Search - news

 
 
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Koizumi still popular as he marks third anniversary

Experiencing ups and downs but being kept afloat by generally strong public approval ratings, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday marked the third anniversary of the inauguration of his administration.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Followup beltway ruling snubs land claim

The Tokyo District Court on Monday rejected a request by local residents for an injunction to halt the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's expropriation of property for the construction of a contentious expressway project.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2004

Panel proposes Japan Post be privatized by 2012

A key policy-setting panel on Monday finalized an interim report proposing that Japan Post be fully privatized in 2012 at the earliest and maintain its nationwide network of post offices.
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Apr 27, 2004

Firms now balking at political donations

Kenji Watanabe spent the last year preaching and begging business leaders around Fukui Prefecture to donate to the Liberal Democratic Party. He was always received politely, but company presidents kept their wallets closed.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2004

LDP poised to win three Lower House by-elections

The Liberal Democratic Party looked certain to win all three House of Representatives by-elections held Sunday, according to Kyodo News exit polls and analysis.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 25, 2004

Bob Dylan: "Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall"

The striking thing about the latest addition to the "Bootleg Series" is the realization that four years into his career Bob Dylan was still a callow youth. The concert took place Halloween night, 1964, a year after the Kennedy assassination, nine months after The Beatles conquered America, but a year...
Japan Times
Features / LIFE OR DEATH
Apr 25, 2004

Only the noose can ease victims' pain

More than four years have passed since his 2-year-old granddaughter was murdered, yet never a day goes by without Tsuneo Matsumura mournfully remembering little Haruna, or having images of her flash through his mind whenever he sees a girl about the same age as she would be.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 25, 2004

Agent orange: a weapon of untold destruction

AGENT ORANGE: Collateral Damage in Viet Nam, by Philip Jones Griffiths. London: Trolley Ltd., 2003, 176 pp., £24.95 (cloth). Philip Jones Griffiths' haunting images will sear a space in that part of your memory bank reserved for nightmares and denial. They are powerful and gruesome reminders of what...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 25, 2004

Shame lies with government and media over Iraq hostage crisis

Last week, the Asahi Shimbun ran an opinion piece by writer Genichiro Takahashi that was in the form of an advice column. The anonymous advice-seeker professed to having suffered the same fate as the three Japanese hostages who returned from Iraq to a chorus of derision. After all I went through, said...
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2004

Violence drives aid workers out of Iraq

Intense violence in Iraq has driven Japanese civic aid organizations to scale back their operations there.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 24, 2004

Barkley's commentary makes him look like a buffoon

NEW YORK -- As most of us with a pulse know all too well, Charles Barkley rarely says something that isn't stone stupid unless he has impounded somebody else's original thought. And TNT couldn't be prouder presenting its Master of the Oblivious.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2004

MHI to make line for wing sections of new Boeing 7E7

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Inc. said Friday it will build a new production line to make wing sections for Boeing Inc.'s planned 7E7 airliner in an investment maneuver reportedly expected to be worth 50 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2004

Individual traders boost earnings of online brokerages

Online brokerages' earnings surged in fiscal 2003 due to active trading by individual investors during the recent stock market rally.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2004

Mitsubishi Fuso pledges to prevent future faults

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. said Wednesday it will take measures to prevent a recurrence of the defect that caused wheels to detach from its large vehicles, proving fatal on one occasion.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2004

Lawmakers agree on penalties for lay judges who leak information

Ruling-bloc and opposition lawmakers have reached a basic agreement on penalties for proposed "lay judges" who leak information, deciding that only those who leak information on people involved in criminal cases will face prison, according to sources.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2004

Australia works to keep MMC unit open

SYDNEY (Kyodo) Prime Minister John Howard and Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane are in talks with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to save its South Australian manufacturing plant from closure, a spokeswoman for MacFarlane said Wednesday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 22, 2004

Lives of Beckham, Keane provide tabloids endless fodder

LONDON -- An apology. Those of you hoping for a column that does not mention David Beckham or Roy Keane will be disappointed.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2004

SDF troops staying in Iraq, vows Tokyo

Japan on Tuesday downplayed plans by Spain and Honduras to withdraw their troops from Iraq in the coming months, insisting that its own Self-Defense Forces units will remain in the Mideast country.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2004

Foreign-exchange policies unlikely to be focus of G7 finance meeting

An upcoming financial meeting of the Group of Seven major economies in Washington will probably not focus on foreign-exchange policy amid the current stability in major currencies, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 21, 2004

U.S., North Korea await change from a reinvigorated Roh

HONOLULU -- South Korea's political landscape has changed dramatically, and one must assume irreversibly, as a result of the April 15 National Assembly elections. It is clear that the torch has indeed been passed to a new generation. What is less clear is what this means, both in the near and long term,...
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2004

Average value of assets held by Lower House members falls

The average value of assets held by 478 House of Representatives lawmakers elected last November stands at 51.6 million yen, excluding stocks, according to a Kyodo News survey released Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2004

Postal privatization team named

The government unveiled a lineup Monday of key members of a preparatory office in charge of privatizing Japan's postal services, naming Financial Services Agency Commissioner Shokichi Takagi as one of two deputy heads.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2004

Kanebo to probe alleged illegalities

Kanebo Ltd. said Monday it has formed an investigative panel -- led by legal experts -- to probe alleged illegalities in the company's past accounting practices and business transactions.
COMMENTARY
Apr 19, 2004

South Korea's youth now in driver's seat

NEW YORK -- Veteran Asia-hand Nicholas Platt isn't quite ready to canonize Roh Moo Hyun as a great contemporary Asian leader -- notwithstanding last week's stunning endorsement of the populist president of South Korea in elections that catapulted the progressive, pro-Roh party to the top of the heap...
COMMENTARY
Apr 19, 2004

Push Japan's good intentions

The lesson from the abduction and subsequent release of five Japanese civilians in Iraq is that the government should send a strong message to the Arab world that it is actively pushing humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in the war-torn country.
EDITORIALS
Apr 18, 2004

A political quake in South Korea

Parliamentary elections last week have transformed politics in South Korea. The Uri Party -- which did not exist a year ago -- has won an absolute majority in the National Assembly, giving President Roh Moo Hyun control of the legislature for the first time since he was elected a year and a half ago...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2004

Most in poll back Tokyo Iraq efforts

About 68 percent of respondents to a Kyodo News survey released Saturday approved of how the government handled the hostage crisis involving Japanese civilians in Iraq, and more than 60 percent feel Tokyo was right to not cave in to the kidnappers' demand that Japan withdraw its troops from the country....

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