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EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 2005

New party braces for battle

With a snap general election set for Sept. 11, the conflict within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party over postal-service privatization has entered a new stage with the formation of a new party led by antireform old guards. The new group is led by Mr. Tamisuke Watanuki, former Lower House speaker, and...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2005

Asylum in Japan eludes Myanmar's close-knit Chin minority

Hundreds of asylum-seekers from Myanmar have come to Japan to escape persecution since the 1980s, including those belonging to ethnic minorities like the Rohingya and Kachin, and dozens have so far been recognized here as refugees.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2005

Kamei trying to form new party

Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Shizuka Kamei held talks Tuesday about forming a new party with several lawmakers who lost LDP backing for the Sept. 11 general election by opposing postal privatization.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2005

'Horiemon' LDP's secret weapon?

In a move symbolic of the lengths it will go to win the Sept. 11 general election, the Liberal Democratic Party has asked Livedoor Co. President Takafumi Horie to be a candidate on its ticket, senior LDP members said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2005

Suginami adopts contentious history text

The Suginami Ward board of education adopted a history textbook Friday that critics say distorts history and gives light treatment of Japan's wartime atrocities.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2005

12 LDP chapters set to back postal rebels

The internal strife in the Liberal Democratic Party continued Thursday as at least 12 of the party's prefectural chapters said they would back 18 of the 37 postal privatization opponents in the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2005

Politicians begin plotting strategies for Sept. 11 poll

Campaigning for the Sept. 11 Lower House general election effectively got under way Tuesday, one day after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the chamber on the heels of the House of Councilors' rejection of his postal privatization bills.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2005

Koizumi calls election for Sept. 11

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the House of Representatives on Monday and called a general election for Sept. 11 a few hours after the House of Councilors voted down the government-sponsored postal privatization bills.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2005

Opponent-free panel OKs thorny postal reform bills

A special committee of the House of Councilors passed a package of postal privatization bills Friday, pushing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi toward a final showdown with reform foes in his Liberal Democratic Party in Monday's plenary session.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2005

UNSC bid crippled as African Union refuses to join 'G4' in resolution

Japan's prospects of gaining a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council have been dealt a savage blow, with the African Union refusing to draft a joint resolution on UNSC expansion with Japan and three other nations.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2005

Another Japan Highway exec arrested over bids

Prosecutors on Monday arrested an executive at Japan Highway Public Corp. and indicted his former colleague and officials from four companies, stepping up their probe into one of the country's largest public works bid-rigging scandals.
EDITORIALS
Jul 29, 2005

ASEAN is let off the hook

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has dodged a bullet. Myanmar's decision to give up its turn as chairman of the group in 2006 saves ASEAN from international embarrassment. Myanmar's status as a pariah state threatened to seriously hurt ASEAN as its dialogue partners vowed to avoid the group...
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2005

India factor cools Dhaka to 'G4' resolution, Zia hints

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia stopped short Thursday of supporting a U.N. resolution compiled by the "Group of Four" to expand the Security Council.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2005

India factor cools Dhaka to 'G4' resolution, Zia hints

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia stopped short Thursday of supporting a U.N. resolution compiled by the "Group of Four" to expand the Security Council.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2005

U.N. calls for antidiscrimination law

The government urgently needs to acknowledge that deep discrimination against minorities, Korean and Chinese residents and other foreigners exists in Japan, an independent investigator said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2005

'G4' submits resolution on UNSC, finds just 23 backers

Japan, Germany, India and Brazil jointly submitted a resolution Wednesday at U.N. headquarters in New York to expand the U.N. Security Council, with only 23 other members listed as joint backers.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2005

Prosecutors to grill former Japan Highway exec

Prosecutors plan to question a 70-year-old former board member of the Japan Highway Public Corp. as early as this week over a bid-rigging scandal for bridge construction projects, according to sources.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2005

Forum mulls ways to make racial discrimination illegal here

Citing racial slurs by politicians and biased news reports playing up an increase in crimes committed by foreigners, participants in a Tokyo symposium called Thursday for a legal framework that would eradicate racial discrimination in Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2005

Bid-rigging probe targets highway body

Tokyo prosecutors on Wednesday searched the headquarters of Japan Highway Public Corp. in connection with their investigation into massive bid-rigging for bridge construction projects.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2005

Microsoft, Toshiba in HD-DVD tieup

Microsoft Corp. and Toshiba Corp. announced Monday they will jointly develop new-generation high-definition DVD players, concluding an agreement that strengthens their alliance in the wider area of technology for digital home electrical appliances.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jun 27, 2005

Shining a light on Turkish-Japanese ties

NEW YORK -- Selcuk Esenbel was in town. For many years now a professor of history at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Selcuk was, when I met her more than 30 years ago, studying Japanese history at Columbia University. The fruit of that study is her 1998 tome, which she gave me during her previous visit...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2005

Osaka 'curfew' plan rife with problems

OSAKA — It's a Saturday evening in early 2006, and four Osaka-area 15-year-old friends, Kenji, Taro, Yoko and Yuka, show up at a theater to see the latest movie. The time is 6:45 p.m., 15 minutes before the movie starts.
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2005

Europe's crisis deepens

There were no doubts that last week's European Union summit would be difficult. The EU leadership has been in uncertain territory since two national votes rejected the new constitution. Few anticipated, however, that EU leaders would compound their troubles with an ugly squabble over the budget that...

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