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April 04, 2025
 

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Kanako Takahara

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Kanako Takahara
Kanako Takahara is a staff writer who has covered national politics, diplomacy, business and the economy at The Japan Times. A graduate of Sophia University, she is currently a national news editor.
JAPAN
May 18, 2004
Nukes, abductions progress key
Japan will not resume normalization talks with North Korea unless there is progress on the abduction issue as well as Pyongyang's suspected nuclear weapons program, the top government spokesman said Monday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2004
Koizumi to visit Pyongyang on May 22
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit Pyongyang on May 22 for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in an effort to secure the passage to Japan of eight family members of five repatriated abductees, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Friday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2004
Koizumi to visit Pyongyang on May 22
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit Pyongyang on May 22 for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in an effort to secure the passage to Japan of eight family members of five repatriated abductees, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Friday.
JAPAN
May 14, 2004
Experts doubt merits of Koizumi Pyongyang trip
Widespread suspicion over North Korea's agenda has failed to dampen speculation that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may visit Pyongyang in the near future to secure the passage to Japan of the families of the five repatriated abductees.
JAPAN
May 7, 2004
Koizumi lauds abductions progress; second Pyongyang visit not ruled out
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that Japan and North Korea have made progress in talks over the abduction issue, and indicated he might visit Pyongyang again to resolve the deadlock.
JAPAN
May 7, 2004
Koizumi lauds abductions progress; second Pyongyang visit not ruled out
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that Japan and North Korea have made progress in talks over the abduction issue, and indicated he might visit Pyongyang again to resolve the deadlock.
JAPAN
May 7, 2004
Takarazuka groupies do it by the book
Akiko Okawara, 37, comes to Tokyo Takarazuka Theater almost every day to catch a stage-door glimpse of Sumire Haruno, a top star who plays a male role in the Takarazuka all-female theater troupe, even when she is not taking in the show.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2004
Hostage drama highlights SDF's tough role in Iraq
The hostage crisis involving three Japanese civilians highlighted the worsening security situation in Iraq.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2004
Beef talks to resume, Cheney says
Visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday that U.S. experts will visit Japan next week to resume bilateral negotiations to break a deadlock over Japan's import ban on U.S. beef.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004
Cheney promises U.S. will help Japan bring hostages home
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday that Washington would do its best to help rescue three Japanese nationals being held hostage in Iraq.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004
Foreign Ministry official sees need for banning travel to risky areas
The government should consider legislation that would allow it to ban Japanese nationals from traveling to countries it deems dangerous, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Apr 13, 2004
Lawmakers' groups act behind the scenes
A nonpartisan group of lawmakers lobbying to get Japanese abducted to North Korea back and working on behalf of relatives of the missing has been a big help to Shigeru Yokota.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2004
Government scrambles for info on hostages and captors
The government continued Saturday trying to gather information on the whereabouts of three Japanese nationals taken hostage in Iraq and details of their captors.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2004
Japan hit over lack of crisis-response measures
Thursday's kidnapping of three Japanese civilians in Iraq has exposed the government's ill-preparedness for crises, especially those involving terrorists.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004
China visit irks many in government
Government leaders lashed out Friday at Taku Yamasaki, a former vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party who is now out of office, and LDP lawmaker Katsuei Hirasawa for visiting China in an apparent bid to negotiate on the sly with North Korea over its abduction of Japanese nationals.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004
U.S. to sit in if police grill crime suspects in the military
Japan and the United States agreed Friday to allow U.S. officials to be present during police questioning of U.S. service members suspected of committing heinous crimes in Japan, the Foreign Ministry said.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2004
Iraq looking for aid in oil, gas production
Iraq wants Japan to provide financial and technical support aimed at rebuilding and developing its oil and gas production facilities, the head of Iraq's interim Governing Council said Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2004
Japan criticizes Israel over 'reckless' Yassin assassination
Japan joined other nations Tuesday in criticizing Israel for its murder of Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Palestinian militant group Hamas, and called on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to resume peace talks.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2004
Troops in Iraq set to get down to business
The Ground Self-Defense Force troops deployed to the city of Samawah in southern Iraq will commence their humanitarian aid mission later this month.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2004
Instability hampers assistance, business
Whenever the government or Diet discusses the security situation in Iraq, it is usually related to the safety of the Ground Self-Defense Force troops deployed to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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