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BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 19, 2005

Time to remove life support: Government should heed BOJ

To end or not to end. That is the question. The Bank of Japan says yes. The government says no. The BOJ feels the time is ripe to do away with the policy of "quantitative easing." The govern- ment feels it is premature to do so. Dueling time is here again over the conduct of monetary policy.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 18, 2005

Reds captain Gerrard confident ahead of championship decider

YOKOHAMA -- England international Steven Gerrard believes the current Liverpool side is the best he's ever played in and is raring to go ahead of Sunday's Club World Championship soccer final against Sao Paulo.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 18, 2005

What did you read about Asia this year?

Donald Richie THE COLUMBIA ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN JAPANESE LITERATURE, edited by J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel (Columbia University Press) This new take on Japanese modern classics -- old standbys and lots of recent writing as well -- is big (864 pages and it's only the first volume). It includes examples...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2005

Man fined for fake invasion story

A former computer programmer was fined 500,000 yen Friday for posting a fabricated news article on the Internet that said Chinese warplanes had entered Japanese airspace.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2005

2 trillion yen in tax increases to take effect in fiscal 2006

The ruling coalition approved over 2 trillion yen worth of tax increases Thursday to be implemented in fiscal 2006. The hikes include the elimina tion or reduction of tax breaks, a cigarette levy increase and higher tax rates on wine and so-called third-category beers.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2005

Record 5 million ambulance calls cast doubt on disaster preparedness

The government Friday called for establishing an effective emergency rescue system as the number of ambulance dispatches topped 5 million for the first time in 2004, exposing potential problems for the swift transfer of the sick and injured during major disasters.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 17, 2005

Japanese metal craft rings up to look like wood

Mary Fidler is pondering, wondering whether her logo as a designer, "mfide," rolls with sufficient ease off the tongue. It does, I assure her -- as long you know it sounds out phonetically as m-f-ide, and not m-fide.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 17, 2005

Lee Colegrove

In 1965, his senior class was studying drama in Lee Colegrove's university English course. The students asked him, "Can we continue to read drama after we graduate?" Pleased, he set up for them a reading group to meet regularly in his Tokyo apartment.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 16, 2005

Verdy eyes Ramos for vacancy

Tokyo Verdy will offer former Japan international midfielder Ruy Ramos the manager's job of the club relegated to the J. League second division, club officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 16, 2005

Stripping it down, thriving on basics

Born in 1970 into an acting family -- his father is butoh master Akaji Maro and his brother is rising star Nao Omori -- Tatsushi Omori served as an assistant director for Junji Sakamoto and Kazuyuki Izutsu before working for producer/director Genjiro Arato on "Akame Shijuha-taki Shinju Misui" in 2003...
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2005

Brokers pushed to give up Mizuho blunder plunder

Six brokerages, including the Japanese unit of Switzerland's UBS group, have agreed to relinquish the 16.8 billion yen windfall from the settlement of Mizuho Securities Co.'s erroneous sell order for J-Com Co. shares, industry sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2005

Mental woes sidelined record 3,559 teachers

A record 3,559 public school teachers took leaves of absence due to mental illness in fiscal 2004, according to a government survey released Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2005

It was cut corners or Kimura axed contract: Aneha to Diet

Disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha told a Diet committee Wednesday that Akira Shinozuka, Tokyo branch manager for Kimura Construction Co., specified exactly how much he should reduce the reinforcing steel in the building plans he falsified.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 15, 2005

Director Koki Mitani and the gentle indecision of Japanese juries

When 44-year-old writer/director Koki Mitani was young, he got so excited watching "Twelve Angry Men," a classic American jury-room film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Henry Fonda, that he wanted someday to make his own original version.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2005

J-Com to cost 912,000 yen a 'share'

Japan Securities Clearing Corp. said Monday it will force Mizuho Securities Co. to settle its erroneous sell order involving J-Com Co. stock by paying 912,000 yen in cash apiece instead of delivering actual shares.
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2005

Keys to the LDP's viability

The Liberal Democratic Party has ruled Japan since it was established in 1955 -- except for 11 months in 1993 and 1994. Last month it celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 11, 2005

New Carp manager Brown excited about 2006 season

(This is a continuation of last week's column with our report about new Hiroshima Carp manager Marty Brown and his thoughts on the challenge of taking over at the helm of the Central League club which has been a second-division team for the past seven seasons.)
Japan Times
Features
Dec 11, 2005

Japan's new Wave

Japan and South Korea are like an old, bickering couple: Though they may want to part ways at times, their shared history and interdependency compel them to work things out. That, and they've got no place else to go.
Features
Dec 11, 2005

Discordant history mars neighbors' friendship overtures

Japanese actress Yoshino Kimura was the lone main guest at the Chuo Kokaido Hall in Osaka in October. She appeared without her Korean counterpart in the opening ceremony to celebrate this year's 40th anniversary of the 1965 Japan-South Korean Treaty that normalized Tokyo-Seoul relations.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 10, 2005

Of countries big and small

"It's a big country," rings an oft-repeated line from a 1958 Gregory Peck-Burl Ives Western about love, honor and territory in the old West, a film appropriately titled "The Big Country."
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2005

TSE won't let Mizuho duck J-Com fiasco

The chaos created by Mizuho Securities Co.'s mistaken attempt to sell 610,000 shares of J-Com stock for 1 yen apiece deepened Friday as it was learned that the Tokyo Stock Exchange is trying to prevent the brokerage from reneging on the transaction, TSE officials said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2005

Hanging sparks Aussie debate

SYDNEY -- Singapore has hanged a convicted Australian drug runner and some Australians are demanding a boycott against this key trading partner. Rarely before have Australians been so upset over what they see as obsolete "Asian values."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 9, 2005

Drinking in a historical view

Choosing gifts for the wine lovers in your life can be a minefield, as passions among oenophiles can sometimes run as high as those in the most spirited political or religious debates. To avoid a dreaded, "Oh, you shouldn't have," we offer two gift ideas that are sure to stimulate and surprise even the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2005

Beef-safety report being misused: panelist

The key messages in Thursday's report by the Food Safety Commission's prion committee have been misinterpreted by the media and the government, and the panel itself was used to serve political ends, the panel's deputy chairman declared Thursday.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 9, 2005

Every picture tells a story

Morrison Hotel Gallery is currently staging its third fine art music photography exhibition, "Legendary Rock & Roll Photographers" in Tokyo.

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