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JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006

Russian plane intruded while tracking freighter

A Russian aircraft violated Japanese airspace seven times Wednesday night off northern Hokkaido, government officials said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2006

False start on beef imports

Less than six weeks after lifting a two-year ban on U.S. beef imports, the Japanese government was forced to impose it again last week. The action followed the discovery of prohibited material in a shipment from a New York meatpacker in violation of safety rules aimed at preventing the spread of bovine...
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2006

More women taking charge

January has been a precedent-setting month for women. Ms. Michelle Bachelet was elected Chile's first female leader, becoming South America's second woman elected head of state, while Ms. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took office as president of Liberia, Africa's first elected female head of state.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2006

Zoellick rues faulty beef shipment, new ban

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said Monday it was "an unacceptable mistake" that a shipment of U.S. beef that arrived in Japan contained bone parts in violation of an accord on preventing mad cow disease, prompting Tokyo to once again ban American beef.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 24, 2006

Can Japan absorb foreign influx?

When discussing the recent ethnic riots in France, The Economist newsmagazine ("Minority Reports," Nov. 10, 2005) posed an important question: How come some countries assimilate immigrants more peacefully than others?
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2006

LDP to study boosting defense role in space quest, spy satellite abilities

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will study whether to relax restrictions on using spinoffs from space development efforts for purposes of defense.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2006

Japan to lodge protest over shoddy U.S. beef inspection

Top government officials said Saturday they would lodge protests with the United States after it was found that lack of knowledge on the part of an inspector allowed a banned material that poses a risk of mad cow disease to be included in a shipment of beef to Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 22, 2006

Yokohama: model city for the nation?

'Change Japan -- from Yokohama."
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2006

Deflation to end in '06: government

The Cabinet on Friday endorsed the government's fiscal 2006 economic outlook, which projects that deflation will end during the year with the nominal growth rate outpacing real growth for the first time since fiscal 1999.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 21, 2006

My dog -- the Buddhist

When it comes to matters of religion, I tend to equivocate.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2006

New agency not needed to guide ODA policy: Aso

The government should set up a policy body under the prime minister to deliberate the use of official development assistance and not create a new agency, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2006

Yasukuni 'nightmare' for ties: Seoul ambassador

South Korea's ambassador to Japan called Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine a "nightmare" -- the sole issue damaging what could have been more amicable ties between the two neighbors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2006

LDP vet Ito denies arranging Huser meeting with ministry

Former state minister Kosuke Ito on Thursday denied claims that he arranged a meeting between the head of a property developer accused of selling earthquake-vulnerable condominiums and senior officials of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry on Nov. 15, two days before the ministry revealed...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2006

'Livedoor shock' halts TSE

The Tokyo Stock Exchange shut down trading early to avoid system troubles Wednesday amid a continued free-fall as investors spooked by the investigation into Livedoor Co. flooded the bourse with sell orders.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2006

Tanigaki backs female monarchs, says continuity important

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, considered a candidate to be the next prime minister, said Tuesday he supports the idea that females and their descendants should be allowed to ascend the Imperial throne.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2006

Foreign tourists hit record high 6.73 million

The number of foreign tourists to Japan in 2005 is estimated to have been a record high 6.73 million, up 590,000 from the previous year, transport chief Kazuo Kitagawa said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2006

Ito named new Tokyo police chief

The National Public Safety Commission on Tuesday named Tetsuro Ito, currently head of the National Police Academy, to be the next chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2006

Huser boss clams up before the Diet

Huser Ltd. President Susumu Ojima refused to answer most questions under oath Tuesday before a Diet committee in connection with the nationwide building safety scam in which his condominium development firm is a key player.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2006

Top-level council to formulate strategy on foreign aid

The government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party decided Sunday to set up a council led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to work out strategies on how to disburse official development assistance, sources said.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2006

Concern grows in Japan over Asian ties

SINGAPORE -- From a Southeast Asian perspective, recent developments underscore an internal angst in Japan over the growing "China threat" and how Japan will come to terms with its military aggression of the 1930s and '40s. Meanwhile, debate continues in Japan on revising its "pacifist" Constitution...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 15, 2006

Fighting on the beaches peels away Aussie veneer of tolerance

It has already been a long hot summer in Sydney, Australia, where I am writing this article, and the season still has at least two months to go.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2006

Aso also wants Yasukuni to be LDP poll nonissue

Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday he thinks visiting Yasukuni Shrine should not be an issue in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race this fall, echoing remarks by the prime minister and the top government spokesman.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2006

Ministry defends not telling Koizumi of diplomat's suicide

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday defended its actions in not informing the Prime Minister's office about the 2004 suicide of a Japanese diplomat in Shanghai.
BUSINESS
Jan 12, 2006

Indicator showed boom in November

A key gauge of the current state of the economy stood above the boom-or-bust threshold of 50 percent in November for the fourth straight month, the government said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2006

Step up positive diplomacy

The year 2005 is likely to be remembered as the year when rivalry between Japan and China over how to create a new international order reached a high point.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2006

Time for another government shakeup?

It was only five years ago that government ministries were reorganized into 13 entities, but some senior officials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party think it is time for another shuffle.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2006

Yasukuni visits shouldn't be an issue in LDP presidential election, Abe says

Contenders for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election should avoid making an issue out of Yasukuni Shrine, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2006

Japan hopes to launch two more satellites to aid spying on North Korea

Japan plans to send two more spy satellites into orbit by March 31, 2007, to strengthen the monitoring of movements in North Korea, notably its missile and nuclear development facilities, according to government sources.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2006

Prince raps panel over female monarchs

Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, has criticized a government panel on Imperial succession for rushing to propose that females be allowed to ascend the throne, according to a magazine that goes on sale Tuesday.

Longform

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