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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2005

One language isn't enough for any country

SANTA MARIA, California -- Almost 99 percent of Luxembourg's citizens can speak a second language, according to a European Union survey. At the other end of the spectrum are the British, only 30 percent of whom know a second language. In the case of Americans the figure is only 12 percent.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2005

Bureaucrats face stricter study rules

The National Personnel Authority has decided to pursue a regulation requiring young career bureaucrats who study abroad at government expense to return the money if they quit within five years of returning home.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 16, 2005

Popular blog goes drama at Fuji TV's "Oni Yome Nikki" and more

Blogs are getting popular in Japan, as shown in the new Fuji TV drama series "Oni Yome Nikki (Devil Bride Diary)" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), which is based on one written by a woman called Sanae. The blog's theme, as is apparent in the title, is the casual, everyday cruelty wives inflict on their husbands.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2005

Compromise on Futenma impasse could be near

Japan and the United States have entered a final stage of negotiations over the stalled plan to relocate Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, as Tokyo has come up with an alternative plan, U.S. and Japanese sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Oct 16, 2005

LEARNING HOW TO 'SEE' WITH ALL YOUR SENSES

I arrived at "Dialog in the Dark" not knowing what to expect.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 16, 2005

No point in going if you can't wait in line

The next time you go to Tokyo Disneyland and find yourself waiting an inordinate length of time for five minutes of thrills on Space Mountain, spare a thought for Hung Wah-fung, who is certainly thinking of you -- or, more precisely, your situation.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 16, 2005

Unconventional and unorthodox, but still fun to read

LAST SEEN IN SHANGHAI, by Howard Turk. Hong Kong: Asia 2000 Ltd., 1998, 286 pp., $18 (paper). INSPECTOR MORIMOTO AND THE SUSHI CHEF, by Timothy Hemion. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, Inc., 2005, 222 pp., $25.95 (cloth). THE TIGER'S GOLD by Donald G. Moore. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, Inc., 2005, 214...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Oct 16, 2005

UNEAR THING FACT IN CLASSIC FICTION

'Robinson Crusoe" has fascinated explorer Daisuke Takahashi ever since his elementary school days, when he first read the classic adventure tale about a British sailor who lived on a desert island for 28 years. Imagining that he, too, was marooned on an isolated island, the young Takahashi would roast...
Features / WEEK 3
Oct 16, 2005

CAMERA GEEKS TAKE AIM

"Lean forward a little!" Snap-snap-snap! "Give me a bit more cleavage -- and smile -- lovely!" Snap-snap-snap! It's my first ever piece of undercover reporting, and I am in a brightly lit studio photographing a 19-year-old girl in a skimpy bikini. It might feel erotic, if I wasn't surrounded by 14 camera...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 15, 2005

Blatter off his rocker with comments on player salaries

LONDON -- Imagine going in to your local bar and Bill, the guy who everyone loves but cannot take seriously, said: "I've got an idea. Why not make football a game of four quarters instead of two halves? The United States television market would like it."
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 15, 2005

Commissioner to look at ownership

Japanese baseball commissioner Yasuchika Negoro said Friday he sees a need to create rules regarding the ownership of the parent companies that control professional baseball clubs in Japan. "I think it's necessary to establish something similar to the baseball bylaws on this matter," Negoro said of the...
SOCCER / World cup
Oct 15, 2005

Japan to face U.S.

Japan will play a friendly match against the United States in San Francisco in February next year ahead of the Germany 2006 World Cup, soccer sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2005

Spent-fuel reprocessing to continue for 10 more years

The government decided Friday to continue reprocessing spent nuclear fuel for the next 10 years based on a policy outline compiled by the Atomic Energy Commission.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2005

Postal bills become law

The hotly contested postal-privatization bills that have been at the center of a political firestorm this year were finally approved Friday, passing through a House of Councilors plenary session with relative ease.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2005

Iraqi ministers may be invited to visit in November

About 120 members of the Ground Self-Defense Force on Friday left for Pakistan to participate in emergency relief activities, following Saturday's devastating earthquake there. During a send-off ceremony in Obihiro, Hokkaido, members of the 5th Brigade briefed Lt. Gen. Kenji Tokuda, commander of the...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2005

Raid on North Korea-linked offices nets two

, the police said. According to the police, the two men allegedly sold unapproved medicines, including those supposedly for cancer and AIDS, to consumers between May 2004 and September 2005 in violation of the pharmaceutical law.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 15, 2005

Aoki finishes with 202 hits

Norichika Aoki went 1-for-4 to finish the season with a Central League record 202 hits and claimed the league batting title with a .344 average in the Yakult Swallows' 5-2 win over the Yokohama BayStars on Friday. Aoki, who has become the first CL player to have 200 hits in a single season, singled to...
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2005

Renault recalls vans

Renault Japon Co. said Friday it will recall 1,839 Renault Megane station wagons due to a defective brake disk.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2005

Police, GSDF plan joint counterterror drill for Hokkaido

Police and the Ground Self-Defense Force plan to hold a joint counterterrorism drill in Hokkaido on Oct. 20 designed to address the possibility of armed terrorists entering the country, officials of the National Police Agency and Defense Agency said.
COMMENTARY
Oct 15, 2005

Statesman test for Koizumi

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has demonstrated that he is a brilliant politician. His resounding victory in the Sept. 11 Lower House Diet elections provides him with an opportunity to demonstrate his brilliance as an international statesman as well.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 15, 2005

Man Zhuang

This year Man Zhuang is exhibiting for a second time in the print show sponsored by the College Women's Association of Japan. This young woman is Chinese, an art student from Shanghai. She is also a dentist.
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2005

G-20 finance chiefs set for talks

Finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 industrialized and emerging economies were to start a two-day meeting Saturday in China where they are expected to discuss the impact of soaring oil prices on the global economy, development issues and possibly China's currency reforms.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2005

Indian minister seeks more tourists

The Indian government has designated 2007 "Japan-India Friendship Year" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a cultural-exchange agreement between the two countries, a visiting Indian minister said Friday.

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?