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EDITORIALS
May 9, 2004

Casualty of pension politics

The political battle over pension reform has taken an unexpected -- and ironic -- twist. Accepting responsibility for failing to make mandatory payments to the national pension program, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda resigned abruptly Friday. With national elections two months away, his departure...
JAPAN
May 8, 2004

Fukuda resigns from Cabinet

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda shocked the political arena Friday by stepping down for mishandling the issue of public pension premiums that some Cabinet members -- including himself -- failed to pay.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 2, 2004

TV Tokyo's "Takeshi Daredemo Picasso" and more

On May 1, the 26-year-old kabuki superstar Ichikawa Shinnosuke officially became Ichikawa Ebizo XI. The ceremonial succession was a monumental event because, for the first time since 1843, two generations of Ichikawas bearing the names Ebizo and Danjuro will play on the same stage at once.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2004

Ramen makers go upmarket in search of fresh clientele

Customers with Prada handbags and Gucci sunglasses sometimes stand in line for hours and hungrily wait outside the restaurant door, feasting their eyes on the delicacy that awaits inside: a bowl of ramen.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2004

Hostage blames state for backlash

The harsh criticism that has been aimed at Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq stems from government resentment over their relatives' calls for Tokyo to withdraw its troops from the country, one of the hostages said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2004

SDF troops balance duty, safety

Self-Defense Forces troops deployed to Samawah, southern Iraq, are in a quandary: They want to meet local demand for more aid, but deteriorating security conditions are hindering their efforts to work harder.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2004

Hostages released into storm of criticism

Two days before her daughter was freed Thursday night by her captors in Iraq, 65-year-old Kyoko Takato was apologizing to the public, using words more befitting of the parent of a criminal.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2004

Chiefs of staff hold joint news conference

In what the Defense Agency says is the first time in the 50-year history of the Self-Defense Forces, the chiefs of staff of the three branches of Japan's military organization appeared together before reporters on Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2004

Tanaka's daughter won't appeal

The daughter of former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka has decided not to appeal a high court ruling that rescinded an earlier injunction banning sale of a weekly magazine that featured an article about her divorce, her lawyers said Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

Contentious magazine to remain unsold

Publisher Bungeishunju Ltd. said Friday it will not sell the remaining copies of a controversial edition of a weekly magazine, after the Tokyo High Court on Wednesday overruled a lower court's injunction barring publication of an article in the edition.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2004

Temporary magazine sales ban threatens freedom of expression

The Tokyo District Court's temporary injunction banning the sale of the weekly Shukan Bunshun over an article about the private life of a Diet lawmaker's daughter triggered debate over the issue of privacy vs. freedom of expression.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2004

High court rescinds weekly's injunction

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday revoked a lower court injunction against the publication of a magazine that carried a story on the divorce of former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's daughter, citing freedom of expression and the public's right to know.
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Apr 1, 2004

Losers, winners in contemporary Japan

Bridget Jones in London, Ally McBeal in Boston, Carrie and her friends in New York City. Now Sakai Junko has published a best-selling volume of essays on singletons in Tokyo over the age of 30, like herself, whom she calls -- in a mix of ruefulness and pride -- makeinu (losers). In "Makeinu no toboe"...
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2004

End of 'News Station' run prompts mixture of disbelief, grief and relief

Friday will see the plug finally pulled on "News Station," the popular TV Asahi show that has made a virtue of breaking journalistic taboos during its 18-year run.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2004

Pension role model a shirker herself

While reproaching the nation's youth last year in a government-sponsored TV commercial for not paying into the financially pinched mandatory National Pension System, popular actress Makiko Esumi was keeping her own dark secret.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2004

Publisher appeals injunction order

Tokyo publisher Bungeishunju Ltd. filed an appeal Saturday with the Tokyo High Court against a lower court's ban on the publication of a weekly magazine aimed at addressing concerns over privacy violation.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2004

Injunction upheld against latest issue of Shukan Bunshun

The Tokyo District Court on Friday upheld a temporary injunction banning publication of the latest edition of the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun, judging that one of its stories violates the privacy of former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's daughter.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 20, 2004

Curfew-breaking Japan players dropped from World Cup squad

Eight Japan players who indulged in a drinking binge and acted improperly during a training camp in Kashima last month were dropped Friday by coach Zico for the national team's 2006 World Cup Asian zone Group 3 qualifier away to Singapore on March 31.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

Tanaka's daughter seeks fines for publisher

The daughter of Diet lawmaker Makiko Tanaka has sought a court order forcing a publisher to pay fines of 30 million yen for every day that a weekly magazine featuring an article about her private life remains on store shelves, it was learned Thursday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 16, 2004

Shifting the burden

With the latest Japan Foundation survey showing over 8,000 organizations here at least nominally involved in "international exchange," the government is hoping to spare its own coffers by shifting the burden of assisting Japan's foreign population onto NPO groups.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2004

Koizumi treat for English speakers

The Cabinet Office will start sending out an English version of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's weekly e-mail magazine, beginning March 25.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 3, 2004

Japan players to receive reprimands for conduct

Seven players from the Japanese national team are set to be reprimanded for violating team regulations by indulging in a drinking binge and acting improperly during a training camp in Kashima last month.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 28, 2004

David Neale

"I love doing many different things. That is a theme that dominates my life," David Neale said.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2004

Defense Agency eyes media officers to handle deluge

The Defense Agency will create media officer posts in fiscal 2005 to handle increasing public interest in the agency and the Self-Defense Forces.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2004

Who will save us from the scourge?

Zebraman Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Takashi Miike Running time: 115 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] What genre conventions hasn't Takashi Miike bent, twisted or simply exploded? How about "Audition," whose tender dream of May-December...

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