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JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004

Cheney promises U.S. will help Japan bring hostages home

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday that Washington would do its best to help rescue three Japanese nationals being held hostage in Iraq.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004

Foreign Ministry official sees need for banning travel to risky areas

The government should consider legislation that would allow it to ban Japanese nationals from traveling to countries it deems dangerous, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Apr 13, 2004

Lawmakers' groups act behind the scenes

A nonpartisan group of lawmakers lobbying to get Japanese abducted to North Korea back and working on behalf of relatives of the missing has been a big help to Shigeru Yokota.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004

Embassy in Haitian capital reopens

The Foreign Ministry announced Monday that the Japanese Embassy in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince was reopening for the first time since it was closed in February due to instability in the country.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004

TV economist held over peek up dress

A renowned economist and professor of the graduate school at Waseda University has been arrested for allegedly looking up a high school girl's skirt at a Tokyo train station.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004

Chinese, South Koreans top Japanese in English skills

The average English communicative ability of Japanese high school students is below that of their Chinese and South Korean counterparts, according to the results of an international study released Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004

Nightmare continues for captives' kin as Japan tries to verify info, negotiate

Japan continued desperate efforts Monday to contact and negotiate with the group holding three Japanese hostage in Iraq.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

DaimlerChrysler may take control of Mitsubishi Motors

DaimlerChrysler AG may funnel capital into Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in two stages and thereby convert the struggling automaker into a consolidated subsidiary, sources close to the plan said Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Softbank to get data-leak reprimand

The telecommunications ministry will issue a warning this week to the Softbank Corp. group over a massive leak of client data from Internet service provider Softbank BB Corp., ministry officials said Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Game watchdog looks to shield innocent eyes

"For players aged 18 and older" proclaim the labels on some of the most popular and violent computer and video games on the market -- and children are snapping them up as never before.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 13, 2004

Divorce and insurance policies

Divorce I was married for two years to a Japanese woman (no children). We separated almost one year ago. I recently asked my wife for a divorce, but she wants financial compensation before she will agree.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 13, 2004

Nagashima released from hospital

Former Yomiuri Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima, who suffered a stroke early last month, was released from a Tokyo hospital on Monday and moved to a rehabilitation center to undergo physical therapy, Yomiuri spokesman Atsushi Harasawa said.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004

License for automatic scooters eyed

The National Police Agency has proposed introducing by around June 2005 a new driver's license category for scooters with automatic transmissions, in light of their rising popularity.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Beer shipments fell 0.4% in March

Beer shipments by the nation's top five brewers in March edged down 0.4 percent from a year earlier after posting the first year-on-year rise in 47 months in February, according to reports released Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004

Osaka to keep funding pro-Pyongyang schools

OSAKA -- Osaka municipal officials said Monday that the city will continue to provide financial support for schools affiliated with the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun), despite calls for the policy to be reconsidered.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Kao CEO exits, denies Kanebo link

Kao Corp., the nation's largest toiletry maker, said Monday its president and chief executive, Takuya Goto, will step down and 54-year-old Motoki Ozaki will succeed him.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Nonresidents buy stocks at record level

Nonresident investors were net buyers of Japanese stocks in fiscal 2003, with purchases exceeding sales by a record 14.041 trillion yen.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2004

Communities vie to be site of new Tokyo Tower

Local governments in the Tokyo area are vying to host the world's tallest broadcasting tower in hopes of attracting tourist revenues.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Key money supply gauge rose 1.7% in 2003

The most closely watched money supply gauge for fiscal 2003 rose 1.7 percent from the previous year, marking the third-lowest gain on record, the Bank of Japan said in a preliminary report Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Bank lending slides for 75th month

The average daily balance of bank lending fell 4.8 percent in March from a year earlier to 397.37 trillion yen, down for the 75th straight month.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 13, 2004

No room for 'outsiders'

In "The Japanese," Japanologist and former U.S. ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer wrote that "no people have committed themselves more enthusiastically to internationalism than the Japanese or have so specifically repudiated nationalism."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 13, 2004

Is patriotism a bad thing?

Minoru Hase CEO It's dangerous for Japanese culture because for younger people, these last 55 years we have been safe, so they have never had the experience of war, so they don't know how to express what they are thinking or feeling.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Beef prices log second straight dive

Retail prices of both domestic and imported beef fell in the week that ended Friday for the second straight week.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2004

Private-sector deregulation panel launched

A newly launched government panel on deregulation held its first meeting Monday and selected Yoshihiko Miyauchi, chairman of Orix Corp., as chairman.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past