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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 10, 2003

Think Positive

To the general public, Yoko Ono is best known as the wife of John Lennon. Some may have a vague inkling that she is important for something other than the far-out records she made with her husband, but without knowing exactly what.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2003

Opposition leaders refuse to 'understand'

Opposition leaders remained opposed Tuesday to the government's plans to send Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq, rebuffing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's request for their understanding on the matter.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 8, 2003

Think carefully before embarking on tax and pension system reforms

With the House of Representatives election over and the roster for the policy panel of the ruling coalition set, discussions on tax reform for the next fiscal year have finally gotten under way -- half a month later than average. I would like to mention some points we would like to emphasize on this...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2003

Parking fine cash to go to local authorities

The government plans to transfer some 30 billion yen in annual revenues from parking fines to local governments' coffers from fiscal 2006, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2003

SDF dispatch would involve 1,000 troops

The Self-Defense Forces team Japan plans to send to Iraq could be the biggest to be sent overseas, featuring some 1,000 troops of the ground, air and maritime forces, government sources said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2003

Go slow on troop relocation

The United States, in an attempt to realign its military forces abroad, is planning to relocate its troops in South Korea. However, talks between the two countries do not appear to be going smoothly. A recent meeting in Seoul between U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and South Korean Defense...
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2003

Foreign-exchange reserves reach record $644.57 billion

The nation's foreign-exchange reserves hit a fresh record high in November.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 5, 2003

Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match stirs passions like no other

LONDON -- Sir Bobby Robson called it "a powder keg." It is not so much football rivalry but a chance for political revenge and when the teams last met, among the objects thrown on to the pitch was a pig's head.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2003

China dreads contagion of unrest

SINGAPORE -- The heavy losses suffered by proadministration and pro-Beijing parties in Hong Kong's Nov. 23 municipal elections clearly bore out a prodemocracy message.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2003

Grand vision touts rejiggered cities to suit aging population

The infrastructure ministry unveiled action plans Wednesday to revise city planning measures to concentrate welfare, medical and other facilities near stations and municipal offices to meet the needs of the rapidly aging population.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2003

Game-console makers cut prices ahead of yearend showdown

Makers of video game consoles are gearing up for the all-important yearend shopping season.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

NTV admits airing staged news footage

Nippon Television Network Corp., already reeling from a previous scandal, revealed Tuesday that a Nov. 5 news show contained footage of a bogus lobster catch off the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

Balanced diet eludes kids of junk food age

Getting kids to eat their vegetables is not easy. And in fast-paced urban Japan, where both parents usually work and the landscape is dominated by convenience stores overflowing with junk food, the chore is ever more difficult.
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2003

Lots of debate, little action

The problems with Japan's education system are well known -- poor teaching in the universities; class disintegration (gakkyu hokai) in the schools -- to name but a few. So many students, unwilling to put up with the pressures and rigidities of the existing school system, are now dropping out of school...
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2003

Web surfers flock to Iraq diary of late envoy

The final diary entry penned by Katsuhiko Oku, a diplomat who died in an ambush Saturday in Iraq, was posted on the Foreign Ministry's Web site Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2003

Despite deaths, Koizumi determined to send SDF

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Sunday that the deaths of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq, possibly at the hands of terrorists, will not change his plan to send troops to the war-torn country.
Events
Nov 30, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Planetarium to display stars at Osaka store: A display of the stars and the solar system is being offered free until Dec. 25 at a special planetarium dome set up at the Kintetsu Abeno department store in Abeno Ward, Osaka.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Nov 29, 2003

Coup ushers in uncertain era

MOSCOW -- A former Soviet republic, Georgia, is in the limelight again. Outraged by an allegedly fraudulent parliamentary election, protesters toppled the government of President Eduard A. Shevardnadze and installed an interim administration led by a number of opposition leaders.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Ashikaga Bank faces government bailout

Ashikaga Bank appears to be on the brink of becoming Japan's second bank this year to receive an injection of taxpayer money, sources said Friday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 28, 2003

Duff acquisition paying immediate dividends for Chelski

LONDON -- Somewhere on this planet the man working for Decca Records 40 years ago who told the Beatles they wouldn't make it and should try another career, may still be alive.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2003

Coalition accused of dodging debate on SDF dispatch

The ruling coalition Thursday rejected the opposition camp's demand for an extraordinary Diet session, drawing fire that it wants to avoid debate on sensitive issues such as the timing of any Self-Defense Forces dispatch to Iraq.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 28, 2003

Tales of new year tastes

What do you do on New Year's Day? Some people follow the custom of hatsumode and head off for their first visit of the year to a shrine; others simply stay in and have a party with relatives and friends. For almost every Japanese family, though, one of the highlights of this holiday is eating osechi...
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2003

SDF said going to Iraq despite security threat

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi renewed his pledge Wednesday to dispatch Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq even if the security situation is not completely stable.
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 2003

Across the Bush-Briton gap

LONDON -- U.S. President George W. Bush's state visit to Britain ended Nov. 21 with a carefully stage-managed call on British Prime Minister Tony Blair's constituency in the North East of England. The visit went well despite generally peaceful protests. Although there was some of the usual pageantry,...
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2003

Broadcasters to require IC card for viewing digital shows

Japanese public and private broadcasters will introduce an IC card for viewing digital programs to prevent shows from being copied illegally or distributed over the Internet.
EDITORIALS
Nov 25, 2003

New Diet must debate deployment

The Iraq issue will dominate the two-day debate that begins today in the Diet, which opened for a special nine-day session last Wednesday following the Nov. 9 Lower House election. The central question is whether Japan should send noncombat troops to a country where fighting is still rampant. The answer...
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2003

Hashimoto faction mending old wounds

The Liberal Democratic Party's biggest faction is apparently regaining unity after a bitter split during the party's presidential election.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat