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Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Cutting U.S. service-member crime

Your April 9 editorial "Murder in Yokosuka" is very appropriate and timely. Criminal cases involving American soldiers are becoming far too numerous for comfort and there is a need to work out new arrangements so that such criminals are treated as such, and are not given any special privileges by virtue...
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2008

Fukuda, EU leaders agree to boost cooperation in climate-change fight

Japan and the European Union agreed Wednesday to step up cooperation in the fight against global warming, calling for a "highly ambitious and binding international approach" to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2008

Exports grow 2.3%, worst pace since '05

Japan's exports rose in March at their slowest pace in almost three years as shipments to Asia lost momentum and the U.S. slowdown deepened.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 22, 2008

Yellow dust storms getting worse

Each year, most of Japan's prefectures are affected by what is known as yellow dust, which appears as a yellow fog in the atmosphere for a few days, often in late winter and early spring. A mixture of des ert sand, arid topsoil and man-made pollutants from Central Asia, China and Mongolia, the annual...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 22, 2008

Summit wicked this way comes

You've probably heard about July's G8 Summit in Toyako, in my home prefecture of Hokkaido. In case you're unfamiliar with the event, here's a primer from the Foreign Affairs Ministry:
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2008

Fukuda, Lee agree to push North

Japan and South Korea will work together to push for the denuclearization of North Korea and work closely with the United States to achieve world peace and stability, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and President Lee Myung Bak agreed Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2008

Torch tension mounts in Nagano

Tension is rising in Nagano, where thousands of spectators and demonstrators are expected to gather next Saturday when the city hosts the Olympic torch.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 20, 2008

Tough day for Antlers as Fujigaya hurt in draw with Gamba

KASHIMA, Ibaraki Pref. — Gamba Osaka survived a first-half injury to goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya to claim a point from a scrappy 0-0 draw against Kashima Antlers on Saturday.
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

Actions matter more than words

Japan is not alone in wanting to instill patriotism in its young people ("No place for politics in education," April 10). All countries around the globe consider that goal to be important. The debate, therefore, is over the proper means to achieve that justifiable end. Attitudes, however, are caught...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 20, 2008

A Tibetan terror rules the waves

THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. New York: Warner Books, 2007, 388 pp., $25.99 (cloth) Tales of suspense that incorporate obscure aspects of the supernatural from ancient civilizations have long enjoyed a popular following. Take William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" (1971), a...
EDITORIALS
Apr 19, 2008

Health insurance chaos

The new health insurance scheme for people aged 75 or over that began April 1 has been thrown into confusion due to the central and local governments' failure to adequately prepare. New health insurance cards failed to reach some 63,000 people in time, and chaos continues even though the health ministry...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2008

Wanted: good home for old icebreaker

ABOARD THE SHIRASE — Old soldiers may just fade away, but it is a fate far better, some feel, than what awaits the Maritime Self-Defense Force's icebreaker Shirase, which is headed for the scrap heap after 25 years of hard service.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2008

North to soon be off U.S. blacklist: China envoy

The United States will probably soon remove North Korea from its list of states sponsoring terrorism, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2008

Clear criteria urged for cases when foreign investors snubbed

All nations should have clear-cut criteria and transparent procedures if they feel the need to shut out foreign investment in certain sectors for the sake of their national interests, Charles Heeter, board director of the U.S. Council for International Business, said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2008

Divided Diet forecloses on Fukuda's May Europe trip

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has canceled planned visits to France, Germany and France in early May due to the expected continuation of the political standoff in the divided Diet, government officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2008

Dollar seen rebounding by 2009

Japan's two biggest brokerages said the dollar will rebound against the yen and euro by year's end as economic conditions in Japan and Europe deteriorate and U.S. interest-rate cuts near an end.
BASKETBALL
Apr 16, 2008

Peppers earns final week honors

Rookie forward Joshua Peppers was a reliable all-around scoring threat for the first-year Rizing Fukuoka this season, scoring 20 or more points 23 times. His team, meanwhile, earned a playoff berth on the final day of the bj-league's regular season on Sunday, a day in which he scored 23 points and matched...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2008

Soccer philanthropist Nakata signs on for exhibition match

Former soccer star Hidetoshi Nakata announced Tuesday he will play in an exhibition match in Yokohama on June 7 as part of his Plus One campaign to spur people to think about what they can do to make the world a better place.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat