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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 28, 2008

When is an 'election' not an election?

The personality contest foisted on the public as a campaign for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party insulted the intelligence of anyone with a nervous system, and not just because Taro Aso was known to be a shoo-in from the beginning. By presenting five candidates who were supposedly vying...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2008

LDP looks to replicate media magic

The rules of the game are changing in Tokyo's Nagata-cho, the longtime epicenter of Japanese politics.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2008

ASDF Iraq mission could end this year

The Air Self-Defense Force unit flying transport operations between Kuwait and Iraq may be withdrawn by the end of the year, the government said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2008

Ota discloses office expenditure

Farm minister Seiichi Ota disclosed details of his political support group's expenditures Friday in an attempt to clear his name after allegations of irregularities and once again expressed his intention to remain in his post.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Aug 26, 2008

Dewi Sukarno

Dewi Sukarno, nee Naoko Nemoto, 68, is the widow of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno. When she married him in 1959, the then 19-year-old Japanese beauty was no accidental Cinderella: From age 5, she had meticulously prepared herself for a leading role in history. Much like Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the...
COMMENTARY
Aug 25, 2008

Chinese 'oldies' who raised the bar for caring

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — In the obsessive media heat of these youth-oriented Beijing Olympics, a once-famous Chinese political figure has died at the ripe young age of 87, and goes to the grave almost internationally unnoticed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2008

Shirakawa moves to demystify BOJ

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa, after four months on the job, is making one of the world's most opaque major central banks more transparent.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2008

Reshuffle talk growing stronger

Speculation is rife in Nagata-cho that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda may name a new Cabinet early next week.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 20, 2008

All this fuss over just a little drink at a . . . love hotel

The big tabloid scoop last week was snagged by the woman's weekly Josei Seven, which caught celebrity/announcer Mona Yamamoto and Yomiuri Giants shortstop Tomohiro Nioka in a love-hotel tryst. The reason the incident hit such a big nerve in the media is that the night the tryst took place was also the...
COMMENTARY
Jul 4, 2008

One small step for stability

HONG KONG — The June 18 announcement of the Beijing-Tokyo agreement to jointly develop gas fields in the disputed waters of the East China Sea should help ease tensions between the two countries as they try to forge a new, forward-looking cooperative relationship, but it may cause internal difficulties...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2008

Midterm CO2 goal needed: Ban

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon lauded Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura for not wearing a tie as part of energy-saving efforts but demanded bolder action Monday to save the Earth, urging Japan to set a midterm emissions-reduction goal.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2008

TBS report on North Korea deal a lie: Komura

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura lodged a protest Monday targeting a major TV station, calling its news report about recent Tokyo-Pyongyang negotiations "a 100 percent lie" and demanding it to be withdrawn.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2008

After the drama, the curtain drops quietly on the current Diet session

The curtain drops on the ordinary Diet session Saturday, quietly and without the catharsis the Democratic Party of Japan aimed for with its last-minute censure motion against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda last week.
JAPAN / TICAD IV
May 31, 2008

Africa awaits real action in TICAD wake

YOKOHAMA — The three-day Tokyo International Conference on African Development closed Friday with participants issuing a declaration committing Japan and multinational organizations to promote sustainable growth on the continent and fight poverty and climate change.
Japan Times
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 25, 2008

Morozov blames agent for breakup with Takahashi

When you have been in the business as long as I have, you develop a kind of sixth sense about when something is not right.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 11, 2008

The authorities gain complete control of the stories

Prior to the recent retrial of a man who was eventually sentenced to death by the Hiroshima High Court for killing a woman and her 1-year-old child in 1999, the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization complained about the coverage of the case. The BPO said that media outlets concentrated...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2008

Hatoyama 'solemnly' reveals four more convicts hanged

Four death-row inmates were hanged Thursday, bringing to 10 the number of executions Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama has approved since he took office last August.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2008

Cost at pump to drop until April-end vote

Gasoline prices are set to fall by ¥25 per liter after the ruling bloc and opposition camp failed to agree Monday on extending provisional extra levies on gas and other auto-related taxes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 4, 2008

Politics in game of never-ending musical chairs

A nearly unbroken line of Liberal Democratic Party politicians has headed the government since the party's 1955 formation. This dominance, however, was shaken by the stunning victory of the Democratic Party of Japan in the July 2007 House of Councilors election. In this reshaped political landscape,...
BUSINESS
Feb 20, 2008

It's official: Toshiba pulls plug on HD DVD

Toshiba Corp. announced Tuesday it will completely shut down its HD DVD operations, ending a battle with Sony Corp.'s rival Blu-ray system to become the industry standard for next-generation DVDs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2008

Noda wins 'madonna' turf war as LDP shunts Sato to Tokyo

A political dispute between two "madonna" lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party both contesting a ticket to run for Gifu's No. 1 district finally came to an end Friday after the party announced that Yukari Sato will run for Tokyo, rather than Gifu, in the next Lower House election.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 9, 2008

Capello has work cut out for him to rebuild England squad

LONDON — New manager, same old England. Or Englantalia.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2008

Japan Tobacco stands to lose billions due to 'gyoza' food-poisoning scare

Japan Tobacco Inc. said Thursday it may lose billions of yen in earnings due to the food-poisoning scare linked to pesticide found in made-in-China frozen "gyoza" dumplings imported by one of its subsidiaries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2008

'L Change the World'/'Team Batista no Eiko'

Movies, as an astute producer once told me, are news. Much of the medical news recently, from Japan and elsewhere, has been scary, including stories about out-of-control viruses and out-of-their-minds doctors and nurses who kill instead of cure their patients. So why make yet another dull J-Horror pic...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2008

'Gyoza' scare scuttles JT-Nissin frozen food ties

In a surprise announcement, Japan Tobacco Inc. and instant noodle maker Nissin Food Products Co. said Wednesday that due to the widening "gyoza" dumpling scare, they have scrapped plans to merge their frozen food divisions.

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