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JAPAN
Nov 30, 2005

Asbestos-relief bill may hit 27 billion yen

The government revealed Tuesday that thousands of buildings nationwide, including public facilities, pose asbestos exposure risks while unveiling a draft bill to pay 27 billion yen in compensation to the people affected.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2005

Japan to give Morocco 10 billion yen in aid

Japan said Tuesday it will provide 10 billion yen in aid to Morocco for sewerage and power distribution projects as part of an effort to help the North African country stabilize its economy and fight poverty.
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 2005

Seoul not the ally that Washington deserves

WASHINGTON -- During his Asian trip, U.S. President George W. Bush met with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun to highlight the two nations' alliance. The next day Roh's government announced that it was withdrawing a third of its soldiers from Iraq. Never mind.
Japan Times
Features
Nov 27, 2005

Is it so hard to see the forest for the trees?

By C.W. NICOL
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Nov 25, 2005

Put on your party hats

Welcome to CoZmo, a cafe and bar on the edge of Shibuya where it abuts Aoyama. And meet Ronna Wagenheim, its creator, proprietor, head chef and host. With the assistance of only one hand on deck, the charming Junella Hidaka, Ronna opens her hip retreat every night to escapees from the madness down the...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 25, 2005

Classical dance workshop

The Nihon Buyo Foundation is running a classical Japanese dance workshop in English Nov. 27 in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The workshop will be conducted by NBF Director Minosuke Nishikawa V, who hopes that it will give an opportunity to foreigners in Japan to experience a form of dance that has been a part of...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2005

LDP, at 50, goes after Constitution

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged Tuesday to put the nation on a reform path to meet the challenge of a rapidly changing world, and to this end presented his party's blueprint to amend the Constitution for the first time to bring the charter in line with global realities.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2005

Perks elude foreign campuses in Japan

Sara Meshino goes to Temple University Japan Campus in Minato Ward, Tokyo, and takes classes in English, paying 472,500 yen for nine credits this semester from September to December.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 20, 2005

The good, the bad and the cliched

A RABBIT'S EYES by Kenjiro Haitani. Vertical, 2005, 288 pp., $14.95 (paper). On first publication, the mellow and delightful 1974 novel "A Rabbit's Eyes," out now in English for the first time, brought Kenjiro Haitani a great deal of fame and a wide following.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 20, 2005

There's no morning calm for Korean crime stories

THE DOOR TO BITTERNESS by Martin Limon. New York: Soho Press Inc., 2005, 278 pp., $23 (cloth). FADE TO CLEAR by Leonard Chang. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2004, 322 pp., $23.95 (cloth). DARK ANGEL by Geoffrey Archer. London: Arrow Books, 2005, 482 pp., £6.99 (paper). It's 1973, and Sergeants George...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 19, 2005

Pan-Asianism central to exile activist's ideology

Author, artist, thorn in the flesh of America's political right and confirmed pan-Asianist M.T. Karthik is taking time to return to his roots in Madras. Preparing to make the first of several trips to India, he will then move on to Portugal before returning to Japan, where he is in self-imposed exile...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2005

Kids around world chat in pictures

Children who speak different languages can be friends if they can find a way to communicate.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2005

Trade talks down to the wire

While attention is focused on this week's meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Pusan, South Korea, the main event is the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting to be held next month in Hong Kong. That ministerial meeting is critical to the success of the current round of global...
COMMENTARY
Nov 18, 2005

A chance to clean up terror

NEW DELHI -- The Oct. 8 South Asian earthquake struck at the epicenter of a principal recruiting ground and logistic center for global terrorists, leveling a number of terrorist nurseries and training camps in an area that serves as the last main refuge of al-Qaida. Much of the quake's destruction occurred...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 17, 2005

A new art center, in Kiyosumi

This week brings some good news and some bad news to Tokyo's contemporary art scene. The good news is that a group of galleries that have been sharing a building in Shinkawa since January 2003 have relocated en masse, and now all boast significantly bigger spaces. The bad news is that the galleries vacated...
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2005

34 modern novels to be translated for P.R.

The Cultural Affairs Agency has selected 34 modern Japanese novels to be translated into English, French and other languages to promote understanding of Japanese culture abroad, agency officials have said.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2005

Icebreaker departs for Antarctica

The 11,600-ton icebreaker Shirase left Tokyo Monday, bound for Antarctica on Japan's 47th observation mission there.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 15, 2005

Marie-Helene de Taillac, Side by Side, Viliue cosmetics, Youth Records

Staff writer A gem of an idea
EDITORIALS
Nov 13, 2005

The pop-word culture

The dictionary frowns on words it snootily labels "informal." Teachers and newspaper copy editors carry a grudge against slang. Nearly everyone recoils from jargon. But according to a new book irresistibly titled "Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and,...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 11, 2005

Hard-Fi

Richard Archer, the leader of England's Hard-Fi, claims there's no point in being another indie band. "I'm not in competition with Razorlight or The Killers," he says on the band's Web site. "I'm in competition with Eminem." The British music press seems to think he actually has a shot at Shady's level...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 10, 2005

The thing itself

In October 1968 Nobuo Sekine dug a hole in the ground, shaped the extracted dirt into a large cylinder and called the work "Phase -- Mother Earth." It was probably an experiment, influenced by discussions of the new Land Art and Minimalist works taking place in the United States.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2005

Tsutaya operator triples net profit to 3.28 billion yen

Culture Convenience Club Co. said its first-half net profit more than tripled to 3.28 billion, yen thanks to strong revenue growth from rental DVD movies.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 8, 2005

Spreading the spirit of an old Japanese tradition

It's probably a sign of impending old age but these days, I find myself recalling the words of my late grandmother and applying them to current life situations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 8, 2005

The art of having fun in style

Agnes Trouble Bourgeois, known to the world as Agnes B., started to design clothes at the age of 19 and opened her first boutique in Les Halles in Paris in 1976. Twenty-nine years later, her company has 129 boutiques, selling clothes, accessories and travel goods around the globe. While there are 32...
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2005

Amway ready for greater triumph in China after tough years in Japan

For direct-selling giant Amway Co., China is fast becoming its most lucrative overseas market, far surpassing sales in the massive yet troublesome Japanese market.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2005

Five honored with Order of Culture

President Jinnosuke Ashida, 71, for his contribution to the labor movement. Other recipients of the order are Minoru Makihara, 75, former chairman of Mitsubishi Corp., and former Justice Minister Shozaburo Nakamura, 71.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 4, 2005

Portugal and Brazil united in one voice

Fado, the passionate, powerful music of Portugal, was -- and still is -- sung in the local bars and small eateries for working people. The music's spirit is saudade, a word that translates roughly as nostalgia, melancholy or longing, though mixed with happiness and love. Fado's greatest singer was Amalia...

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?