Japan

Japanese School
Talk of the Orient and it is just impossible to ignore the Little Giant – Japan. The land, its history and the culture and traditions are all unique and quite unlike any other on the planet. The distinct characteristic of all that is Japanese is imparted via dedicated education.

Japan’s World-Record Hot Dog Eater Injures Jaw While "Training"
Takeru Kobayashi, the Japanese eating-contest champ, has been diagnosed with arthritis of the jaw, and he’s finding the news hard to digest.

Sword and Blossom: A British Officer's Enduring Love for a Japanese Woman
When Captain Arthur Hart-Synnot came back to Ireland on a bright summer morning in July 1906, and walked down the gangplank of the overnight boat from Holyhead, he had not seen his father for two and a half years.

Japan and Asia: Historical Disputes, Nationalism, and Mistrust
Japan's constant mixed signals over its view of history result in only one perception: Asia still has reason to be afraid of them. If it wants to be accepted fully by its neighbors, Japan needs to stop appeasing its right-wing and take a clear stance on its wartime past.

Japan's Royal Birth: A Future Successor Has Been Born
Japanese citizens were overjoyed at the news that Emperor Akihito has a new grandson, even though the son of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko is third in line to assume the crown.

Chestnut’s Hot Dog Hopes Run High for the Fourth
Hoping to beat the formidable Japanese champion, California's Joey Chestnut has been hard at work training for the annual Coney Island hot dog eating competition.

Japanese on Edge After Two Children Are Murdered
A series of horrific crimes against children in Japan has terrified the country and made parents nervous about letting their kids walk to school.

Aquarius Now: The Lessons of "Living Treasures"
Japanese society has an admirable habit of honoring its outstanding contributors as if they were national resources. Individuals who have developed their abilities to a high level or who have given generously of...

Star Trek’s George Takei Comes Out
George Takei, the Japanese-American actor best known for his role as Captain Sulu in Star Trek, has publicly come out as a homosexual.

New Year's Eve Destinations - Japan
New Year in Japan is known as Shogatsu or Oshogatsu, and is one of the most important holidays in the country.

Japan Life
About how I didn't buy a mattress and lived happily ever after.

Japan and the Samurai Warrior (593-1877 A.D.)
A brief history of Japan and the Samurai Warriors. Japan, being an island with a treacherous, highly defensible coastline and an uncertain weather inclined to typhoons, has had an extraordinary pattern of seclusion and exemption from foreign incursions during the whole course of her history.

Princess Masako: Japan’s Crown Princess Pregnant
With Princess Masako pregnant with a possible heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne, Japan can avoid a challenge to its ancient tradition.

Japan's Teenage Smokers Face Wrinkle Test
Cigarette-vending machines use ability to spot sagging skin and other signs of maturity in order to weed out underage consumers

Nintendo's Wii Makes Yamauchi Japan's Richest
The 80-year-old's personal fortune has leaped to £4bn, thanks mainly to the extraordinary global success of the Wii and DS game consoles

Broadcast of Execution Forces Japan to Debate Death Penalty
Campaigners hope documentary about execution of man more than 50 years ago will help end Japan's use of death penalty

TCI Challenges Japanese Government's Shares Veto
The Children's Investment Fund today rejected a Japanese government demand to drop its bid to raise its stake in a major power supplier, in what has become a test case of Tokyo's commitment to open markets

TCI Demands Sanctions on Japan
Tokyo rejected the fund's attempt to increase its holding in J-Power citing national security

Japan Calls for Crocs Redesign After Injuries
Plastic clogs are the target of a stern safety warning after children are injured while using escalators

Thousands of Flowers Uprooted As Vandals Target Japan's Parks
A spate of copycat attacks has seen vandals target thousands of meticulously arranged beds of flowers and plants in Japan's city centers

Japan Issues Dire Warning Over Declining Workforce
Workforce to shrink by more than a third by 2050 unless more is done to boost the number of women and elderly people in work

Japanese Police Arrest Us Sailor on Murder Charge
Sailor suspected of murdering taxi driver near Tokyo last month

Lehman Sues Over £177m Fraud
US investment bank Lehman Brothers files lawsuit against Japanese trading house Marubeni over bogus ¥35bn (£177m) investment scheme devised by two Marubeni employees. By Justin McCurry

In Praise of ... Paper Airplanes
Leader: Japanese scientist plans to throw plane from space, landing it safely on earth

No Sex, Thank You ... We're Japanese
Boredom and tiredness mean a quarter of married couples in Japan have not had sex in past year

Family Calls for Help to Find Teacher's Killer in Japan
Victim's sister appeals to nation in Japanese to help find the killer who is still at large, a year after the murder

Japan Acts to Avert Growing Crisis in Manners
City hires etiquette squad to shame commuters guilty of chin-ups and golf swings

Family Appeals for Help to Find Killer in Japan
A year after British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker was murdered the key suspect remains at large

Using TEFL Placement Programs To Break into Teaching in Japan
Teaching jobs in Japan are getting harder to come by. Using TEFL placement programs are one of the fastest ways to get your first job teaching in Japan.

Economy Poised on Knife Edge
The Bank of Japan has warned that the country's economy faces an uncertain future after the Nikkei share index sinks to its lowest level for almost three years

Japan Enlists Cartoon Cat As Ambassador
A robotic cat with magical powers has been enlisted by Japan's diplomatic corps to promote the country's popular culture overseas

Far Right Closes Yasukuni Screening in Tokyo
Tokyo cinema cancels screening of controversial film about Yasukuni shrine after Japanese ultra nationalists threatened its Chinese director

Japanese Firms Face Penalties for Overweight Staff
Corporate companies join country's battle against bulging waistlines with introduction of compulsory 'flab checks'

'It Has to Be Politically Doable'
Tony Blair spoke to the Guardian about his fears of a deadlock in international climate change talks yesterday as he headed to Japan, China and India to set out his plans to publish a report over the next year that could form the basis for what he described as a proper global deal to combat the biggest threat facing the world

Sisters Who Hid £29m in Shed Face Tax Charge
Sisters suspected of masterminding the biggest case of inheritance tax evasion in Japan

Mere High-definition Tv Could Soon Be Lo-tech
Japanese broadcasters and the BBC are working on a Super Hi-Vision system 33 times more detailed than the best sets on the market

Japan to Outlaw Possession of Child Pornography
Japan to bow to international pressure but manga comics and animated films exempted from ban

Japan to Outlaw Possession of Child Porn
Japan is to bow to international pressure and ban the possession of child pornography, although the new law is expected to anger child welfare groups by exempting manga comics and animated films

Protester 'shot' By Japanese Coastguard
Leader of anti-whaling group claims he was shot by Japanese coastguard officers and only survived because of protective vest

Whaling Activist Claims He Was Shot By Japanese Coastguards
Leader of Sea Shepherd marine conservation group says he only survived because he was wearing protective vest

US Marines in Japan Face Court Martial for Rape
The US military is to court martial four marines who allegedly gang-raped a Japanese woman last year, in an apparent attempt to defuse anger over a string of crimes committed by American servicemen

Japan Accused of Vote Buying Ahead of Whaling Meeting
Australia to call on Japan to end controversial whale hunts at International Whaling Commission meeting in London

Japan Urged to Recall Whaling Fleet
New Zealand and Australia today called for a Japanese whaling fleet to return to port a day after it set off for the southern ocean whale sanctuary vowing to slaughter more than 1,000 whales.

Military Spending to Surge By 18%
Japan and US call for explanation as China announces further big increase in defence spending

Rice Says Sorry for Us Troop Behaviour on Okinawa As Crimes Shake Alliance With Japan
Military imposes curfew on 45,000 personnel as tension over American base grows with rape case

Tokyo's Advice to Us Should Be Saved for Home Consumption
Despite parallels, Fed has avoided complacency that led to Japan's lost decade

Bobby and Me
Last week, the famously reclusive chess genius Bobby Fischer was released from detention in Japan and, clutching his new Icelandic passport, flew to Reykjavik, the scene of his greatest triumph. For Stephen Moss, a fan of Fischer's since he was a boy, the opportunity to track him down at last was too much to resist. But would the former champion stop ranting for long enough to give him an autograph?

