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Eric Johnston

JAPAN

May 18, 2006

Racism rapporteur repeats criticism

OSAKA -- The U.N. rapporteur on racism repeated Wednesday his strong criticism of the Japanese government’s attitude toward combating the problem, saying the country needs an antidiscrimination law.

JAPAN

May 9, 2006

Startup carrier for Kansai airport still only in pie in the sky stage

OSAKA -- Moments after takeoff, passengers on “Air Kansai” watch two flight attendants explain the safety procedures in rapid-fire Osaka “manzai” comic dialogue.

JAPAN

Apr 26, 2006

Mourners mark anniversary of JR West crash

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- Relatives of the dead and survivors gathered Tuesday morning to mark the first anniversary of a train crash that killed 107 people and injured nearly 550.

JAPAN

Apr 26, 2006

JR West’s postcrash safety steps find skeptics

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- Each morning, express trains roar past houses and businesses along the JR Fukuchiyama Line, carrying passengers to and from work in Amagasaki and Kobe, or classes at Doshisha University’s Kyotanabe campus in Kyoto Prefecture.

JAPAN

Apr 7, 2006

Europe’s reconciliation model hard sell in land of anemic civil society

OSAKA -- The public should take a page out of the Europeans’ book and do more to push political leaders to reconcile Japan’s relations with East Asia over historical issues, an expert on European historical reconciliation said at a seminar here earlier this week.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 30, 2006

Marines find hope in new diplomatic tool: English

URUMA, Okinawa Pref. -- At first glance, it looks like the typical English conversation school found throughout Japan -- students armed with pencils and notebooks listening to a Western instructor drill them in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

JAPAN

Mar 29, 2006

Okinawa base opponents make a stand at Henoko

HENOKO, Okinawa Pref. -- To understand just how determined the opposition in Henoko, Okinawa, is to Tokyo’s plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station here, just go to the turquoise waters off Camp Schwab.

JAPAN

Mar 28, 2006

Okinawa base issue not cut and dried with locals

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. -- It’s a chilly, rainy evening in late January, but more than 1,000 people pack the center of town to hear a speech by Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, the head of the Nago Municipal Assembly.

JAPAN

Mar 14, 2006

Net boards venue for faceless rightists

OSAKA -- They are called “Net uyoku,” or Internet rightwingers.

JAPAN

Mar 13, 2006

Iwakuni voters reject realignment plan

IWAKUNI, Yamaguchi Pref. -- A majority of Iwakuni residents voted “no” in a closely watched plebiscite Sunday, rejecting the central government’s plan to move 57 U.S. warplanes and 1,600 additional marines to the area, according to partial vote counts and exit polls.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 10, 2006

Osaka seeks to stub out pesky public smoking

OSAKA -- For reasons of health and public relations, the Osaka Municipal Government is moving forward with plans to adopt an ordinance that would outlaw smoking on its most crowded streets.

JAPAN

Mar 10, 2006

Trial opens in Nishimura lawyer scandal

OSAKA -- Shingo Nishimura, the ultraconservative Diet member arrested last year for allowing a nonlawyer employee to illegally represent clients in his name, formally owned up to the charges as his Osaka District Court trial opened Thursday.

JAPAN

Feb 23, 2006

‘Takeshima Day,’ rhetoric just Shimane affair

MATSUE, Shimane Pref. -- Shimane Prefecture on Wednesday celebrated its first “Takeshima Day” by declaring that the tiny islets controlled by South Korea are part of Japan and calling on the government to pressure Seoul to hand them over.

JAPAN

Feb 17, 2006

Kobe airport opens amid hope

KOBE -- In what its supporters hope is not an ill omen, Kobe’s new airport opened in fog early Thursday morning.

JAPAN

Feb 16, 2006

Critics cry white elephant while backers hunker down and hope

KOBE -- It was the airport nobody except the Kobe Municipal Government and a few local business leaders originally wanted.

JAPAN

Feb 16, 2006

Human rights groups applaud U.N. discrimination report

OSAKA -- Human rights groups in Japan on Wednesday welcomed a recently released United Nations report detailing racial discrimination and xenophobia toward minorities, including Korean, Chinese and other foreign residents in this country, and called for legislation to remedy the problem.

JAPAN

Feb 11, 2006

Kansai business leaders get political

KYOTO -- A key annual gathering of senior business leaders in the Kansai region ended Friday with calls to improve relations with China and South Korea and to create an East Asian economic bloc.

JAPAN

Feb 10, 2006

Politics loom at Kansai business meet

KYOTO -- The 44th annual Kansai Economic Seminar began in Kyoto Thursday, but in the opening speeches and plenary sessions, social and political concerns instead of economic issues received the lion’s share of attention.

JAPAN

Feb 9, 2006

Schieffer asks Iwakuni voters to consider the big picture

OSAKA — The U.S. ambassador to Japan on Wednesday urged voters in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, opposed to the realignment of the U.S. forces to put national and regional needs ahead of local concerns.

JAPAN

Jan 31, 2006

Man loses racial discrimination suit against shop

OSAKA -- In a case that human rights lawyers and activists worry could condone racial discrimination against foreigners by Japanese businesses, the Osaka District Court rejected a lawsuit Monday that was filed by a black American man who was denied entry to a store apparently due to his color.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.

What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival

By Alex K.T. Martin

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