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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 5, 2006

When building bridges becomes a fruitless endeavor

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi prides himself on his plain-spoken approach to politics. His popularity guarantees that people listen to everything he says, and because what he says tends to be simple it has the power of a pronouncement, regardless of whether or not it makes any sense.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 5, 2006

Fashionista with attitude

Raised on the mean streets of Brooklyn's Brownsville district, Gene Krell is a self-proclaimed tough guy who cites as one of his heroes a little-known but highly colorful "Dadaist professional boxer" called Arthur Cravan.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 5, 2006

Rule of the people, by our people, for our people

There is a specter haunting the world. The specter is democracy. As U.S. President George W. Bush never fails to remind us: Democracy is on the march and there is no stopping it.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 5, 2006

Painting a fascinating picture of the 'noble savage' debate

OMAI: The Prince Who Never Was, by Richard Connaughton, Timewell Press, 2005, 270 pp., £16.99 (cloth). It may not be true that, as the adage has it, every picture tells a story, but if pictures have any tales to tell, then Joshua Reynolds' portrait of Omai has a richer and stranger one than most.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 5, 2006

Solve your neighborhood problem with NHK's "Nanmon Kaiketsu" and more

As everyone knows, Japan is no longer a haven of safety. No statistic supports this sad development better than the fact that more than 440,000 bicycles are stolen every year, so don't get angry when a policeman stops you on the street to check your registration. He's only doing his job.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 5, 2006

Frightening, yet beautiful: ghosts, ghouls and monsters

YOSHITOSHI'S STRANGE TALES by John Stevenson. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2005, 160 pp., 71 full-page prints and 25 illustrations, 2005, $95 (cloth). Another beautiful edition de luxe from Hotei Publishing, this volume presents two series by Taiso Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), a late print artist often remembered...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2006

The louse that halted an army in Russia

NEW YORK -- The disastrous effects of the Russian invasion on Napoleon Bonaparte's army is well known. Less widel known are the reasons for the defeat of the Grand Army. Although Russian resistance, brutal weather and the lack of food and water decimated the French army, new genetic evidence proves that...
MORE SPORTS
Feb 4, 2006

Hingis, Sharapova roll into semifinals

Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis showered reporters with roasted beans to ward off evil spirits after their wins at the Pan Pacific Open on Friday, but both showed they still have a little bit of the devil in them prior to their semifinal showdown.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 4, 2006

Nash good bet for second straight MVP

NEW YORK -- Reigning MVP Steve Nash, Tim Duncan and Jason Kidd are three of a kind.
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2006

End of an era at the Fed

Mr. Alan Greenspan ended his 18-year tenure as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board this week, stepping down after the Fed raised interest rates to their highest level in nearly five years.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Crime falling but not for old

The number of criminal cases in Japan fell 11.5 percent in 2005 from the previous year to 2,269,293 for the third consecutive annual drop and the largest rate of decline since 1946, the National Police Agency reported Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Wiretaps led to 18 arrests in 2005

Police conducted authorized wiretaps in one murder case and four drug cases leading to 18 arrests in 2005, Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura told a Cabinet meeting Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Livedoor four face new charge

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BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2006

TSE studies simplifying minimum trade rules

Distressed by a recent streak of huge erroneous orders, the Tokyo Stock Exchange has begun to study the possibility of streamlining the seven kinds of minimum trading units currently allowed for shares on the bourse.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Diet passes 4.5 trillion yen extra '05 budget

The Diet passed a 4.52 trillion yen supplementary budget Friday for the current fiscal year through March and is preparing to take action on the budget for fiscal 2006, which is scheduled to begin in April.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Birds recognize languages: study

An experiment by a group of scientists has shown that Java sparrows can be trained to distinguish between different human languages.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2006

Bourse reform proposals due this month: Yosano

Financial Services Minister Kaoru Yosano said Friday that his advisory panel will issue recommendations on stock market reforms by mid-February.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Attendant sent up for rail crossing deaths

The Tokyo District Court sentenced a Tobu Railway Co. railway-crossing attendant to 18 months in prison Friday for negligence resulting in the deaths of two women and injuries to two others in March, when he opened a grade crossing gate as a train approached.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2006

Importers ask for refunds before U.S. beef on hold rots

The Japan Meat Traders Association is sounding out the United States about the possibility of buying back 1,380 tons of U.S. beef that cannot clear Japanese customs, association officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2006

Hitachi operating profit rises 14%

Hitachi Ltd. said Friday its operating profit for the October to December quarter rose 14 percent to 39.14 billion yen, as strong plant and equipment, and social infrastructure investments by customers domestically and overseas boosted its industrial business.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Aso, Tanigaki also balk on female reign

Senior Cabinet ministers Friday joined growing voices within the Liberal Democratic Party expressing concern over a government-sponsored bill to allow females and their descendants to ascend to the Imperial throne.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Tokyo to leverage whole talks on abduction issue

In a move to pressure North Korea a day before bilateral talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang are to start in Beijing, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday that Tokyo may consider abandoning the three-track talks on security, abduction and normalization if there is no progress on the abduction issue.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Pro-Pyongyang groups set for tax scrutiny

The government will urge municipalities that provide tax breaks for pro-North Korean group facilities to consider whether such preferential treatment is appropriate, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Friday.

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