Japan Proposes 'peace' Tunnel to South Korea
Politicians say the 80-mile tunnel would boost trade and symbolize a warming of ties between the former enemies

Darling Says G7 Will Not Coordinate Action to Increase Growth
EU and Japan will snub US calls to boost economies · Focus on transparency at big financial institutions

Japanese Sumo Trainer Arrested Over Death of Pupil
Reputation of Japan's national sport suffers another blow with arrest of sumo trainer over death of a junior wrestler following alleged assault at training camp

Final Frontier for Origami Paper Planes
Japanese scientists are preparing to unleash a hi-tech paper plane from about 250 miles above Earth on the International Space Station

Japanese Astronaut to Throw Paper Planes to Earth
Scientists prepare to launch high-tech origami planes from 250 miles above the Earth

Japan Dumpling Mystery Deepens With Poisoning Claim
New twist to investigation into food poisoning outbreak in Japan blamed on Chinese made dumplings after health minister says they may have been deliberately contaminated

Chinese Dumplings Poison Dozens in Japan
About 80 people in Japan fall ill after eating imported dumplings containing insecticide

Celtic Snap Up Samaras and Mizuno
Celtic have looked to strengthen their squad with the signings of Manchester City's Georgios Samaras on loan and Japan midfielder Koki Mizuno

Diary
Hugh Muir: 'This is a desperate attempt by my enemies to discredit me,' said Boris Johnson yesterday of this newspaper's revelations that he had accepted free office space from a Japanese corporation previously involved in controversial planning schemes

Fischer's 'widow' and Nephews in Legal Tussle for £1m Estate
Document may show chess master wed in Japan · Question remains over 'daughter' in Philippines

Win Your Lover Back (for £3,300 a Month)
Japanese agencies offer reconciliations by stealth· Some remarry without knowing they were targets

Japanese Scientists Create Mice With No Fear of Cats
Tom and Jerry would never have been the same - Japanese scientists have created mice with no fear of cats

'An Hour After We Got Back We Attacked'
One of the activists held by Japanese whalers describes to John Vidal for the first time his ordeal on the Yushin Maru 2

Captain of Protest Vessel Claims Spy Trawler is Shadowing Him
The Japanese government is thought to have sent a large ocean-going trawler into the Southern Ocean near Antarctica to track one of the environmental activist ships trying to stop a whale hunt

Whaler Holding Two Protestors As Hostages
The captain of a Japanese harpoon boat last night refused to hand back two volunteers, one British, to a radical environmental group - unless the group's ship called off all attempts to stop whale hunting in icy seas near Antarctica

In Praise of ... Taking on the Whalers
Leader: Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, is under increasing pressure to enforce the promise he made to his voters last year to crack down on Japanese whaling

Black Eyes
Japanese school girl kills friend and teacher...

Activists Claim Rough Tactics in Battle With Japanese Whalers
Two held after boarding Japanese harpoon ship in Southern Ocean

Japan Resumes Afghan War Role
Government forces through bill extending controversial refueling mission

Japanese Scientists Create Mice With No Fear of Cats
Tom and Jerry would never have been the same - Japanese scientists have created mice with no fear of cats

End of the Road for Japan's Taxi Smokers
New move to ban smoking in many cabs and crack down on multitasking cyclists

Japan Tries to Cut Bike Toll
Multi-tasking cyclists beware. Japan is planning new measures to discourage some of the more outlandish but popular saddle habits, including 'triple riding' (balancing children on the frame), listening to portable music players or using an umbrella while on the move

Buddhism Forced to Turn Trendy to Attract a New Generation in Japan
Priests visit bars to reach out to young skeptics amid dramatic decline

Australia Increases Pressure on Japan Over Whale Hunt
Surveillance vessel sent to gather evidence for possible legal challenge to 'scientific' southern ocean cull

1938 – 2008: China invaded by Japan, Ogaden annexed by Abyssinia
Only the people of Ogaden has the right to exploit the natural resources of Ogaden, and the only legitimate interlocutors are in this regard the ONLF and the OHRC.

Geisha
Love - In 1929 Japan, nine-year-old Chiyo Sakamoto and her older sister Satsu Sakamoto are sold by their parents to Mr. Tanaka, who in turn, sells them to the Nitta Okiya.

Japanese Art and Language
A technological leader located on over three thousand islands in East Asia, Japan has a truly fascinating history, the second largest economy in the world, a challenging language, prolific arts, a diverse population.

In the Bleak Midwinter Japanese Regain Appetite for Christmas
Christmas in Japan is big business even though only 1-2% of the population calls itself Christian

In the Bleak Midwinter Japanese Regain Appetite for Christmas
Christmas in Japan is big business even though only 1-2% of the population calls itself Christian

Japan and Australia on Collision Course Over Whaling
New Australian PM reportedly plans to use armed vessel to track Japanese whalers

Japan Successfully Tests Anti-missile System
Japan's controversial deployment of a sea-based missile defense system capable of repelling attacks by North Korea moved closer today after one of its naval destroyers shot down a ballistic missile during a test in the Pacific ocean.

Wayward Aiming Japanese Men Take a Seat in Smallest Room
The Japanese male's inability to aim straight is obliging record numbers of them to sit rather than stand during brief visits to the smallest room in the house

Japanese Scientists Create Mice With No Fear of Cats
Tom and Jerry would never have been the same - Japanese scientists have created mice with no fear of cats

Cry, Robot: the Android Dental Patient at the Cutting Edge
· Machines filling gaps in shrinking workforce· Japanese market to grow to £26bn a year by 2025

Japan Defence Ministry Raided in Bribery Scandal
Japanese prosecutors today raided the defense ministry over a bribery scandal that threatens to engulf the government of the prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, just two months after he took office.

Japan Rocked By Bribery Scandal
Japanese prosecutors raided the defense ministry yesterday over a bribery scandal that threatens to engulf the government of Yasuo Fukuda just two months after he became prime minister

Chinese 'messenger of Peace' Docks in Tokyo Port
Chinese warship visits Japan for first time in more than 70 years on goodwill visit

Japan in Culinary Offensive to Stop Spread of Us Fish
The keepers of Japan's biggest lake have called on the public to join in one final push to eat the bluegill fish - possibly the most reviled creature in Japan - into extinction before it does the same to threatened native species.

UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Japan
In today’s world, if Japan is left outside the Veto Club, then both France and England have no real right to be there either!

Japan's Melody Roads Play Music As You Drive
Motorists used to listening to the radio or their favorite tunes on CDs may have a new way to entertain themselves, after engineers in Japan developed a musical road surface

Japan's Cyber-suicide Trend Takes Bizarre Twist
Police in Japan have arrested a man on suspicion of murdering a woman who had paid him to kill her after contacting him through the internet.

Jenkins Finds Hope After Letting Wales Off the Leash at Last
Rugby World Cup: If Wales thump Fiji, as defeated Japan coach John Kirman predicts, a quarter-final with the Boks looms.

Censorship Claim Over Book on Japanese Princess
The author of a controversial biography of Crown Princess Masako yesterday accused the Japanese government of censorship after newspapers refused to carry advertisements for the book.

Historians Gain Access to Japan's Imperial Tombs
Opening of ancient sites could anger ultra-right· Inspections limited to parts of two mausoleums

Rampant Wales Get Campaign Back on Track
Rugby union: Wales 72-18 Japan: Wales scored 11 tries as they cut loose and stormed to a big win over brave Japan.

Candidates Emerge in Japan Pm Race
Two members of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party have formally announced their candidacy today to succeed the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.

Japan's Outgoing Pm Admitted to Hospital With Exhaustion
· Abe collapses less than 24 hours after resigning· Contenders prepare for battle to be next leader

Abe Admitted to Hospital
The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is admitted to hospital the day after announcing his resignation.

Japan Take the Applause But Qera Tries Help Fiji Pocket the Points
Fiji 35-31 Japan Group B Japan were applauded from the pitch after defeat in a match they deserved to win.

Tokyo's Political Comic Strip
Leader: Following in Junichiro Koizumi's maverick footsteps was always going to be difficult, but even by his more halting standards, Shinzo Abe, who yesterday announced his intention to resign as Japan's prime minister, made a total mess of the job.

Japan's Pm Quits After Scandals and Poll Defeat
· New leader is needed to end impasse, says Abe · Speculation that decision linked to tax evasion claim

Japanese Prime Minister Resigns
Shinzo Abe ends troubled year-old government after string of damaging scandals and a poor showing in recent elections.

Wallabies Overpower Japan
Rugby union: Australia 91-3 Japan: The Wallabies took their time getting started but ran Japan ragged in a blistering second-half performance.

Mercury Scare Hits Schools' Dolphin Dinners
Schoolchildren in Japan's whaling capital have been served dolphin meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, councilors from the region have revealed, prompting warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of the meat.

Japanese Schoolchildren Fed Toxic Dolphin Meat
Councilors from the home of the Japan's whaling industry have revealed that schoolchildren in the area have been served dolphin meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, prompting warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of cetacean meat.

Yakuza Moves From Street to Boardroom
· Japan's gangsters target stock market to raise cash · Economic unrest forces underworld to diversify

Yakuza Moves From Street to Boardroom
· Japan's gangsters target stock market to raise cash · Economic unrest forces underworld to diversify

Asian Markets Feel the Heat
10am: The Bank of Japan today pumped one trillion yen (£4.2bn) into the country's money markets to boost liquidity amid the global share turmoil, while other Asian countries took their own steps to calm markets. By Justin McCurry in Tokyo.

Japanese Upper House Elects Opposition Mp As President
Japan's biggest opposition party today installed its first president of the upper house of parliament for more than 50 years and said it would oppose plans by the embattled prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to continue the country's support for US forces in Afghanistan.

Japanese Pm Vows to Stay Despite Poll Disaster
The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, last night vowed to continue as leader after his party was crushed in upper house elections, in a result that signaled widespread dissatisfaction with his scandal-ridden 10 months in office.

The Gift of the Gaffe
Leader: Shinzo Abe, in his first nine months in the job as prime minister of Japan, has given Gordon Brown an object lesson in what not to do.

Japanese Leader Faces Election Setback But Vows to Stay on
· Defeat looms for Abe on Sunday after ratings drop · Party officials manoeuvre to avoid resignation calls

Japanese Family Sue Government Agency Over Tamiflu
The family of a Japanese boy who died after taking the antiviral drug Tamiflu are to launch an unprecedented lawsuit against a health ministry body after it said the controversial drug was not responsible for his death.

