year-olds at the Kamimeguro Nursery in Tokyo's Meguro Ward were cheerfully throwing themselves into their exercise class in the hall. One after another, the little boys and girls challenged themselves to leap a vaulting horse, jump a rubber rope,...
Japan Times
Features
Aug 29, 2004
Shipwreck was key to Gospel in Japan
The first Japanese translation of the Bible is believed to be an 1837 version of the Gospel According to John. What makes this remarkable, however, is that its writer was a German missionary living in China, taught Japanese by three crew members of a cargo ship, Otokichi, Iwakichi and Kyukichi, who survived...
Japan Times
Features
Jul 25, 2004
Inspiration drawn from inconvenience
Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say. But for grandmother Yoko Sukekawa, it's the inconveniences she encounters in her daily life that get her inventor's juices flowing.
Features
Jul 18, 2004
Universities put on a show
University museums have long been part of the cultural landscape in many western countries, serving not only academic communities but the general public too.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 16, 2004
A year of flower power
Looking for places to go this summer? Well, if you want something unique then head for Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Features
Jul 4, 2004
Questionnaire findings spotlight younger people's political gloom
Are you satisfied with current state of politics? Do you support a particular political party? How do you see the future of Japan? They say that the younger generation isn't interested in politics, do you agree? These were some of the questions that The Japan Times recently asked Japanese nationals in...
Features
Jul 4, 2004
Interns buck the trend
It's a sad fact that Japanese people, especially the young, are losing interest in politics.
Features
May 9, 2004
Lost in translation on Japanese screens
Unlike the countries that tend to dub foreign movies, Japan has been mainly using subtitles for more than 70 years. No one knows exactly why, but some say the Japanese simply enjoy hearing the original voices of the actors and the sounds in the background. Most now take it for granted that going to the...

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