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November 22, 2024
 

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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
Jan 21, 2004
Pyongyang facing sanctions
Diet lawmakers who have adopted a hardline stance on North Korea agreed Tuesday to submit bills during this legislative session that would allow the government to slap economic and other sanctions on Pyongyang.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2004
Pyongyang trip yields no progress on abduction issue
Japan and North Korea remained at odds over the abductions issue when a group of Japanese diplomats visited Pyongyang last week for the first official contact between the two countries in several months, the Foreign Ministry says.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2004
Seoul issues controversial stamp, draws flak from irate Kawaguchi
Japan protested Friday over Seoul's issuance of postage stamps bearing the image of a disputed island in the Sea of Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2004
Tokyo questions agenda behind Pyongyang overtures
Unofficial North Korean overtures that may pave the way for Pyongyang allowing the families of five repatriated Japanese abductees to reunite in Japan have fueled expectations and doubts in equal measure here.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2004
North Korea 'ready' to free returnees' kin by March 20
North Korea is reportedly offering to send family members of the five former Japanese abductees to Japan as early as March, it was learned Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2004
North Korea escapees, NGO rep held in China
Two ethnic Koreans born in Japan who fled North Korea and an official of a Japanese nongovernmental organization were taken into custody by Chinese authorities in mid-December and are still being held, the NGO said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2004
Slump spells trouble for sister-city ties
In November, Ehime Prefecture and the state of Hawaii agreed to become sister "municipalities" -- a symbolic move aimed at overcoming the February 2001 Ehime Maru tragedy.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2004
SDF Iraq role seen as barometer for future
Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday that the Self-Defense Forces mission in Iraq will be a major test of Japan's efforts to play a larger role in helping to maintain global peace and stability.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2004
Kato back -- but he's not his old self
Two months after his Diet comeback in November, Koichi Kato seems to be in two minds over whether to keep a low profile until he is no longer dogged by scandal -- or else reclaim his outspoken political identity.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2003
Japan set to waive most of Iraq's debt, Koizumi tells U.S.
In a significant policy shift, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signaled Monday that Japan is prepared to waive a "vast majority" of Iraq's foreign debt.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2003
Terror threat spurs ministry panic
The Foreign Ministry was thrown into confusion Wednesday when Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima told a news conference that the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad had been evacuated -- a remark he later retracted.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2003
Russian prime minister discusses pipeline
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov called Monday for Japan's cooperation in developing oil in eastern Siberia that would supply a planned pipeline linking the region with Japan -- or China.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2003
Arroyo upbeat about FTA with Japan
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo expressed optimism Friday toward the conclusion of a free-trade agreement with Japan, as the Philippines has no intention of entering Japan's sensitive rice market.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2003
Japan, ASEAN leaders agree to boost ties
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed Thursday to expand security, political and economic ties.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003
ASEAN leaders arrive in Tokyo ahead of landmark two-day summit
Southeast Asian leaders arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday to participate in a two-day summit with Japan that will focus on trade and security.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Dec 10, 2003
First troop deployment to conflict area since WWII a foreign policy watershed
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signaled a historic foreign policy shift Tuesday when he authorized sending Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq, becoming the first Japanese leader since World War II to dispatch troops to a nation effectively at war.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2003
Maintaining diversity said key to building Asian bloc
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Japan will try to value Asia's diversity in a bid to create an East Asian Community.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2003
Thousands pay respects to diplomats slain in Iraq
Some 3,500 people paid their last respects at the funerals Saturday of two Japanese diplomats killed in an ambush in Iraq, with many sobbing as friends and colleagues of the two men offered eulogies.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2003
U.N. should play active role in Iraq, Kawaguchi tells Annan on phone
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Friday urged the United Nations to play an active role in Iraq's reconstruction process, in the wake of the assassination of two Japanese diplomats in the country last weekend.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2003
Time to send people to the frontline in Iraq, Kawaguchi says
Despite the recent fatal ambush of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq, Japan should send Self-Defense Forces troops to the country to help speed up its reconstruction, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Thursday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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