Abe 'won't Quit Regardless of Election Result'
He is behind in the polls and under fire over pensions and sleaze involving some of his closest allies. But even if polls prove correct and his party loses Sunday's upper house elections, the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is set to stay on as leader, according to a senior colleague.

Japanese Nuclear Plant May Be on Quake Fault Line
Leak during tremor worse than originally admitted - IAEA calls for openness in investigation of errors

Slash and Earn: Mystery Benefactor Leaves Banknotes in Toilets Across Japan
Hundreds of civil servants across Japan have visited their office lavatories to spend a penny in recent weeks - and emerged 40 pounds better off.

Suzuki Splash: Recent families are to enter here
World market leader in the min Car segment wants to become the Japanese manufacturer Suzuki with its again developed small car Splash.

Find This Evil Man, Murder Victim's Family Implore Japanese
New appeal to kickstart bathtub murder inquiry - Police offer million-yen reward to catch killer

Japanese Policeman Stabs Self to Avoid Work
The plight of overworked Japanese employees was highlighted over the weekend when it emerged that a policeman had stabbed himself in the stomach and tried to make it look like an assault so that he could take time off work.

Japan Calls for 50% Reduction in Emissions By 2050
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, unveiled ambitious plans today to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050 that would include the world's biggest emitters, the US and China.

Under-fire Baby Hatch in Japan Receives Early Arrival
A controversial drop-off facility for unwanted babies at a hospital in southern Japan had been open barely three hours before its first occupant - a boy of about three - was abandoned there by his father, reports said today.

Three-year-old Dumped in Facility for Unwanted Babies Stokes Row in Japan
A controversial drop-off facility for unwanted babies at a hospital in southern Japan had been open barely three hours before its first occupant - a boy of about 3 - was abandoned there by his father, reports said yesterday.

Japanese Teen Takes Mother's Severed Head to Police
A 17-year-old Japanese boy was arrested on suspicion of murder today after walking into a police station and telling officers he was carrying the severed head of his mother, whom he had murdered during the night.

Boardroom Bards - Japan's Salarymen Bare Their Souls in Poetry
Poems on pension worries, nagging wives and heated toilet seats are among the winners in this year's competition.

Japan Moves Towards Amending Pacifist Constitution
Japan took a step closer to ditching its postwar pacifism today when parliament passed procedural measures that pave the way for the first reform of the US-authored constitution since it was introduced 60 years ago.

Japan's Age-old Problem
With birth rates falling and life expectancy on the rise, Japan is now the world's greyest society, writes Justin McCurry.

Wen Woos People of Japan - and Does Mention the War
Chinese premier's visit helps mend rift - Personal touch includes tai-chi in the park

Chinese Premier Urges Japan to Confront Its History
The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, today assured Japanese MPs that their countries' friendship was "unshakeable" but warned them that the scars of history would not heal until Japan confronted the legacy of its military aggression in Asia.

Wen Jiabao's Visit to Japan Could Signal a Genuine Thaw in Sino-japanese Relations
Today's visit to Japan by Wen Jiabao, the first by a Chinese premier for almost seven years, could signal a genuine thaw in relations between the two regional rivals after years of friction.

Japanese Sailors Confuse Military Secrets for Porn
Military authorities in Japan have launched an investigation into three sailors whose shared pornography habit led to a leak of highly sensitive data about the country's missile defence system.

Footage Shows Murdered Japan Teacher With Suspect
A security camera captured images of the murdered English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker and the man being hunted in connection with her death hours before she was killed in Japan, it emerged today.

Japan Deploys Patriot Missiles to Protect Tokyo
Japan today bolstered its defences against a possible attack from North Korea with the deployment of an advanced Patriot missile defence system at a military base near Tokyo that critics say leaves the capital even more vulnerable to attack.

Family Plea Over Teacher Killed in Japan
Father and sisters pay tribute to victim - Woman first met chief suspect days before death

Abe Apologises Over Sex Slaves
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, apologised today for his country's use of wartime sex slaves but stopped short of acknowledging that they had been forcibly recruited by the Japanese military.

Japan Avoids Full Apology for War Sex Slavery
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, apologised yesterday for Japan's use of wartime sex slaves but stopped short of acknowledging that they had been forced into it by the Japanese military.

Glamorous Namie Amuro
I am john waltzer. I have written so many articles and published over net. Now I have written article for Nammy Amuro. How a very poor japanese girl became world class singer.

Blonds Make Bad Diplomats, Says Japanese Minister
Taro Aso, Japan's foreign minister, risked upsetting his country's strongest ally after suggesting that US diplomats in the Middle East would never solve the region's problems because they have "blue eyes and blond hair".

Blue Eyes, Blond Hair: That's Us Problem, Says Japanese Minister
Taro Aso, Japan's foreign minister, risked upsetting his country's strongest ally by suggesting US diplomats in the Middle East would never solve the region's problems because they have 'blue eyes and blond hair'.

Tamiflu Warning in Japan After Child Suicides and Injuries
Concerns about the anti-flu drug Tamiflu deepened today after doctors in Japan were warned against prescribing it to teenagers because of several cases in which young patients committed suicide or harmed themselves.

No Sex Please, We're Japanese
Exhausted couples who prefer a good night's sleep to fumbling on the futon could be to blame for Japan's rapidly declining birth rate.

Tokyo Victims of Us Firebombing Sue Japan for Starting War
More than 60 years after their homes were turned into infernos by US B-29 bombers, a group of Tokyo residents has demanded compensation from the Japanese government for starting the war and not acting quickly enough to end it.

Japanese Prime Minister Fuels Tensions Over Wartime Sex Slaves
Japan's row with its neighbours over its wartime use of sex slaves deepened yesterday when the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, announced a new investigation into the contentious issue.

The Pressures of Life Inside the One of the World's Most Conservative Monarchies
News that the empress of Japan is suffering from mental fatigue is symptomatic of a claustrophobic monarchy, reports Justin McCurry.

Japan Rules Out New Apology to 'comfort Women'
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, told parliament early this morning that he would not apologise again for his country's second world war military brothels, even if the US Congress passes a resolution demanding it.

Japan Backtracks Over Denial of 'comfort Women'
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, tried to defuse the growing diplomatic dispute over his country's wartime record yesterday by backtracking on his earlier claims that the Japanese military did not force tens of thousands of Asian women to work as sex slaves.

Japanese Mp Says Japan Could Become Chinese Province
A senior official in Japan's ruling party has warned that his country could become "just another Chinese province" within the next 20 years if Beijing's military development continues at its current rapid rate.

Japanese Pm's Popularity Hit By Ministerial Gaffes
Any doubts that Shinzo Abe's honeymoon period as Japanese prime minister is over were dispelled today with the release of opinion polls showing a dramatic drop in his approval rating since he became leader last autumn.

Japan Raises Interest Rates to Highest for 11 Years
Central bank ups rate to 0.5% in a move seen as a vote of confidence in the country's economic recovery. By Justin McCurry in Tokyo.

Tokyo Gang Boss Found Shot Dead
Japan's latest round of mob warfare took another turn yesterday when the boss of a gang with ties to the country's biggest underworld organisation was found dead in an apparent suicide.

Suicide Suspected in Yakuza Death
Japan's latest round of mob warfare took another turn today when the boss of a gang with ties to the country's biggest underworld organisation was found dead in an apparent suicide.

All-out Turf War Feared in Japanese Underworld
The fatal shooting of a senior gangster in Tokyo has sparked fears of an all-out turf war between two of Japan's fiercest underworld organisations.

Pressure Over World Stocks Leads Japan to Cut Bluefin Tuna Quota
Japan yesterday agreed to cut its quota of Atlantic bluefin tuna by almost a quarter over the next four years, in the latest attempt to save the fish from commercial extinction.

Japan to Cut Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Catch By 23%
Japan today agreed to cut its catch of Atlantic bluefin tuna by almost a quarter over the next four years in the latest attempt to save the fish from commercial extinction.

Japan Moves to Defuse Diplomatic Spat With Us
Japanese officials today attempted to defuse a diplomatic spat with the US after the defence minister, Fumio Kyuma, publicly attacked George Bush's foreign policy for the second time in less than a week.

Japanese Minister Wants 'birth-giving Machines', Aka Women, to Have More Babies
Japan's health minister did nothing to endear himself to female voters over the weekend when he described women as "birth-giving machines".

Italy to Ask Japan for Return of 'looted' Antiques
The international effort to recover 'stolen' works of art from some of the world's best museums gathered pace today with reports that Italy is seeking the return of Roman antiquities from Japan.

Japan Gives Defence Agency Full Ministerial Status
Japan's military today emerged from decades in the political shadows when it was given full ministerial status as part of Tokyo's recent moves towards a more aggressive international presence.

Vehicle's Booze Control to Keep Japanese Drivers on the Wagon
Motorists who flout the law by driving home after a few drinks will soon be up against a formidable foe: their cars.

Japanese Pm Forfeits Pay Over Rigged Public Meetings
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is to take a three-month pay cut following revelations that the government paid dozens of people to ask senior politicians easy questions at town hall-style public meetings.

'Kiss-and-tell' Rocks Bright Lights of Japan
Mariko Ishihara, Japan's best-known actress of the 1980s, sparked a media frenzy this weekend with the publication of her tell-all book, which lifts the lid on widespread sexual abuse and bullying in the upper echelons of the country's entertainment industry.

Last Exit to Prosperity
Justin McCurry finds Japan's reputation for economic miracles has destroyed, rather than enriched, one small town.

Athletics: Gebrselassie Claims Fukuoka Marathon
Haile Gebrselassie finished ahead of Jaouad Gharib and Dmytro Baranovskiy to win the Fukuoka marathon in Japan.

Japanese 'war Orphans' Win Compensation
A court in Japan today awarded 468m yen (£2m) in compensation to dozens of Japanese citizens who were abandoned by their families in China at the end of the second world war.

Public Consultation Meetings in Japan Appear to Have Been Stage Managed
Paid government stooges hijacked a vaunted series of public consultation meetings, Justin McCurry reports.

Regulator Queries Safety of Anti-flu Drug
US safety regulators have recommended adding a safety warning to the anti-flu drug Tamiflu after reports of 12 deaths and psychiatric symptoms among users in Japan.

Abe Gets in Touch With His Pragmatic Side
Japan's prime minister is - so far - proving less hardline than many had feared, says Justin McCurry.

Sony Recalls Vaio Batteries in Far East
The global recall of Sony PC batteries grew again today when the consumer electronics giant said it would recall 90,000 batteries used in its own range of Vaio personal computers in Japan and China. By Justin McCurry in Tokyo.

Japan to Halve Bluefin Tuna Quota
Japan has agreed to nearly halve its annual catch of southern bluefin tuna after admitting that years of overfishing had left stocks at dangerously low levels.

Abe Vows Japan Will Not Go Nuclear
Japan will not consider developing a nuclear deterrent in response to North Korea's test, the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said today amid fears that Pyongyang's apparent entry into the nuclear club could spark a regional arms race.

Japan Seeks to Renew Ties With Neighbours
Japan's new prime minister will meet the leaders of South Korea and China next week to repair damaged relations and discuss the region's response to a possible nuclear test by North Korea.

Pardoned 'tokyo Rose' Dies, Aged 90
Iva Toguri D'Aquino, the American woman popularly known as Tokyo Rose who was convicted and later cleared of making propaganda radio broadcasts for the Japanese during the second world war, has died aged 90.

'Tokyo Rose' Dies at 90
Iva Toguri D'Aquino, the American woman popularly known as Tokyo Rose, who was convicted and later cleared of making propaganda radio broadcasts for the Japanese during the second world war, has died, her family said today. She was 90.

Abe Elected Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe became Japan's youngest prime minister since the second world war today, and appointed several prominent rightwingers to help push through reforms.

Abe Wins Mps' Vote to Become Japan's New Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe has become Japan's youngest prime minister since the second world war after winning a comfortable majority in a vote among MPs.

Japan's Balancing Act
World Briefing: Junichiro Koizumi is widely held to have dragged down Japan's relations with former wartime enemies China and South Korea to their lowest level since the 1950s.

Abe Anointed Japan's Next Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, Japan's leader-in-waiting, vowed today to continue his predecessor's reform programme and to give Japan a bigger role on the international stage after easily winning a party leadership vote that should see him confirmed as prime minister next week.

Japan's Leader-in Waiting Pledges to Push on With Reforms
Shinzo Abe, Japan's leader-in-waiting, vowed to continue his predecessor's reform programme and to give the country a bigger role on the international stage after easily winning a party leadership vote yesterday.

Japan on Verge of Electing Nationalist Abe
Japan will move a step closer to electing its most nationalist leader in decades tomorrow if, as expected, Shinzo Abe succeeds Junichiro Koizumi as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic party.

Number of Japanese Centenarians Hits New High
Japan's stunning longevity figures received another boost today when the health ministry estimated that more than 28,000 people would be aged 100 or over by the end of the month - breaking the previous record, set last year, by almost 3,000.

Japan Celebrates Birth of Male Heir
Japanese royalists were in celebratory mood today after Princess Kiko, the wife of the emperor's younger son, gave birth to a baby boy who will one day become the 128th emperor of Japan.

Baby Boy Ends 40-year Wait for Heir to Chrysanthemum Throne
· Japan celebrates after looming crisis averted · Blanket media coverage of new prince's arrival

About a Boy - Male Heir Could End Japan Crisis
Japan is gripped by expectation that the looming crisis over succession to the Chrysanthemum throne could end tomorrow if the baby to be delivered by caesarean section to Princess Kiko turns out to be a boy.

Japan Holds Its Breath Ahead of Royal Birth
Japan is gripped by expectation that the looming crisis over succession to the Chrysanthemum throne could end today if the baby to be delivered by caesarean section to Princess Kiko turns out to be a boy.

Japan's Pushy Internet King Denies Fraud
· Former Livedoor boss remains defiant in court · Charges include inflating value of group companies

Fantasy or Fact - Japan's Children Play Safe
Anxious parents flock to a risk-free indoor playground amid fears of rising crime.

Hawk Declares Bid for Japan's Premiership
Shinzo Abe, the man widely tipped to become Japan's next leader, announced his bid for the premiership today with policies that include sweeping reforms to the country's pacifist constitution.

Nanjing Judgment Opens New Sino-japanese Front
A Chinese court has ordered two Japanese historians to pay damages of 1.6m yuan (£110,000) to a survivor of the Nanjing massacre after they accused her of fabricating her account of the 1937 atrocity.

Male Delivery
The birth of a baby boy could solve Japan's succession crisis but would be a blow for attempts to modernise the monarchy, writes Justin McCurry.

Balance of Power Ebbs Away From the Us
· Europe and Japan put on a growth spurt · China and India continue breakneck expansion

Russian Coastguards Kill Japanese Fisherman in Disputed Waters
· Shooting reignites row over chain of islands · Tokyo demands release of three other men seized

Japanese Fisherman Killed in Kuril Dispute
Tokyo reacted angrily today after a Japanese fisherman was reportedly shot dead by Russian coastguards, apparently after straying into contested waters.

Koizumi's Final Shrine Trip Draws Protests
The Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, sent his country's wartime victims a defiant valedictory message today when he visited a controversial war shrine on the anniversary of Japan's defeat by the Allies.

Stay-at-home Bathers Threaten Japan's Ritual Soak
Centuries-old tradition falls victim to country's postwar economic success.

Reported Shrine Visit Reopens Japanese War Wounds
Shinzo Abe, the favourite to succeed Junichiro Koizumi as Japan's prime minister next month, drew angry protests from China and South Korea today following unconfirmed reports that he made a secret visit to a nationalist shrine earlier this year.

Hirohito Shunned War Criminal Shrine
Hirohito, Japan's wartime emperor, stopped paying homage to the soldiers who died in his name because he objected to the inclusion of 14 class-A war criminals among the millions of war-dead honoured at Yasukuni shrine, it was reported today.

Japan Lifts Interest Rates From Zero and Tries to Forget 'lost Decade' of Stagnation
The Bank of Japan raised interest rates from zero yesterday for the first time in six years, in a move that reflected growing confidence in the country's economic recovery.

Japan Expects Rate Rise Next Week
Speculation mounted today that Japan would raise interest rates next week for the first time in six years after the government upgraded its forecast for annual economic growth.

Pyongyang Faces United Criticism at Un Meeting
Japanese resolution calls for sanctions and block on funds and technology.

US to Deploy Interceptor Missiles in Japan
The US will deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles on Japanese soil this year for the first time as the region braces itself for a possible test launch by North Korea of an intercontinental ballistic missile, local media reports said today.

Japanese Troops to Be Withdrawn
Japan became the latest member of the US-led 'coalition of the willing' to announce its withdrawal from Iraq yesterday, bringing to an end Tokyo's biggest and most controversial overseas military deployment since the second world war.

Stressed-out Japanese Relax - at a Price
Escapism becomes a £16bn industry as demanding work culture takes its toll.

A Touchy Subject
The proposed introduction of patriotism into the national curriculum has provoked fear among Japanese schoolteachers, reports Justin McCurry.

Japan & ESL Teaching Contracts – What You Need to Know Before You Sign
In this article learn what to look out for when signing a contract to teach English in Japan. We'll look at common things employers sometimes do to trick new teachers and what you can do about it.

Teaching English in Japan- Choosing an ESL School That's Right For You
Teaching English in Japan can be a fun and exciting way to experience a unique culture. But choosing a school that’s right for you is an important first step. Find out the pros and cons of teaching for big and small ESL schools in Japan.

Japan's Rebels Sing Out With English Parody of Anthem
Kiss Me, an English parody of the Kimigayo, has spread through the internet and was sung by teachers and pupils at recent school entrance and graduation ceremonies, local media reported yesterday.

Dogged By Debt
A personal loans scandal has left Japanese borrowers reeling - and led to the vilification of a once-adored chihuahua, writes Justin McCurry.

Japan Beats Taboo By Letting Boy Act As Girl
A seven-year-old Japanese boy with a gender identity disorder has been given permission to attend school as a girl in another sign that the country is relaxing its traditionally rigid attitude towards sexual identity.

Japan Faces Chopsticks Crisis
Millions of Japanese diners could soon be deprived of their favourite wooden chopsticks following China's decision to impose a 5% tax on the utensils because of concerns over deforestation.

Japanese Minister Ignores Slave Labour Claims By British Pow
Japan's embattled Foreign Minister, Taro Aso, has been denounced by British former PoWs for his connection to Allied prisoners forced to work in slave-like conditions in his family's coalmines during the Second World War.

Chirac Becomes a Figure of Fun - By Being Himself
He is beset by allegations of a political smear campaign, has been forced to deny the existence of a secret Japanese bank account, and is being described as the embodiment of the decline of France.

Woman, 54, Held After Five Found Dead in Japanese Flat
Police in Japan have arrested a 54-year-old woman after finding the bodies of two adults and the remains of three children in an apartment south of Tokyo in a case that has shocked the country.

Memorial for Pollution Victims As Tokyo Finally Says Sorry
Fifty years after the first person was diagnosed in Japan's worst case of industrial poisoning, thousands of other victims of Minamata disease are still fighting for compensation.

Industry meets Inspiration in Tokyo
Tokyo just might be the largest city in the world, comprised of 23 individual wards, all with their own unique characteristics. Foreigners are easily intimidated by the sheer expanse of Japan’s capital city and its 17 million inhabitants (5 million are commuters); however, due to this volume alone Tokyo has developed an unmatched public transportation system and an intricate network of visitor friendly information resources.

Japan to Pay 60% of Costs of Moving Us Troops to Guam
After weeks of stalled negotiations, Japan has agreed to pay almost 60% of the cost of transferring thousands of US marines from Okinawa to Guam in a move designed to reduce the US's military burden on one of its closest allies.

Athletics: Yamauchi Out to Prove She is No Flash in Japan
Mara Yamauchi lines up for the London Marathon on Sunday as Britain's leading runner in the absence of Paula Radcliffe. Duncan Mackay met her.

Trouble Splitting the Bill
Its troops have been on Japanese soil for 60 years, but the US is hardly rushing to pay for their withdrawal, writes Justin McCurry.

The World in a Week
Sierra Leone | Nigeria | Japan | China | Russia - The 15th anniversary of the start of the devastating war in Sierra Leone fell on Thursday and it...

Blossom Puts Spring in Japan's Step
The exact timing of their appearance is a matter of bitter national debate, and when they do finally show, even old rock stars feel moved to comment.

BBC Japan Under Threat
The BBC's Japanese entertainment channel is facing closure within 18 months of its launch because of financial problems at its distributor, Japan MediArk (JMC). By Chris Tryhorn.

The World in a Week
Dubai | Indonesia | Japan | India - It was never a particularly glamorous business deal, the takeover of P&O by Dubai Ports World...

Nine Bodies Found As Japan Fails to Curb Internet Suicide Pacts
· Group victims found poisoned in vehicles · Police discoveries follow record year for 'cybercide'

All about Japanese lacquer and exquisite sprinkled pictures
All about how beautiful Japanese lacquer, found in 18th & 19th century works of art, such as inro & kogo (boxes) where exquisite pictures were formed, surprisingly, by sprinkling techniques rather than being painted.

'We Were Ready to Die for Japan'
Justin McCurry hears the extraordinary story of a kamikaze pilot whose aircraft's failure meant his survival.

Record Number of Internet Suicide Pacts
A record number of Japanese committed suicide last year after meeting on the internet.

Building Scams Soar in Japan
The antics of Japan's latest scam merchants are enough to make the average cowboy builder weep...

Pregnancy May Force Rethink on Female Heirs for Japan Throne
Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, yesterday appeared close to abandoning plans to alter the imperial succession law, a day after it was revealed that Princess Kiko, the wife of the second in line to the throne, was pregnant.

Royal Baby News May Halt Change to Succession Law
Plans to change Japan's succession laws were thrown into doubt yesterday by reports that Princess Kiko, the 39-year-old wife of the second in line to the Chrysanthemum throne, is expecting a baby in the autumn.

Police Move in on Japanese Homeless
Violence erupted in Osaka yesterday morning, when more than 1,000 police, officials and security guards attempted to evict a small group of homeless men from two public parks.

Japan to Tell Its Workers: Take Time Off - for the Sake of the Nation
Birthrate plummets as employees work long hours and take only half their holiday allowance.

Rugby Union: Umaga Quits All Blacks and Looks to Japan
Tana Umaga, the former New Zealand captain, said his decision to retire from international rugby was because he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Heir Apparent
Japanese pundits and voters are already talking about Shinzo Abe as the future prime minister, says Justin McCurry.

Murder Fuels Japan's Hostility to Us Navy Presence
Japanese police were last night questioning an American sailor about the murder of a local woman in a case that is likely to boost opposition to the presence of thousands of US troops in Japan.

Japan Says Diplomat's Suicide Followed Blackmail By China
Japan's foreign ministry yesterday lodged "strong protests" against China after admitting that a diplomat in its Shanghai consulate committed suicide, allegedly after being blackmailed by Chinese spies over his affair with a bar worker.

Fears Over Rail Safety As Four Killed in Latest Japanese Crash
The Japanese government ordered train operators to carry out emergency equipment checks yesterday after four people were killed and 32 others injured when an express train was apparently blown from the tracks by fierce winds.

Osaka Groper Dies After Being Caught By Commuters
A businessman suspected of groping a woman on a packed commuter train in western Japan has died after being overpowered by fellow passengers.

Country Diary: Bradfield Dale
The upper reaches of Bradfield Dale, close to the eastern boundary of the Peak District national park, are dominated by plantations of massed conifers - Sitka spruce, Japanese larch, Lodgepole pine, Scots pine and a few western hemlock - created half a...

Smell and the City: Osaka Bottled
Move aside, fruits of the forest, and make way for the scent of a middle-aged woman. A Japanese firm has used her perfume, along with other evocative fragrances, in a range of air fresheners that reproduce familiar smells of the city in the smallest room in the house.

Too Fat, Too Fast. The £1.6bn Finger
Column Five: A broker in Japan has managed to sell shares worth £1.6bn in a local recruitment agency which, itself, carried only a market value of little more than £50m.

Japan's New Godfather Sets His Sights on Tokyo
Police fear induction of mafia boss is prelude to bloody turf war in capital.

Athletics: Radcliffe Back From Illness But Britain Struggle
Despite Paula Radcliffe's stunning second leg, Great Britain slipped from second to finish seventh at the Chiba Ekiden International Relay in Japan.

Two-timing the Chinese
Mr Putin has spent the past three days in Japan, China's old enemy and regional rival and a country with which Russia is technically still at war.

Japan Closer to Putting Women on the Throne
Princess Aiko, the three-year-old daughter of Japan's heir to the throne, yesterday took a step towards becoming the country's first reigning empress in more than 200 years after a government panel recommended females be permitted to ascend the ancient Chrysanthemum throne.

Things to do and food to eat in Fukuoka, Japan
Fukuoka isn't that small of a place. Actual numbers bring the population to about the 5 million mark, with the city having roughly 1.3 million people. With that amount of people around, you know there has got to be something to do.

Deaths Lead to Tamiflu Safety Check
Drug safety regulators in the US and Europe are reviewing the safety of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu among children and adolescents after reports of 12 deaths and psychiatric symptoms among users in Japan.

Rugby Union: Japan Sweat on 2011 World Cup Vote
Rugby union's power-brokers are set to decide between Japan, South Africa and New Zealand in Dublin.

Bring Back Concubines, Urges Emperor's Cousin
A close relative of the Japanese emperor has urged the government to consider reintroducing concubines rather than allow women to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.

US, Japan reach deal on air base; troop reduction eyed
Today's agreement was in line with a 1996 accord between Tokyo and Washington to move the Futenma Air Base out of the crowded urban center of Ginowan, where residents complain about aircraft noise.

Beijing Furious After Japanese Pm Pays New Visit to War Dead Shrine
A meeting between the foreign ministers of China and Japan was abruptly cancelled yesterday after the Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, paid tribute to Japan's war dead at a nationalist Shinto shrine, drawing an angry response from China and South Korea.

Test Boosts Hopes for New Supersonic Passenger Jets
Japan has taken the first step towards resurrecting supersonic passenger flight with the launch of an experimental jet at Woomera in the Australian outback.

Gas Bagging
Energy exploration in the East China Sea is amplifying China's ongoing quarrel with Japan, writes Justin McCurry.

Cargo Ship Accused After 7 Die in Ocean 'hit and Run'
An Israeli ship has been accused of a hit and run on the high seas which killed seven Japanese fishermen.

Koizumi Vows to Push on With Post Office Reform
The Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, yesterday vowed to push post office privatisation through parliament by the end of next month.

Centenarians Double to 25,000 in Five Years
A record number of Japanese will be aged 100 and over by the end of the month, surpassing last year's total by more than 2,500.

Landslide Election Victory Gives Koizumi Go-ahead for Reform
· Japanese PM's bitter fight to sell post office pays off. · Opposition leader says he will quit after heavy losses.

Latter-day Samurai Could Transform Politics
Junichiro Koizumi is the sudoku puzzle of Japanese politics. He is portrayed as a maverick loner. But yesterday's landslide election victory puts him in line to become one of Japan's longest-serving post-war prime ministers.

Koizumi Set for Strong Win in Japan Poll
Post office reforms dominate election.

Twist in Tale of Rubik's Cube As Japanese Puzzlers Go Back to Basics
It was an era of nuclear brinkmanship, trade wars and decidedly iffy hairstyles. But in Japan the early 1980s is also remembered as the heyday of a chunky plastic puzzle that drove millions of children to distraction.

