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Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2006

Abe's point woman on abductees firm

Tokyo forums last week involving Japanese, South Koreans and Thais whose kin were kidnapped by Pyongyang have given the abduction issue greater global import, reckons Kyoko Nakayama, the government's point woman, who hopes her past efforts as a diplomat to Central Asia to free Japanese hostages can someday...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2006

2006: The year that hip-hop finally grew up

The idea that rock is exclusively a young man's game hasn't held water for three decades. While there's still something off-putting about Mick Jagger's determined athleticism in the service of a catalog that's older than Justin Timberlake, there's no denying he can still fill football stadiums, and not...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 22, 2006

Mountain of dread

The stench of sulfur hits you long before you get off the bus. And when you do step off, it hits you all the stronger. Before you stretch the sickly, yellow-green waters of a caldera lake, whose acidity has expunged all fish life except for one hardy species (ugei or big-scaled redfin). Signs everywhere...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 22, 2006

A 'Choral' high in style

On Dec. 31, the Marunouchi Building's grandiose first floor, Marucube, will be filled with the sound of a large choir singing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 "Choral."
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2006

November trade surplus jumped 54%

Japan's merchandise trade surplus in November jumped 54.1 percent to 915.9 billion yen from the same month last year, the Finance Ministry said Thursday, thanks to growing exports led by automobiles, steel and softening crude oil prices.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2006

Voices from the Inside

To find out what 2006 meant to others in Japan, we spoke to people involved in the industry. Here's their take on the best, the worst and what comes next.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Dec 22, 2006

Go the whole hog this New Year's

It's almost time to whoosh your tush to the tunes of world-class DJs as we welcome in another new year. Next up in the Chinese zodiac's menagerie is the wild boar, or inoshishi, as it is known natively in Japan. The boar is best characterized by the single-minded determination and speed with which it...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2006

When the kids lost the music

Worldwide CD sales were down this year, including in Japan. Part of that is because of Internet downloading, of course, but it's not simply down to that. Young people aren't interested in music anymore, and it's having an effect on concert-ticket sales.
COMMENTARY
Dec 22, 2006

New base for reconciliation

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China in early October was important for several reasons. In the short term, it represented a significant contribution to easing tensions between Tokyo and Beijing. From a long-term perspective, it helped to lay the foundations for a stronger bilateral relationship....
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2006

Obituary: Takashi Niimi

Takashi Niimi, a human rights lawyer who represented the rights of Chinese nationals who were forced to work under torturous conditions at a labor camp in Akita Prefecture during World War II, died Wednesday of cardiac failure, his family said. He was 59.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years