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Hiroshi Matsubara
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2003
100,000 yen alternative to anonymous burial offered by temple
If someone dies whose name is not known, or who leaves behind no money or known kin, the person's ashes may end up in an anonymous grave with other "muen botoke" remains.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2003
Prewar democracy bid once saw jury trials
The atmosphere of heated argument lingers ghostlike within a restored prewar courtroom of the Yokohama District Court, where 12 chairs for the jury face those of the prosecution and defense.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2002
Court victory bittersweet for daughter
The ruling was in line with what she believed happened to her father in a police interrogation room five years ago. The court also took into account almost all forensic evidence presented by her legal team.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002
Homeless hawkers fight turf war
Opening a shop in Tokyo's trendy Harajuku district may be every merchant's dream. But if one is destitute, desperate and hungry, there's always a market on the street.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2002
Top court ruling on disclosure no surprise in light of censorship of its own expenses
The Supreme Court last year overturned lower court rulings that had ordered the governors of Osaka and Kyoto to publicly identify many of the recipients of their entertainment and social expenses.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2002
Fading concern over HIV poses threat
Alarmed by a rapid surge in people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, health officials and experts say warnings about the importance of prevention are no longer being heard.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Nov 10, 2002
Magazine muckrakes where major media won't make waves
The Asahi Shimbun's April 9, 1999, morning edition featured a front-page story by the monthly magazine Uwasa-no-shinso (The Truth Behind the Rumors) that sparked a scandal leading to the downfall of the then head of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2002
Emergency psychiatric care falling short
Her schizophrenia repeatedly sent her over the edge.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2002
Japan still key to Taiwan independence bid
In a speech transmitted over the Internet to a gathering of the World Federation of Taiwanese Associations in Tokyo on Aug. 3, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian proclaimed the island an independent sovereign state whose future should be determined by a popular referendum.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2002
Sept. 11 boosts Japan's interest in Islam
As kimono-clad people danced through the streets of the Minami Otsuka district of northern Tokyo during a summer festival last month, a small Pakistani curry stall was doing a roaring trade.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2002
Cops cashing in on driver licenses: lawsuit
Freelance journalist Yu Terasawa, 35, filed a suit in 2000 against the state, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and police-related organizations, claiming Japan's 74 million licensed drivers are being systematically financially exploited by police.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002
'Politically motivated' arrests slammed
The head of the public security department of the Osaka High Public Prosecutor's Office was arrested April 23 for allegedly being entertained to the tune of 280,000 yen by mobsters in return for providing internal information.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Aug 17, 2002
8,000 relics of Tibetan Buddhism might not all appeal to faint-hearted
The area around Tokyo's Meguro Fudoson Temple has traditionally been a site for the city's faithful.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2002
Aum grows again, guru still revered
Several of its senior members have been convicted of heinous crimes, including two deadly nerve gas attacks. It has been placed under tight surveillance and wherever its members try to settle, local residents and municipalities turn out to keep them away.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2002
New law may raise prospects for homeless
In the Kamagasaki day-laborer district of Osaka, news about the soon-to-be passed bill to provide aid for the nation's homeless has been greeted with a mixture of hope and indifference.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2002
Chiyoda Ward kicks smokers' habits
With smoking now prohibited in a vast number of public spaces, the nation's sidewalks are viewed by some as the last refuge for those who want to light up.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2002
Growing minority blurs borders of Chinatowns
In 1919, 15-year-old Zeng Yaoquan from Guang Dong Province, southern China, arrived at Yokohama port to work as a servant at a trading house that imported rice and other crops from China, run by one of his relatives.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2002
Economic gloom just adds to illegal workers' plight
Practically every working condition endured by 36-year-old Sajidur Rahman during his 4 1/2-year stint at a Yokohama factory is illegal under the Labor Standards Law.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2002
Diet mulls fate of mentally ill criminals
The Diet is now debating a bill that would create a system whereby medical doctors and judges would decide together whether someone with a psychiatric disorder who commits a serious crime should be hospitalized.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002
Russia war novel rightly paints Japanese as rational: translator
While working on a novel on the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War, Ryotaro Shiba wrote in 1967 that one of the prime features he wanted to highlight was the "almost ridiculous optimism" shared by top political and military leaders in Japan during the Meiji Era (1867-1911).

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