Cheesed-off Tokyo Politician Boosts Sales
The Japanese election campaign may have spawned an ingenious new marketing tactic: take a relatively unknown product, have it berated in public by an unpopular politician, and watch sales soar.

Rowing: Women's Quad Takes Gold
The British women's quad emulated the men by taking gold at the world championships in Japan, just holding off the Germans in a sprint finish.

Marketing Power of Unpopular Politicians
The Japanese election campaign may have spawned an ingenious new marketing tactic: take a relatively unknown product, have it berated in public by an unpopular politician, and watch sales soar.

Rowing: World Championships Delayed
The rowing world championship were expected to finally get underway in Japan after Typhoon Mawar had delayed racing for a day.

Rowing: Four Leads the Way in Cruise Control
Five of Britain's seven rowing crews, including the new coxless four, have qualified directly for the semi-finals after the opening day of the world championships in Japan.

Rugby Union: Wilkinson in the Frame to Face Sale
Jonny Wilkinson has been told he can resume training after recovering from the appendix problem which forced him to miss Newcastle's matches in Japan.

Now It's Long Johns for Japan's Office Staff
Just what is a bureaucrat to wear? Months after Japanese government staff were told to dress down for summer they are now being warned to wrap up for the autumn and winter in the country's latest bid to save energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Wilkinson Set for Swift Reappearance
Rugby Union: Jonny Wilkinson has been released from hospital in Japan and could figure in Saturday's pre-season friendly with Glasgow.

Wilkinson in Hospital
Rugby Union: England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson has been admitted to hospital in Japan suffering from an inflamed appendix.

Electrocutionist Sparks Into Life
Racing: Italian raider Electrocutionist pipped Japanese hope Zenno Rob Roy in a thrilling finish to the Juddmonte International Stakes.

Koizumi Apologises for Wartime Wrongs
Sixty years after Japan surrendered to the allies, its prime minister apologised yesterday for the suffering it inflicted on its Asian neighbours and vowed the country would never again embrace militarism.

Japan Apologises for Atrocities of War
Japan's prime minister today apologised for atrocities committed during the second world war, on the 60th anniversary of the end of the conflict.

Seeking Deliverance
With failed postal reform prompting him to call a snap election, the career of Japan's prime minister is on the line, writes Justin McCurry.

Japan's Pm Calls Election After Key Defeat
Japan was plunged into political turmoil yesterday when the prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, was pushed into calling a snap election that risks destroying his party.

Way paved for empress of Japan
Japan moved a step closer to ending centuries of tradition - and solving a looming succession crisis - when a government panel said women should be allowed to sit on the throne.

Hiroshima 60 Years On: Children of Hiroshima
The mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki threw a terrible shadow over the 20th century. David Smith went to Japan to meet the survivors of the bright and horrifying dawn of the atomic age.

Music Mission Bangs Drum in Japan
Music industry executives are hoping to cash in on renewed global interest in British bands with a high-profile visit to Japan, the world's second-biggest market for music. By Justin McCurry.

Japan Hails the Return of the Nerds
Akihabara is an unlikely backdrop to a counterculture that is sweeping Japan.

In search of Fun, Fame and Fortune
Producers have taken practical jokes to a new extreme with each program trying to outdo the next in daring and shock and none more so than the Japanese who took it up a notch and past what any civilized person would call ‘funny’.

A Tale of Two Massacres
As the rain of stones on Japan increases, Jonathan Watts finds China sheltering in a glass house.

Sony Warrior Hints at Retrenchment
Sir Howard Stringer announced plans for an overhaul at Sony yesterday after being approved by shareholders as the Japanese company's first foreign chief executive.

Sony Bid to Stop Grey Imports
The Japanese electronics giant Sony is demanding that companies importing its hotly anticipated PlayStation Portable to Britain reveal their customers' identities so the equipment can be tracked down.

Japan Alarmed By Increase in Teenage Sex
Once praised for their studiousness, Japan's teenagers are gaining a less wholesome reputation, for promiscuity.

US Backs Japan to Join Security Council
The US yesterday threw its weight behind an expansion of the UN security council that would take in Japan as a permanent member, but not the other prime contender from the developed world, Germany.

Deal Could Revive Supersonic Flights
Japan and France have agreed to develop the technology for a new supersonic commercial aircraft that could cut the flying time between Tokyo and New York by almost half to six hours, Japanese media reported yesterday.

Relics of the Ruler Who Unified Japan Come to Leeds
Delicate negotiations between British museum curators and a Japanese shrine have unlocked a 400-year-old chest of sacred art, which goes on show today under the supervision of Shinto priests.

How Japan Grew Bored With Love
Marriage is out of fashion but, as the birthrate tumbles, social and economic chaos looms.

Paying for His Respects
Japan's prime minister is determined to continue visiting a shrine to his country's war dead, despite increasing pressures, writes Justin McCurry.

60 Years After the War Ends, Two Soldiers Emerge From the Jungle
Mystery surrounds Japanese men, both in their 80s, who say they have been in hiding since second world war.

China Stops Anti-japan Protests
Chinese authorities clamped down on public demonstrations yesterday with a spate of detentions, mobile phone warnings and a heavy police presence to prevent a planned anti-Japanese protest.

North Korean Missile Fired Towards Japan
International efforts to persuade North Korea to abandon its suspected nuclear weapons programme were in danger of unravelling yesterday amid reports that it has launched a short-range conventional missile into the Sea of Japan.

Japanese Pay £180m for Ringtone Specialist Itouch
Independent owner reaps £51m profit from 37% stake. A gamble on the fledgling ringtones market paid off handsomely for Independent News & Media yesterday when the newspaper group reaped a €75m (£51m) profit on the sale of mobile content company iTouch.

Union Chief Blames 'bullying' Rail Firm for Japanese Train Crash
Japanese train drivers whose errors delay services for as little as a minute are subjected to humiliating punishments by their employers that put efficiency before safety, a union leader claimed yesterday, as the death toll from Monday's derailment in Amagasaki rose to 106.

Japanese Police Raid Rail Crash Firm
A day after at least 73 people died in Japan's worst rail crash for more than 40 years, police raided the offices of the train's operator, while rescue workers said more people were trapped in the wreckage.

71 Die As Japanese Train Hits Block of Flats
Rescuers were working through the night yesterday in a desperate search for survivors after at least 67 people were killed when a packed morning commuter train smashed into an apartment block in western Japan in the country's worst rail crash for more than 40 years.

MPs Undermine Japanese Apology to China
Japan sent starkly conflicting signals yesterday over its desire to resolve the escalating row with China, triggered by the publication of a school textbook which appears to whitewash Tokyo's war record.

Textbook Crimes
Justin McCurry reports on the response of the Japanese far right to the deterioration in their country's relations with China.

Japan Emerges As America's Deputy Sheriff in the Pacific
World Briefing: Escalating tension with China is increasing pressure on Tokyo to expand its military capabilities and back a deepening strategic alliance with the US, says Simon Tisdall.

Violence Flares As the Chinese Rage at Japan
With tens of thousands demonstrating on the streets in cities across across China, Jonathan Watts in Shanghai examines the roots of an old enmity and a new conflict.

China and Japan in Race for Gas
Testy relations between China and Japan were further strained yesterday when Tokyo signalled its intention to explore gas fields in the contested seabed between the two countries.

Japan Rejects 'scary' China's War Demands
A diplomatic row between China and Japan escalated further yesterday when the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, called on Tokyo to "face up to" its wartime atrocities, saying it should reconsider its bid for a permanent seat on the UN security council.

Japanese Pm's Residence Gets £42m Eco Facelift
Three years of renovation have transformed the Japanese prime minister's residence from a crumbling, vermin-invested pile into a state-of-the-art eco home, it was revealed yesterday.

Tokyo Makes Protest After Anti-japanese Violence in China
Relations between Japan and China have plunged to their lowest point in more than a decade after a weekend of violent anti-Japanese protests in Beijing and other cities.

Pacific Reef is Focal Point of Tension Between China and Japan
Simon Tisdall: An uninhabited Pacific reef 1,000 miles due south of Tokyo makes an unlikely battlefield. But wars have been fought over less.

Short Shrift Among Traditionalists for New Sumo Costume
The guardians of the ancient Japanese sport of sumo yesterday rebuffed attempts to allow shy pubescent boys to wear pants instead of the traditional loin cloths.

'I'm Not Willing to Forgive the Japanese'
Sixty years on, PoW groups are still divided over reconciliation with their captors in Far East prison camps.

Japan Cracks Down on Trade in Sex Workers
Tougher visa rules aim to bar foreign women lured into entertainment trap.

China and Japan Launch Race to the Moon
Tokyo blasts back after setback in Asian space race as old enemies plan ambitious projects targeting the lunar surface.

Seven Die in Online Suicide Pact in Japan
Seven people have killed themselves within hours of each other in Japan in the latest round of suicides committed after pacts made on the internet.

North Korea v Japan - It's So Much More Than a Football Match
Sport and politics will meet head-on when North Korea meet Japan in a World Cup qualifier tonight, and the tension is palpable.

Japan May Let Women Reign
Women could be allowed to ascend Japan's imperial throne under plans discussed yesterday by a commission set up to consider the succession crisis bedevilling one of the world's oldest monarchies.

Sino-Japanese 'cold War' Stirs New Tensions
World briefing: While the world watches China's rapid rise towards superpower status with awe, Japan, China's old enemy, watches with foreboding.

Japan Backs Brown Debt Plan
Japan today threw its weight behind Gordon Brown's plans to offer debt relief for countries hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Japan Warms to Idea of an Empress
Scholars try to clear the way for a woman to reign, reports Justin McCurry in Tokyo.

Happy End to Japanese Royal Annus Horribilis
Japan's royal family is ending 2004 on a brighter note, with confirmation yesterday that Princess Sayako, the emperor's only daughter, is to marry a Tokyo civil servant next summer.

Japan Plans to Cut Foreign Aid Budget for Sixth Year
Japan's finance ministry has ignored protests from the foreign ministry and proposed yet another cut in foreign aid in a draft for the 2005 budget.

China Hits at Japan Over Visa
China criticised Japan yesterday after Tokyo approved an application from Lee Teng-hui, the former president of Taiwan and a leading supporter of independence for the island, to pay a sightseeing visit to Japan later this month.

Europe and Japan in Heated Clash Over Fusion Reactor
A battle has broken out over plans to build a reactor that could harness 'fusion power', source of the sun's energy, for humanity.

Pacifist Japan Boosts 'self-defence' Measures
After almost 60 years of pacifism, Japan today overhauled its defence policy; easing an arms exports ban and singling out North Korea and China as security threats.

Japan Charges Man Over Anthem Protest
A retired teacher who urged parents not to stand for the Japanese national anthem at a school graduation ceremony this year was indicted yesterday in the latest spat between Tokyo's rebel teachers and the city's right-wing government over patriotism in schools.

Wales 98 - 0 Japan
Still smarting after the agonising defeat by New Zealand, Wales took their hurt out on a sorry Japan side last night.

Rugby Union, Wales v Japan: Ruddock Riled By Video Nasties
Mike Ruddock says Wales have suffered so badly from inconsistent refereeing that he intends to take his case to the IRB.

Doing Business in Japan
Tips on etiquette and business practices for business personnel visiting Japan.

Japan's Sins of the Past
The memories of Japanese biological attacks on China in the 1940s are still fresh. Many Chinese want an apology, writes Justin McCurry.

Japan's Lost Generation Finds Solace in Suicide
Disaffected young people are using the internet to make pacts to end their lives.

Japanese on Edge Over Spielberg's Geisha Film
Critics fear teahouse culture will be tweaked for western audience. With her emerald green kimono, ghostly white face and bright red lipstick, Kosen stands out in the sparsely decorated tatami-mat room.

At Least 63 Die in Japanese Havoc
At least 63 people were reported dead and 25 were still missing yesterday after Japan was battered by fierce winds and torrential rain caused by the strongest typhoon to hit the country in 25 years. Many of the victims were buried beneath mudslides as Typhoon Tokage ripped across the...

Typhoon Toll At Least 63 Die in Japanese Havoc
At least 63 people were reported dead and 25 were still missing yesterday after Japan was battered by fierce winds and torrential rain caused by the strongest typhoon to hit the country in 25 years. Many of the victims were buried beneath mudslides as Typhoon Tokage ripped across the...

At Least 62 Die in Japanese Havoc
At least 62 people were reported dead and 27 others were still missing yesterday after Japan was battered by fierce winds and torrential rain caused by the strongest typhoon to hit the country in 25 years. Many of the victims were buried beneath mudslides as Typhoon Tokage passed over the...

Nine Japanese Die in Suicide Pacts
Police believe strangers met on internet to arrange deaths.

Justin Mccurry on the Death Penalty in Japan
Japan's appetite for the death penalty is drawing criticism from its own legal commuity and international organisations, writes Justin McCurry.

Stand-up Parodies Japan's Far Right at Packed Venues
It is standing room only at a theatre in central Tokyo as a stocky man in full military garb takes his place in front of a huge rising-sun flag. Eyes front, he belts out the first few lines of the national anthem. Suddenly, his creditable baritone transforms into a high-pitched whine in a...

Japanese Women Curl Up With the Perfect Man
For singletons and insomniacs, he is proving the ideal partner. This is a man who does not snore or fidget in bed, and who is happy to wrap a reassuring arm around his nearest and dearest until morning arrives. He does exist, but - inevitably - there is a catch.

Sun's Awry in the Japanese Cosmos
They may live in the land of the rising sun, but that doesn't mean they know anything about it. According to a survey by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 42% of Japanese children believe that the Sun rotates around the Earth and 30% of children aged 11-14 do not not know...

Japan Executes Child Killer
A man convicted of murdering eight children in a frenzied knife attack at a primary school three years ago was hanged in Osaka yesterday, in Japan's first execution for a year. Mamoru Takuma barged into several classrooms at Ikeda primary school in the city's suburbs in June 2001,...

Japan's Pinball Obsession Attracts Criminal Element
Japan's national obsession is a target for gangsters and cheats.

Nuclear Plants Shut in Japan
Japan's second largest power company is to close all 11 of its nuclear reactors to carry out urgent safety checks after an accident at one of its plants on Monday in which four workers died and seven others were injured. Kansai Electric Power said the closures would not affect power...

Japan's Lord of the Isles Puts Art Hoard on Show at Visionary Museum
Turning a pretty island off the coast of Okayama, 435 miles south-west of Tokyo, into an international art centre is the unlikely vision of Soichiro Fukutake.

Japan's Nuclear Industry Under Fire As Steam Leak Kills Four
Four Japanese electricity workers were killed yesterday and seven others injured when turbine steam escaped at a nuclear power plant in Mihama, on the Sea of Japan. The reactor automatically shut down while rescue workers tried to help the victims. The Nuclear and Industrial...

Japan Faces Hostility in Asian Cup Final
Japanese politicians yesterday called on Chinese football fans to put historical differences to one side when the two countries meet in the Asian Cup final in Beijing on Saturday. The Japanese team and their supporters have been given a less-than-friendly reception since their first game...

Japanese Boffins Spawn Almost Invisible Man
Japanese scientists have turned fantasy into reality by creating an invisibility cloak that makes it possible to see straight through its wearer. He, or she, simply vanishes from view.

Palace Life Puts Strain on Japan's Princess
Prince says pressure to conform and produce heir affecting 40-year-old's health.

Japanese girls choose whiter shade of pale
Five years ago, a phenomenon began to manifest itself on the streets of Tokyo's trendy Shibuya district. Groups of heavily suntanned girls loitered outside shops, clad in super-short miniskirts and treacherous platform shoes, their hair bleached brown or blonde.

Rugby Union: Heineken Cup: Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen Will Leave Leicester for Japanese Team in May
January 30: Jaco van der Westhuyzen is refusing to break his contract with a Japanese team and will leave Leicester in May.

Japan Refuses to Fly Airbus Superjumbo
Japan's two international airlines, which are the world's biggest carriers outside America, have snubbed the new A380 superjumbo in a crushing blow to the European manufacturer Airbus. All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) are the leading users of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet,...

Japanese Press Review
What the papers said about Japan's general election.

USA women defeat Japan, remain undefeated at World Cup
Logan Tom scored a match-high 16 points and Keba Phipps added 13 as the United States remained unbeaten at the World Cup with a 3-0 win over Japan in second-round action at Nagoya Rainbow Hall in Nagyoa, Japan, Thursday night (early Thursday morning in the United States).

First Japan, Now China is the Culprit
In reality, the US has only itself to blame for its swelling trade deficit. For decades America seemed to dominate manufacturing, so US officials focused on liberalising trade in manufactured goods. They put little effort into creating a level playing field for farmers, since they knew the US couldn't compete in agriculture.

Japan's Lion King Set for a Showdown
Election pits leader against whistle-blowing outsider. Japan's Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, this weekend dissolved parliament and set a date for a general election that he hopes will turn his resurgent popularity into a mandate for continuing reform of the world's second-largest economy.

World's oldest man dies in Japan aged 114
The secret of a long and healthy life could lie in a daily glass of milk. Yukichi Chuganji, who was the world's oldest man when he died, aged 114, at his home on the island of Kyushu in south-west Japan on Sunday night, never touched alcohol, preferring a daily glass of milk, hard toffee and the occasional apple juice.

Japanese 'orgy' Claims Spark Outrage in China
An inflammatory blend of sex, war and the internet have fired up anti-Japanese feeling in China after reports that hundreds of tourists from Tokyo held a two-day orgy with Chinese prostitutes.

Dollar Selloff Defies Japan's Warning
The dollar was hit by a second day of relentless selling yesterday as traders shrugged off warnings from Japan that it would intervene to prevent excessive moves in foreign exchange markets. With Tokyo's markets closed for a public holiday, traders pushed the yen to a three-year high...

Blast kills three in Japanese siege
A man demanding unpaid wages from a parcel delivery company killed himself, a hostage and a policeman when he set off a powerful explosion at the firm's office in Nagoya, central Japan, yesterday.

Big Issue goes Japanese to help the new homeless
Until a few years ago, the idea of people sleeping on the streets of Japan was alien, but with recession came homelessness. And where there's homelessness, there is the Big Issue.

Japan Slumps Into Cosy Retirement
Jonathan Watts bids sayonara to the country he has watched over 13 years and reflects on its economic decline.

End of an era as Japan enters Iraq
Tokyo approves biggest deployment of troops since 1945 as anxious Washington casts around for help shouldering post-Saddam burden.

Japan Freezes Aid to Burma to Forcethe Draw - How Many Can You Name?
June 26: The biggest challenge facing the mens' game is to retain the interest of a public uninspired by the top players, writes Paul Kelso.

Japan Freezes Aid to Burma to Force Junta to Release Suu Kyi
Japan and Britain yesterday intensified the global diplomatic pressure on Burma to free the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the military junta dismissed British accusations that she is being held in the nation's most notorious prison. Japan, the largest donor to the...

No Drink, No Begging: the Orderly Lives of Japan's Homeless
Capital letters: If David Beckham had peered down from the 38th-floor window of his swanky Tokyo hotel this week, he might have wondered why the vast green park opposite was flecked with blue tarpaulins.

Japan Threatens to Cut Burma Aid Over Suu Kyi
Japan threatened today to cut aid to Burma unless the country's ruling junta frees the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Despite intense international pressure, Burma has refused to set a date for the release of Ms Suu Kyi, who has been detained since May 30 when her motorcade came...

Japan Emerges From Its Pacifist Shell
The former empire of the sun is re-arming and shedding some of its self-imposed anti-war legislation, to the benefit of the US and its allies, writes Jonathan Watts.

Japan's Asteroid Mission Heralds a New Space Race
A Japanese rocket has blasted off on one of the most ambitious missions ever undertaken by space engineers. The tiny Muses-C probe will travel 400 million miles to return a piece of primordial rock left over from the solar system's creation five billion years ago.

Doomsday Cult Makes Waves in Japan
Less than a fortnight before the day it predicts the world will end, Japan's latest high-profile cult rolled slowly and bizarrely away from a confrontation with the police yesterday, leaving behind sniggers, fears and a mountainside draped in white sheets. Until recently, little was known...

Japanese Power Giant Tells Users to Switch Off
It is an odd kind of advertising blitz that begs customers to buy less, but that is exactly the message being pushed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) in a series of advertisements in the press and on television. The company has been forced into an embarrassing electricity...

Japan Says It Would Strike First
Tension rose sharply in east Asia yesterday as Japan said it would use force if it thought North Korea was preparing a missile attack.

Court Blocks Japan's Nuclear Plans
A £4bn Japanese project to develop the world's most advanced nuclear reactor appeared doomed yesterday after a court ruled that the government's safety standards for the prototype plant were unacceptably flawed. The judgment means that the Monju fast-breeder reactor may never be...

CSFB Fined £4m for Japan Cover-up
The financial services authority slaps a record £4m fine on Credit Suisse First Boston for trying to mislead tax and regulatory authorities in Japan.

Japan can't teach us how to handle deflation
Foreign visitors are often bewildered by Japan. Its reputation for conformity is belied by Tokyo's teenage fashions while its consumer electronics industry displays near-anarchic creativity.

Japanese Flirt With Disaster Waiting for the 'big One' to Bite
The Tokyo municipal government advises every family to hold monthly meetings on disaster prevention, but our house has become rather lax in preparing for catastrophe. I realised this while checking recently through our bosai-bukuro (disaster-prevention bag), which we - like all good...

EU Acts to Free Japanese Media
The end of press club restrictions on journalistic freedom is in sight, writes Jonathan Watts.

Japan's Old Guard Approves Spending Package
Prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's attempts to wean the Japanese economy off its addiction to public works suffered a setback yesterday when the old guard of the ruling Liberal Democratic party drove through a new pump-priming package worth at least three trillion yen (£15.5bn)...

Europe's Japanese Economy
On Monday, the unthinkable happened. The European Commission has initiated "excessive budget deficit" procedures against the two biggest members of the European Union, France and Germany, for having breached the budget deficit targets prescribed by the much-reviled Stability Pact. This seems to have vindicated the voices in both countries who blame their economic woes on the stringent requirements of the compact intended to stabilize the euro.

Japan's Zombie Economy - Not Buying But Browsing
The only inflation is in the department stores' vast blow-up Santas. The giant inflatable Santa hovering in the atrium of Daiei's main store in Shin Urayasu strikes a cheerful note on a gloomy Tokyo evening.

Japan's Teen Hermits Spread Fear
Film lifts the lid on the hell of child recluses.

Japanese-only public baths to pay damages
Japanese authorities were reprimanded for ingrained racism yesterday when three foreign-born men won a rare legal challenge against a "Japanese only" public bathhouse.

War of Words Over 'japan's Schindler'
It was intended as a tribute to human goodness: the moving biography of an altruistic Japanese diplomat who risked his life to save 10,000 Jews from the Holocaust. But a groundbreaking book about Chiune Sugihara is likely to expose the less noble side of human nature when its Jewish...

Japan haunts the Big Three
Millions of American voters trooped to the polls yesterday to exercise their democratic rights and pass judgment on George Bush's first two years in the White House. Whether the president wins another term in 2004, however, may have more to do with the votes of just 12 men and women in Washington tonight.

Hollow victories as Japan dilutes loan reform
Japan's finance minister Heizo Takenaka announced yesterday a long-awaited blueprint to halve the number of bad loans at banks by 2005.

Japanese Politician Murdered
A Japanese politician who made his name by exposing corruption in high places was stabbed to death outside his home in Tokyo yesterday. It could prove to be Japan's first political assassination for more than 40 years. Koki Ishii, an outspoken member of the house of...

Japan Will Hold on to N Korea Hostages
The Japanese government will not let five Japanese citizens visiting their homeland fly back to Pyongyang.

Japanese Rewrite Guardian History
Nanjing massacre reports were false, revisionists claim. A pre-war Guardian correspondent who exposed the notorious Nanjing massacre by Japan's occupation army in China in 1937 has become the target of Japanese historians seeking to prove that it never took place.

Bank of Japan Intervention Begs the Eight Trillion Yen Question
Buoyed by decision of the Bank of Japan to spend up to eight trillion yen (£42bn) supporting the country's financial system, Japan's stock market rises 2%.

Japanese hijackers go home after 32 years on the run
Four of Japan's most notorious fugitives are preparing to give themselves up, 32 years after a botched plane hijack pushed them into the suffocating embrace of North Korea.

Japan Takes Bear of Little Brain to Its Heart
Pooh, created for an English boy 76 years ago, ousts rivals in fierce cartoon market. Slow-witted, overweight and fond of a nap, Winnie the Pooh might seem a rather unlikely modern hero for Japan, a country that is more often associated with busy bees.

Japan Guilty of Germ Warfare Against Thousands of Chinese
A Tokyo court acknowledged for the first time yesterday that Japan had engaged in biological warfare, slaughtering thousands of Chinese civilians in one of the worst atrocities of the second world war. But to the fury of many of the victims and their families, it rejected claims for...

Japan's revisionists turn emperor into a god once more
Popular Tokyo shrine rewrites postwar history. The Japanese emperor's godlike status has not changed since the second world war, according to a new exhibit at the country's most popular war museum.

Nasdaq Admits Defeat in Japan
Nasdaq baled out of Japan yesterday after spending two years and billions of yen in a disastrously timed attempt to establish a new venture capital market in the far east with local partner Softbank.

Japan's Old Shy Away From Retiring
Japanese babies can expect to live longer than anyone else on Earth, according to the latest government statistics, but their extra years are more likely to be spent hard at work than in leisurely retirement.

Japan Send Fans Into Semi-naked Dives
Jonathan Watts:Hosts slay Tunisia, top group H and set up meeting with Turkey in last 16.

Tunisia 0 - 1 Japan
Follow the game from 7.30am. 52 All right, all right, you've made your point. Miroshima stoops to head Suzuki's low cross goalwards and it bounces against the post before Boumnijel can gather it safely.

Japanese man pays ultimate penalty for social gaffe
England fans at the World Cup may have been impressed by the politeness of their Japanese hosts, but the emphasis on good manners has had murderous consequences for one man.

Mild Economic Rebound in Japan
The Japanese economy today showed glimmers of recovery after a dismal year when it grew 1.4% in the first quarter. The economics minister, Heizo Takenaka, was quick to claim that first quarter growth showed that the economy had hit bottom although conditions remained severe. The...

We were robbed - Japan tastes sweet and sour
Football fever has consumed a once strait-laced country.

EU and Japan Retaliate Over Us Steel Tariffs
Japan and Europe threatening a full-scale trade war which could start within a month.

Japan rues the airport that should never have taken off
It is not often that Tokyo commuters grumble. On the rush-hour trains, they quietly put up with being manhandled into packed carriages by platform guards. In the filthiest traffic on the urban motorway, it is rare to hear a single horn beeped in frustration. Even on the pavements, pedestrians merely shrug when they are cut up by cyclists.

Europe and Japan Join Forces to Produce Steel for Cars
European and Japanese producers are joining forces to develop hi-tech steel products and create a supply network for the world's car industry. Yesterday ThyssenKrupp, Germany's largest steel group, said it had formed a strategic alliance with two big Japanese firms, Kawasaki and NKK...

Fired Minister Savages Japan's Pm
The Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi has suffered a potentially devastating attack on his reform credentials by the woman who propelled him to power: his former foreign minister, Makiko Tanaka. In the first interview since her sacking earlier this year, which has sent the...