Japan&#39;s Kitashiro Urges Koizumi to End War Shrine Visits
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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi should stop visiting a shrine China say symbolizes Japan&#39;s militaristic past as it hurts business ties, Kakutaro Kitashiro, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives said.
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Yasuo Fukuda, the frontrunner to succeed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said on Saturday that he would stay away from a Tokyo shrine seen by Asian neighbors as a symbol of Japan's past militarism if he were chosen as the nation's new leader.
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United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has voiced concern about the safety of aid workers in Sri Lanka after the murder of two Red Cross volunteers, his office said, as Japan's peace envoy began a visit to the war-battered island.
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Japan&#39;s decision to extend its troops&#39; mandate in Iraq will mean they stay in the country for at least another year. But the move, seen as part of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi&#39;s efforts
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Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura pressed the United States to reduce its military presence in Japan, saying it was &quot;very important&quot; and that Tokyo expected a &quot;reasonable solution.&quot;
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Japan&#39;s prime minister Sunday has vowed to make the country&#39;s defense forces better able to fight terrorism and any attackers who would use weapons of mass destruction.
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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said Japan will not pull its troops out of Iraq despite threats by a group led by an al Qaeda ally to behead a Japanese hostage, Japanese media reported on Wednesday.
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought on  Sunday to contain fallout from his remarks about women forced  to act as wartime sex slaves for Japanese soldiers as the furor  threatened to cloud summits with Chinese and U.S. leaders.
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Japan will keep its troops in Iraq for another year, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Thursday, even though most voters want to end what is the nation&#39;s riskiest military mission since World War II.
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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is considering announcing an end to Japan&#039;s military mission in Iraq ahead of his meeting with US President George W. Bush later this month, the foreign minister said.
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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi prayed at the Yasukuni war shrine Tuesday to mark Tokyo's World War II surrender, triggering immediate protests by China and South Korea but cheering his conservative followers.
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The United States and Britain Thursday urged Japan to renew a mission to refuel coalition ships in the Indian Ocean as fierce opposition in parliament dimmed prospects of securing an extension before the deployment expires next month.
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The U.S. ambassador urged Japan on Wednesday to extend its naval mission in the Indian Ocean, saying it would be "a real tragedy" if Tokyo dropped out of the battle against terrorism.
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United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has  voiced concern about the safety of aid workers in Sri Lanka  after the murder of two Red Cross volunteers, his office said,  as Japan&#39;s peace envoy began a visit to the war-battered  island.
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SANTIAGO President Hu Jintao of China has warned Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan that his controversial visits to a shrine honoring war criminals were the &quot;crux&quot; of the problem in China-Japan ties and called on Koizumi to suspend his visit to
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Japan&#39;s Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura has urged Islamic militants in Iraq to release a Japanese hostage, in an interview with the Arabic satellite network Al-Jazeera.
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Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday urged Japan to properly treat its war time history with an eye to the future, and called for a halt to visits by Japanese leaders to a shrine honoring World War II criminals.