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BUSINESS
May 24, 2007

Rules on U.S. beef stay: government

There are no immediate plans to relax the food-safety restrictions on imports of U.S. beef despite a decision by an international body that says some of them are not necessary, the government said Wednesday.
CULTURE / Stage
May 24, 2007

Defining the nation

When Chikamatsu Yanagi and his collaborators were writing "Ehon Taikoki" in 1799, Japan was arguably enjoying the height of Edo Period culture (1603-1867). In retrospect it was a transitional time — perhaps the last moments of peace before the pressures of the outside world started to affect the island,...
JAPAN
May 23, 2007

Aso announces 'manga' award for foreign artists

want to make the award something like the Nobel Prize for manga (creators)," Aso told a news conference. "Not as much money will be given as for the Nobel Prize, but we'd like to invite (the winners) to Japan." Foreign Ministry officials said the purpose of the award is to promote Japanese-style comics...
Reader Mail
May 23, 2007

Superficial China-Japan entente

Regarding the May 10 article "And now to trilateralism," by Brad Glosserman and Bonnie Glaser: The supposed entente between China and Japan is superficial and will likely evaporate with the next insult from Japan or aggressive move by China in the East China Sea. The fundamental problem is not China's...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 22, 2007

Opening the courts to ordinary citizens

In less than two years, when a new criminal trial system is introduced, citizens will be obliged to serve as "saibanin," or lay judges. The general public in some 80 countries around the world already plays a role in their nations' judicial systems, such as British- and American-style juries and the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
May 22, 2007

OVO, DateBlock, VAPE No. 1 NEO and DECO LAMP

Eggish timer
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 22, 2007

Seeing from the Korean side

In February this year over 300 people attended the performing arts festival at a junior high school in Okayama. It was much the same as any other arts festival at any other junior high school in Japan; the students sang, danced, played music and performed skits for an audience made up of family and friends....
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 21, 2007

Pondering the futility of the Bank of Japan's inflation comfort zone

Members of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board are said to be at odds about where the rate of inflation ought to be over the medium to longer term.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 20, 2007

Citizen journalists aim to serve all

For Kenichiro Masuyama, who lives in Matsumoto City in central Japan's scenic Nagano Prefecture, news that more foreign visitors than ever before are now coming to savor the region's delights is hardly a surprise.
CULTURE / Books
May 20, 2007

Listening to history's creaking bones

ORACLE BONES: A Journey Between China's Past and Present, by Peter Hessler. HarperCollins, 2006, 491 pp., $26.95 (cloth) Beside their obvious antiquity, why should heaps of cattle shoulder-blades and turtle shells dating from the 13th and 14th centuries B.C. be of such immense importance to today's...
JAPAN
May 19, 2007

Abe's panel on examining collective defense kicks off

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on Friday the first meeting of a government panel tasked with debating how far Japan should be allowed to go in defending allies who come under attack, amid rising tension over security, including North Korea's nuclear programs.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 19, 2007

Farm concession said key to U.S. FTA

Opening up Japan's politically sensitive agriculture market is the key to establishing a free-trade agreement between Japan and the United States, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's vice president for Asia.
EDITORIALS
May 18, 2007

Nurturing forests and workers

The fiscal 2006 annual report on the nation's forestry shows that self-sufficiency in the wood supply has stopped falling due to conditions abroad that make wood imports to Japan difficult. The government can use this opportunity to revitalize Japan's forestry.
CULTURE / Music
May 18, 2007

Lefties Soul Connection "Skimming the Skum"

File it under funk, but the sophomore release from Lefties Soul Connection is not your average revival. It's the sound of European B-Boys with the confidence to mix the punkish attitude of the early hip-hop with the exuberant New Orleans funk of The Meters.
BASKETBALL
May 17, 2007

Japanese shoot for dreams

This was no leisurely way to spend a weekend.
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2007

Toyota on a roll

Toyota Motor Corp. has become the first Japanese company to top the 2 trillion yen mark in operating profits. The leading automaker's operating profit for the 2006 business year to March 2007 surged 19.2 percent from the previous year to 2.24 trillion yen, a new record for the seventh straight year....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 17, 2007

Creating atmospheres

An array of recent exhibitions in Kyoto and Osaka offers an engaging cross section of contemporary art practice in western Japan.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 16, 2007

Nets nearly dealt Kidd to Lakers

NEW YORK — President Rod Thorn's "bold" admission last week that he tried to trade Jason Kidd to the Lakers right up until the deadline is a dead giveaway the Nets guard was intimately involved in New Jersey's game plan.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2007

Lupus sufferers need help

On May 10, lupus organizations observed the fourth annual World Lupus Day. Lupus is a potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks various parts of the body. Over 5 million people worldwide, including an estimated 50,000 people in Japan, suffer from the disease....
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2007

The true meaning of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the United States

WASHINGTON — Most of the reporting and reviews surrounding the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the United States on April 26-27 focused on the issue of North Korea or the wartime "comfort women," but in truth, the significance of the visit was much broader.
JAPAN
May 15, 2007

Nuclear chief sees possible fuel contract with Russia

Japan would benefit from a proposed nuclear energy deal with Russia by gaining access to Moscow's advanced fast-breeder reactor technology and uranium enrichment services, the atomic energy chief said Monday.

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo