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Eric Johnston

JAPAN

Sep 24, 2007

Osaka looking for a local economic fix

Some people in Osaka called Sunday on Yasuo Fukuda to take effective policies to revitalize the local economy when he becomes prime minister this week.

BUSINESS

Sep 13, 2007

U.S. envoy touts Kansai

OSAKA — The Kansai region should not remain a well-kept secret but ought instead to promote itself as an attractive destination for foreign direct investment, the U.S. ambassador to APEC said Wednesday.

Japan Times

JAPAN / ATOMIC POWER AT ANY COST

Sep 4, 2007

Nuclear plants rural Japan's economic fix

Part I: Nuclear doubts spread in wake of Niigata Part III: All cost bets off if Big One hits nuke plant

JAPAN

Aug 23, 2007

Osaka athletics meet fades at starting gate

OSAKA — Poor ticket sales and extremely hot and humid weather are threatening to turn the upcoming International Association of Athletics Federations meet in Osaka into a public relations disaster that could affect Mayor Junichi Seki's re-election prospects later this year.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Aug 10, 2007

Nagasaki mayor slams nuclear talk, tests

NAGASAKI — Nagasaki marked the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing here Thursday with criticism of nations that have tested or are suspected of possessing or pursuing nuclear weapons, and people in Japan who advocate acquiring them.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Aug 10, 2007

Nagasaki hopes new mayor can fill Ito's shoes

NAGASAKI — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may have been the most senior guest of honor at Thursday's atomic bomb memorial ceremony in Nagasaki, but Mayor Tomihisa Taue was the one many came to hear.

JAPAN

Aug 7, 2007

Nuclear foes tell IAEA to make thorough probe

OSAKA — Three Japan-based antinuclear groups called Monday on the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out a comprehensive, unbiased probe into the earthquake damage at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant in Niigata Prefecture.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Aug 1, 2007

Resolution irks right wing but won't harm relations

OSAKA — The passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of a nonbinding resolution calling on Japan to apologize for forcing thousands of young women into sexual slavery during the war will further inflame Japan's rightwing politicians and media, according to experts on Japan's relations with...

JAPAN / UPPER HOUSE SHOWDOWN

Jul 30, 2007

Kansai weighs pensions, wealth gap

OSAKA — Voters in the Kansai region went to the polls Sunday with not only the pension scandal on their minds but also the growing disparity between rich and poor.

BUSINESS

Jul 29, 2007

Kansai opens second runway, hopes 1.6 trillion yen was well spent

OSAKA — A formal ceremony was held Saturday morning to commemorate the opening of Kansai International Airport's controversial second runway, which will start operations Thursday.

JAPAN / UPPER HOUSE SHOWDOWN

Jul 25, 2007

Shimane voters: Has Tokyo helped us?

National polls may show that voter outrage over the pension records fiasco is the primary issue in Sunday's Upper House election.

JAPAN

Jul 21, 2007

Kansai cargo hub hopes ride on its new runway

. We need to aim to be an independent airport," Kansai airport President Atsushi Murayama told a recent news conference. The proposal's emphasis on freight was no doubt influenced by U.S. cargo carrier DHL. In June, DHL opened up a 5 billion yen facility at the airport. It is five times bigger than the...

JAPAN

Jul 14, 2007

U.S. sex slave resolution about human rights, not Japan-bashing: Honda

and Rep. Jim Costa talk as they wait for a markup session on the sex slave resolution to start in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 26 on Capitol Hill. AP PHOTO

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jul 5, 2007

'Japan's Condi Rice' known for courting controversy

OSAKA — New Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, 54, is a world traveler fluent in Arabic and English and considered one of the Diet's leading experts on the Middle East.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jun 28, 2007

Study the school before studying English

OSAKA — Thinking about studying English at a private school chain? If so, proceed with caution and know what you're getting into, say university English professors, teachers union representatives and the English-language schools themselves.

JAPAN / EXPLAINER

Jun 26, 2007

Prison reforms seen as too little, and way too late

In May 2006, the government revised the prison law in the first attempt at broad reform since 1908. The Law Concerning Penal Institutions and the Treatment of Sentenced Inmates, as the legislation is formally known, went into effect June 7.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jun 22, 2007

Four Stories rises in Osaka's 'cultural desert'

OSAKA — For the Kansai region's foreign residents, a night out in Osaka has not usually meant a literary experience. Unlike neighboring Kyoto, with its reputation as a mecca for foreign artists, writers and poets, one did not usually walk into an Osaka bar or restaurant expecting to hear quality...

JAPAN

Jun 21, 2007

Nuclear industry gears up for global push

KYOTO — Japan's nuclear power industry is pushing to get atomic energy on next year's agenda when this nation hosts the Group of Eight summit meetings, saying it is time world leaders recognize the power source as a practical way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

JAPAN

Jun 7, 2007

Competing foreign-worker plans face off

OSAKA — If the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) have their way, it's possible you'll see this help-wanted ad in your English-language newspaper:

Japan Times

BUSINESS

May 25, 2007

Kankeiren chief leaves a booming Kansai in debt

OSAKA — When Yoshihisa Akiyama steps down as head of the Kansai Economic Federation (Kankeiren) next Monday, he will leave behind a booming Kansai economy thanks to the federation's focus on greater trade with China.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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