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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

Feb 4, 2004

Japan to bring up abductions issue

Japan will take up the issue of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s during six-party talks later this month in Beijing, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 3, 2004

U.S. will assist SDF in Iraq, Armitage pledges to Ishiba

The United States will do its utmost to assist the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq, including providing information to Japan concerning possible terrorist attacks, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba on Monday.

JAPAN

Jan 30, 2004

Japan turns up heat on North Korea as sanctions bill clears Lower House

The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that will allow Japan to unilaterally impose economic sanctions on North Korea, paving the way for its endorsement by the full Diet by the end of next week.

JAPAN

Jan 28, 2004

Experts say act now, stop Pyongyang

Japan, South Korea and the U.S. should swiftly map out a game plan aimed at freezing North Korea's nuclear activities, a senior researcher at a British military think tank said Tuesday in Tokyo.

JAPAN

Jan 24, 2004

China relays Pyongyang overture

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has told a senior Chinese official that there are "positive movements" in the relationship between Pyongyang and Tokyo.

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.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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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