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JAPAN
Aug 15, 2006

Yamasaki opts out of LDP presidential race

Former Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Taku Yamasaki said Monday he will not run in the ruling party's Sept. 20 presidential election, saying he wants to keep his "dignity this time."
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2006

Paraguay envoy looks back on emigration plan that worked

, now the Japan International Cooperation Agency, played a key role in assisting the emigrants to Paraguay and improving their lives, providing them with agricultural knowhow. Hospitals and schools were built with aid from Japan, while JICA experts collaborated to improve soybean strains and advised...
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2006

Like all pubs, 'izakaya' adapt for survival's sake

students at Tokyo University of Mercantile Marine were our main customers," said Osamu Kouke, 73, who opened Daruma 35 years ago. "It was noisy with heated talk about the company or the college (now named Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology). But these days, most men drink quietly because...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 15, 2006

Meet the chic sikh

Waris Ahluwalia has some good anecdotes. Like the one where Willem Dafoe asks him if it's OK to give Spike Lee his number, and a couple of hours later he gets a call and the voice at the other end of the line says "Hey Waris, it's Spike Lee," and asks him to audition for his upcoming blockbuster bank...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2006

No shortcuts to free access

Last January, a major scandal broke over budget hotel chain Toyoko Inn Co.'s illegal removal of special guest rooms and parking spots set up for the disabled after the construction of those facilities had passed official inspection. Toyoko Inn converted the special rooms into normal rooms and the special...
SOCCER
Aug 13, 2006

Bayern opens season with win

MUNICH, Germany (AP The German Bundesliga season began less than five weeks after the World Cup final, with defending champion Bayern Munich defeating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Friday night on goals by Roy Makaay and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 13, 2006

Giants '80s theme nights on; scalpers, bonus packets gone

In a further effort to draw more fans to home games at Tokyo Dome and remind supporters how good the team played 15-25 years ago, the Yomiuri Giants are remembering the "good ol' days" and holding '80s Night on Fridays.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 13, 2006

China, S. Korea to accept one shrine visit by next leader

The Chinese and South Korean governments intend to accept one visit to Yasukuni Shrine by the next prime minister, but only on condition that no more visits are made during his tenure, informed sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2006

U.S. beef gets only one taker so far

and Zensho Co., which offers beef bowl dishes at its Sukiya and Nakau restaurants. Zensho has used Australian beef as a substitute for U.S. beef. Five companies said they will use U.S. beef "depending on the circumstance."
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2006

Sapporo targets Canadian beer maker

Sapporo Breweries Ltd. will try to acquire premium beer maker Sleeman Breweries Ltd. to enter the Canadian market on a full-fledged basis and strengthen operations in North America, its holding company said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 13, 2006

Shifting relations with China

JAPAN'S RELATIONS WITH CHINA: Facing a Rising Power, edited by Lam Peng Er. London: Routledge, 2006, 242 pp., £65 (cloth). Sino-Japanese relations are of critical importance to the future development of the two countries as well as wider East Asia. At the present time these relations are characterized...
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 13, 2006

His Emperor's reluctant warrior

Samurai-born and steeled in Japan's harsh military culture, Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi had lived five years in North America but was largely unknown to Washington's leaders when he was ordered to defend Iwo Jima "at all costs." The U.S. would pay dearly for underestimating him.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 13, 2006

Arguing over history, memory and politics

THE MAKING OF THE "RAPE OF NANKING": History and Memory in Japan, China and the United States, by Takashi Yoshida. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, 265 pp., $55 (cloth). Since Iris Chang published "The Rape of Nanking" (1997), the Japanese have taken a beating about their alleged collective amnesia...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 13, 2006

Painting a religion

ZEN MIND/ZEN BRUSH by John Stevens, introductory essay by Claire Pollard, forewords by Edmund Capon and Kurt A. Gitter. Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2006, 144 pp., 78 plates, A$35 (paper). Zenga (Zen painting) usually designates the pictures and calligraphy of the monks of the Edo Period (1600-1868)....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 13, 2006

High-school baseball pitches the way of the samurai

It's said that even Japanese people who don't like baseball still get caught up in the annual summer high-school baseball tournament, which happens to be taking place right now at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture. Apparently, this same paradox applies to at least one American. On the Internet message...
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 13, 2006

Iwo Jima: 'A futile battle' fought without surrender

August 15 is the 61st anniversary of Emperor Hirohito's capitulation speech that ended World War II. Yet even in a world assailed ever since with ghastly images of conflicts, few rank with the ferocity both sides showed in the battle for a remote Pacific islet in the spring of 1945. That islet's name...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 13, 2006

NHK's "Nihon to Ta-ttakatta Nikkeijin," Fuji's "Unbelievable" and more

In commemoration of the Aug. 15, 1945 Japan surrender in the Pacific War, NHK is presenting a documentary about the Japanese-American interpreters who worked with the American military during and after World War II.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 13, 2006

'Even the dead were being forced to fight'

Satoru Omagari was a 23-year-old mechanic and a sub-lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force when he was ordered to the defense of Iwo Jima in 1944. Before he was drafted into the military he was a university student. Here, published for the first time in English, are some of his horrific recollections...
EDITORIALS
Aug 13, 2006

Too risk-averse to take issue

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda put a damper on the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race when he dropped out of the running. Who will succeed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in September?
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2006

Firms see expansion lasting through spring

More than 90 of 100 major firms expect the economy to keep expanding until next spring, but more than 80 are concerned about oil price hikes and an economic slowdown in the United States, a Kyodo News survey shows.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji