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Eric Johnston

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel

Apr 29, 2005

Reliving the good life in the country

Visitors to Japan often go into a form of shock not long after they arrive. It is not the different language, cuisine, or social customs that are the cause, but, rather, the realization that Japanese cities are vast, crowded, hyper-modern jungles of humanity where life seems to be constantly on warp...

Japan Times

JAPAN

Apr 27, 2005

Private rail firms check safety after JR crash

OSAKA-- Kansai's major private train firms said Tuesday they are reviewing safety procedures in the wake of the train crash near Amagasaki in Hyogo Prefecture that killed 73 and injured more than 450.

JAPAN

Apr 26, 2005

Residents heard screech, then roar, then silence

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- A screech, followed by a roar, and then silence.

JAPAN

Apr 19, 2005

History not key issue: Chinese in Japan

OSAKA -- The current tensions between Japan and China have less to do with history textbooks and more to do with a long-term political and economic rivalry, according to some knowledgeable Chinese living in Japan.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Apr 16, 2005

Day-laborers give way to budget tourists

OSAKA -- The Airin district in Nishinari Ward here is well known as a hub for day-laborers. It's a working-class neighborhood that is quite unlike Osaka's upscale Umeda district or the neon jungle of Shinsaibashi.

JAPAN

Apr 2, 2005

Nuclear foes want Rokkasho, Monju on U.N. nonproliferation agenda

KYOTO -- Japanese and international antinuclear groups plan to use an upcoming United Nations conference on nuclear nonproliferation to push for a moratorium on the Rokkasho atomic fuel reprocessing plant and the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor.

BUSINESS

Mar 26, 2005

Welcome foreign investors, Saudi minister tells Japan

NAGAKUTE, Aichi Pref. -- The Saudi minister for commerce and industry said Friday he hopes Japan will take advantage of a new investment climate that is promoting infrastructure projects.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 23, 2005

On disaster reduction, a missed opportunity

KOBE -- Thanks to intense international political heat, the Indian Ocean region will get a tsunami early warning within three years. But more fundamental issues related to disaster reduction remain on the back burner, resulting in a lost opportunity.

JAPAN

Jan 23, 2005

Disaster meet ends with tsunami alert, preparation pledges

KOBE -- The United Nations committed itself Saturday to a broad plan of action to reduce the number of deaths caused by natural disasters over the next decade.

JAPAN

Jan 22, 2005

Tsunami parley delegates seek specifics -- not vague pledges

KOBE -- As the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction headed into its final two days Friday, NGOs and some member states warned that the five-day parley would be a failure unless it culminated in specific action on disaster reduction measures, especially in the Indian Ocean region.

JAPAN

Jan 21, 2005

U.N. eyes lead role in tsunami alert system

. Based in Hawaii, it is used by 26 nations, including the United States and Japan. The Japanese delegation said it would try to play a leading role through this system.

JAPAN

Jan 20, 2005

Proposal presented at U.N. disaster reduction meet

KOBE -- A UNESCO-backed proposal that calls for the introduction of a $13 million tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean within one year was presented Wednesday at the U.N.'s World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe.

JAPAN

Jan 19, 2005

Quake hit foreign community at its roots

Korea," said George Gibbons, a Kobe resident from Britain who recently retired as an official at Marist Brothers International School. While exact figures were not available, a Kobe official said the number of ethnic Korean residents has seen a slight increase over the past four years.

JAPAN

Jan 18, 2005

Kobe remembers earthquake with candlelight vigil

Japan Times

JAPAN / 10 YEARS AFTER

Jan 18, 2005

City's new face conceals unhealed wounds, a sense of communities lost

KOBE -- A decade after the massive Kobe earthquake, there remains little visible trace of the damage to this port city.

JAPAN

Jan 12, 2005

North Korea boycott sees some impact

. "I think our campaign has put pressure on North Korea." Has the boycott worked?

JAPAN

Dec 28, 2004

Japan as seen through Hollywood's eyes

OSAKA -- Over the past year or so, Japan has figured in several popular Hollywood films.

Dec 28, 2004

Japan as seen through Hollywood's eyes

OSAKA -- Over the past year or so, Japan has figured in several popular Hollywood films.

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Dec 26, 2004

Foreign language of Japanese politics

TALKING POLITICS IN JAPAN, by Ofer Feldman. Portland: Sussex Academic Press, 2004, 214 pp., $65 (cloth). One of the greatest frustrations of studying the Japanese language is constantly being lectured by native speakers of the language, as well as fluent foreigners, on its inherent difficulty and grammatical...

JAPAN

Dec 23, 2004

Gangland power vacuum leaves Kobe residents gasping

KOBE -- Nada Ward is one of Kobe's better neighborhoods, home to senior business executives and foreign diplomats, and known for its good schools and small, trendy shops and cafes.

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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