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JAPAN
Mar 31, 2006

Koike hospitalized with pneumonia

Environment Minister Yuriko Koike was hospitalized Wednesday for treatment of acute pneumonia, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Thursday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 22, 2006

Self-interest and those Greenland pigs

Why do some societies last for hundreds, even thousands, of years, while others soar, dazzle but then fizzle like short-lived summer fireworks?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

Asbestos-affected apply for relief

People suffering from asbestos-linked diseases and those who lost relatives to such illnesses began filing applications Monday for government financial aid prior to the coming into force next week of a relief law for victims.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2006

Obituary: Toko Adachi

Flower arrangement grand master Toko Adachi died of acute liver failure at a Tokyo hospital Friday, her family said Monday. She was 69.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 12, 2006

Women's voices

This story is part of a package on women in Japan. The introduction is here.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2006

Rejection of land seizure for road reversed

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling that barred the Tokyo Metropolitan Government from expropriating land in Akiruno, western Tokyo, for a state-approved project to route an expressway through the site.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2006

McGowan speeds into town

Canadian-born Michael McGowan is a filmmaker and writer, but long before that, he had been a runner.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2006

Bill would boost CFC collection

The Environment Ministry has compiled a bill aimed at boosting the collection of chlorofluorocarbons used as coolants in business appliances, officials said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2006

The world according to the Pentagon

The U.S. Department of Defense has released its vision of the world, the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The four-year review of U.S. military strategy provides the Pentagon's assessment of global trends and its responses to them. The QDR receives a lot of attention, but it is important to remember...
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2006

Shoppers to be charged for bags possibly starting in 2007

Councils under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Environment Ministry have approved a report proposing that shoppers be charged for plastic or paper bags distributed at supermarkets and other stores, according to officials.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 17, 2006

Finding space in gay Japan

At first glance, homosexual life in Japan can seem quite repressed. Public displays of affection are next to nil, gay Japanese men often live secret lives and it's hard to notice a gay presence at all unless by venturing into Tokyo's "gayborhood," Shinjuku Ni-Chome.
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2005

METI eyes local subsidies, other steps to curb garbage

The industry ministry has asked an advisory panel to examine new recycling proposals, such as financially helping municipalities that collect and sort garbage and charging shoppers for plastic bags at supermarkets and other stores.
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2005

Carrying on with fewer people

Japan's population started shrinking this year, according to two separate reports by the Health, Welfare and Labor Ministry and the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The shrinkage began one year earlier than the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research had projected....
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2005

China's new 'peace offensive'

China has launched a public-relations offensive. The publication of a white paper on the country's "peaceful development" is designed to quiet concerns about China's growing affluence and how Beijing intends to use the influence that it wields. It is a difficult assignment. China may be assured of its...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2005

Frustrated bureaucrats pen reform ideas

When Ichiro Asahina, a 32-year-old bureaucrat at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, was studying at Harvard University between 2001 and 2003, he had time to think about what Kasumigaseki, Tokyo's governmental hub, meant to him and to Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2005

Trailblazing volunteer reflects on path to NGO icon status

When Keiko Kiyama went to Yugoslavia in the early 1990s to help people in the war-torn region, many Japanese probably thought her a bit eccentric.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2005

Residents can sue railway: top court

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that residents near Odakyu Electric Railway Co. elevated train tracks in Tokyo qualify as plaintiffs in a lawsuit demanding the revocation of permits for the section.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2005

China's environmental health challenges

NEW YORK -- The recent environmental crises in China underscore the need to improve the mechanisms for preventing environmental disasters and responding more effectively to environmental emergencies. For the past few decades, China has maintained significant economic expansion while greatly improving...
EDITORIALS
Nov 21, 2005

Tax diversion poses challenges

This fiscal year the government is expected to collect about 5.78 trillion yen in revenues from six different taxes paid by automobile and road users. Because these revenues are legally earmarked for road improvement, however, the government cannot use the money for other purposes. This rigidity has...
COMMENTARY
Nov 14, 2005

Enhanced order of security

Japan and the United States on Oct. 29 issued an interim report agreeing to expand military cooperation in connection with the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. The agreement is intended to adapt the bilateral alliance to better deal with changes in the security environment in the Asia-Pacific region....
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2005

Koike pledges to push carbon tax to meet goals under Kyoto Protocol

to understand that the tax does not hurt the economy," she said. "I want to explain the need for the tax to the public." As another measure to tackle global warming, the government staged the "Cool Biz" campaign last summer to promote lighter clothing in offices to reduce use of air conditioners. Koike...
Japan Times
Features
Nov 6, 2005

Surveying a state of change

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi led his Liberal Democratic Party to a landslide victory in the Sept. 11 general election he called as a de facto referendum on his drive to privatize postal services.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 5, 2005

Artist intrigued by things we take for granted

Markuz Wernli Saito cannot come to the phone when I call him as arranged in Kyoto.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2005

Blue Planet winners urge more CO2-cutting efforts

and Gordon Hisashi Sato, winners of the 2005 Blue Planet Prize, congratulate each other Wednesday at a news conference in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2005

On the precipice in Iraq

WASHINGTON-- How are things going in Iraq? The short answer, unfortunately -- based on Brookings' Iraq Index and my own assessments -- is not very well. There is still considerable hope, and much that does go well in Iraq. But on balance, there is more reason for worry than optimism right now.

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