Hiroshi Matsubara - The Japan Times

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Hiroshi Matsubara

For Hiroshi Matsubara's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

BUSINESS

Dec 22, 2003

Consumer-loan firms find eager allies

Switch on the television, and soon enough you'll see a commercial in which a famous comedian playing a hotshot young businessman screams every time his girlfriend orders expensive items in stores or restaurants. Then all his problems go away when the name of a consumer-loan firm pops into his mind, and suddenly we see him singing for joy.

JAPAN

Dec 20, 2003

Minister orders release of asylum-seeker

Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa decided Friday to temporarily release a 46-year-old Myanmarese asylum-seeker, who had been detained for overstaying his visa since Oct. 31, citing humanitarian concerns over his two daughters.

JAPAN

Dec 17, 2003

Moves afoot to accelerate Narita arrivals processing

Foreigners arriving at Narita airport waited an average of 13 minutes and a maximum of 44 minutes to get through immigration on a busy weekend earlier this month, the government said Tuesday.

JAPAN

Dec 17, 2003

Psychiatric tests threaten denouement of Abe trial

The Tokyo High Court said Tuesday it will conduct psychiatric tests on Takeshi Abe, the former vice president of Teikyo University who stands accused of killing a hemophiliac through the use of HIV-tainted coagulants.

JAPAN

Dec 16, 2003

Group seeks wider release of details on car accidents

People victimized by traffic accidents submitted a 35,000-signature petition Monday to Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa, calling for investigative reports to be disclosed to their side before any parties are held responsible and charged.

JAPAN

Dec 16, 2003

Rengo backs detained Myanmar activist

The nation's largest labor organization urged the government Monday to release a 46-year-old man from Myanmar facing deportation, submitting a joint petition by 20 labor unions under its umbrella.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Dec 11, 2003

Magazine sold by homeless spreads

An Osaka-based magazine that helps homeless people earn money by selling the publication on the street is spreading to other cities.

JAPAN

Dec 9, 2003

Panel seeks better treatment for inmates

An advisory panel to the justice minister will call on the government to improve correctional policies, and medical and human rights conditions inside prisons, according to a draft proposal unveiled Monday.

JAPAN

Dec 5, 2003

Tokushima inn warned for barring blind with guide dogs

The Justice Ministry's local chapter in Tokushima Prefecture issued a warning Thursday to a semipublic hot spring hotel in Ichiba for its refusal to allow two blind people to stay there with their guide dogs last month.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Dec 3, 2003

Takefuji wiretapping scandal unfolds

More than a year after journalist Shunsuke Yamaoka first accused Takefuji Corp. of tapping his home phone, police have finally reached the top echelons of the country's leading consumer loan firm.

JAPAN

Nov 29, 2003

Japan crime hit record high in 2002

A record 3.69 million crimes were committed in Japan in 2002, according to a government report released Friday.

JAPAN

Nov 22, 2003

Ministry targets hotel that snubbed patients

The Justice Ministry filed a criminal complaint Friday against a Kumamoto Prefecture hot spring resort hotel that refused to accept former Hansen's disease patients as guests earlier this month.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Nov 22, 2003

Nagoya Prison guards face damages suit

Three former inmates of Nagoya Prison and the family of a dead prisoner jointly filed a civil suit Friday, demanding a total of 233.5 million yen from the state and 12 prison guards over alleged assaults.

JAPAN

Nov 21, 2003

Wiretap law -- hard to use, easy to abuse?

In September, a 35-year-old Kawasaki mobster was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for selling 269,000 yen worth of stimulants to seven people between December 2001 and February 2002.

JAPAN

Nov 19, 2003

Journalists to countersue lender

Five journalists said Tuesday they will countersue the leading consumer lender Takefuji Corp., which launched libel litigation against them earlier this year over their reports on the scandal-tainted firm's alleged misdeeds.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Nov 18, 2003

Convicted in double-jeopardy, Nepali starts life sentence for 1997 murder

Once acquitted and still proclaiming his innocence, Govinda Prasad Mainali, 37, of Nepal has begun serving a life prison term for the 1997 murder of a Tokyo woman, it was learned Monday.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Nov 13, 2003

Refugee status denial puts family in limbo

Khin Maung Latt of Myanmar, his Filipino wife, Maria Hope Jamili, and their two daughters have no place to call home but Japan, and they are on shaky ground.

JAPAN

Nov 8, 2003

Ministry denies twins citizenship

The Justice Ministry will not accept the birth notification documents for a Japanese couple's twin boys born to an American surrogate mother in the United States last fall, officials said Friday.

JAPAN

Nov 6, 2003

Woman who fled to North Korea was government mole in Aum

The saga of a woman believed to be an ex-Aum Shinrikyo member who entered North Korea in August seeking asylum has taken another turn: she at one time spied on the cult for the government.

JAPAN / ELECTION 2003

Nov 5, 2003

Fate of justices in voters' hands

In the shadow of intense campaigning for Sunday's Lower House election, nine people are quietly waiting for voters to decide whether they deserve to stay in the nation's top judicial posts.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Cultural properties:A Fujiya Hotel insider’s view

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