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COMMENTARY
May 1, 2006

From reforms to deadlock

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi greeted the fifth anniversary of his rule, becoming Japan's third-longest serving postwar leader after Eisaku Sato and Shigeru Yoshida.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2006

Daughters sue to help guru lodge appeal

Two daughters of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara and his lawyers are suing the government and a psychiatrist to fight the Tokyo High Court's dismissal of his appeal of the death sentence, the lawyers said Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2006

For Golden Week this year, go to a spa and stay close to home

Golden Week may have arrived, but that doesn't mean everyone has elaborate travel plans -- some may be too busy, while others hate the crowds and shun the absurdly expensive air tickets during the holiday season.
BASKETBALL
Apr 29, 2006

Inaugural bj-league playoffs to rock Ariake this weekend

No matter where your team is seeded, if you lose, you go home -- that's how the bj-league playoffs go.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 29, 2006

English media get what they deserve if Big Phil takes charge

LONDON -- Having done much to press the Football Association's hand in forcing it to tell Sven-Goran Eriksson that he will not be the England head coach after the World Cup finals, the English football media found themselves in a pickle.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2006

Civil servant pension cut in works

The government announced a plan Friday to equalize the pension schemes for company employees and civil servants that will include a 10 percent cut in the pensions of some government employees.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 29, 2006

Purification process is painful

I'm pretty sure Shiraishi Island was once inhabited by giants. When you look at all the boulders perched in precarious spots around the island, and piled up in certain formations, you would swear someone was saving them for ammunition.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2006

Ex-World Bank head, Nicklaus spring honorees

The government said Friday it will release a list of 4,096 recipients of the spring decorations, including former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn and U.S. golf legend Jack Nicklaus.
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 28, 2006

Zico dismisses link with South Africa

Japan coach Zico slammed a newspaper report linking him with the South African national team job, but said he is still weighing up a coaching career in Europe.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 28, 2006

Here be the land of the gods

You get them in research institutes, tucked away in small caves, perched atop spanking-new urban developments. Clamber up Mount Fuji and one is waiting there at the summit. Aside from desperately keen Shintoi aficionados, few people would complain that Japan suffers any dearth of shrines. While Shinto...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 28, 2006

Music Day Japan 2006

The concept of Music Day Japan was borrowed from Fe^te de la Musique, a vast free music festival held in France on the summer solstice. Founding the festival in 1982, the French cultural ministry has made sure that the wide range of music on offer consistently crosses generational boundaries.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2006

JR trio saw record sales, pretax profits in '05, despite crashes

Three major Japan Railway carriers Thursday reported record consolidated sales and pretax profits for fiscal 2005, led by strong demand for bullet train and conventional rail line travel, despite fatal train accidents involving two of them.
SUMO
Apr 26, 2006

Mini tourneys to be held on summer tour

The Japan Sumo Association will hold mini exhibition tournaments featuring sumo wrestlers from the top-tier makuuchi division during a five-day training tour of Taiwan scheduled for this summer, association officials said Tuesday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 26, 2006

Media's vilification of Bonds shows lack of objectivity

It's a question that has to be asked.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 26, 2006

A voice of reason countering Big Oil's clout

The United States government may be hemorrhaging money in Iraq, but the financial condition of America's oil companies and their top management couldn't be rosier.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2006

A less than satisfying visit

These days, the official description of the U.S.-China relationship is that it is "complex." This banal characterization is preferred by both governments for several reasons: In addition to being true, it helps deflect pressure from both sides and deflates expectations. All the complexities of the relationship...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 25, 2006

Temples, air cons and food

To begin, some responses to earlier columns:
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 24, 2006

An unnaturally smooth naturalization?

NEW YORK -- I became an American citizen on March 31. The steps for citizenship were simple and easy, and the process took an unexpectedly short time. I experienced neither "the law's delay" nor "the insolence of office."
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2006

Asian leaders acting badly: the makings of nightmares

LOS ANGELES -- Paging Dr. Geopolitical Freud! It's an emergency.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 24, 2006

Fiscal policymakers seek Japan's true potential

An intense debate is raging among three of the nation's top fiscal panels on how to reform state revenues and expenditures in an integrated manner. The bodies are the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, the Liberal Democratic Party's fiscal reform panel, and the fiscal system council of the Finance...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 23, 2006

Has pachinko got the balls to survive if casinos are legalized?

In February, the Liberal Democratic Party formed a team to study the possibility of lifting the ban on casino gambling in Japan. About half of Japan's prefectures, as well as Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, have said they want to build casino resorts to attract foreign tourists.

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick