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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 5, 2003

If you can't beat the Japanese, serve them

If you're looking for contentment in Japan, serve the Japanese. At least that's the impression one gets from being around Andy Lunt, Kerry Cox and Johnny Miller.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2003

Execs less downbeat over economy after pickup in earnings, share prices

An increasing number of major Japanese businesses are less pessimistic about the economy, as earnings and share prices have started picking up, according to a recent Kyodo News survey of executives at 100 big firms.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 5, 2003

Suzuki seals deal with Zolder

Japan striker Takayuki Suzuki will join newly promoted Belgian first-division club K Heusden Zolder from Kashima Antlers on loan until the end of next June, the J. League first-division side said Monday.
SOCCER / World cup
Aug 5, 2003

New coach happy with Beckham

Real Madrid's coach said Monday that David Beckham is experiencing some problems communicating with his new teammates as he works hard to fit into the all-star side of the Spanish soccer powerhouse.
COMMENTARY
Aug 5, 2003

How the reforms have failed

"Market fundamentalism" describes the view that it is desirable to leave all economic activity to a free market. This is because a free, competitive market is "efficient" or, more exactly, "cost-efficient," say advocates of this theory.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 5, 2003

NHK fees, will-writing and shipping

The NHK man Dear Lifelines: Recently my wife, who is Japanese, answered the door to an NHK rep. She was warned that not paying the monthly fee of 1,000 yen could wind her up in court. She paid.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2003

Daiei to seek revival body's support

Struggling retail giant Daiei Inc. and its four main creditor banks plan to seek support from the state-backed Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan for Daiei's so-called Fukuoka business, sources said Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2003

Sweden to get Toshiba mail-sorters

Toshiba Corp. said Monday it has won a $12 million contract to supply the Swedish postal service with advanced mail-sorting equipment.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2003

Takefuji sanctions negligible: S&P

Standard & Poor's said Monday that the Finance Ministry's administrative sanctions on Takefuji Corp. will have only a slight impact on the firm's ratings.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2003

BOJ's share purchases slow

The Bank of Japan said Monday its purchases of shares from banks totaled 1.52 trillion yen as of July 31, an increase of 14.5 billion yen from July 20.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2003

Task force targets pension system shirkers

The welfare ministry and the Social Insurance Agency have launched a task force to help resolve the problem of unpaid national pension premiums in a bid to restore trust in the system, government officials said Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 4, 2003

Beirne tosses two-hitter in Kintetsu's 4-1 victory over Lotte

Kintetsu hurler Kevin Beirne pitched a two-hitter over the distance for his fifth win as the Kintetsu Buffaloes beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 4-1 at Osaka Dome on Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 4, 2003

Get real about the Iraq war

LONDON -- Supporters of the war against Iraq have a point: The row in Britain about the "evidence" of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's deadly intentions toward the West is more froth than substance.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2003

Responsibility for Hiroshima

As Aug. 6 approaches each year, I cannot help wondering how my best friend perished in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Possibly, like many other children, he was burned to death under a collapsed school, where I found the scattered, burned bones of children a few days after the bombing. He was...
SOCCER / World cup
Aug 4, 2003

Real Madrid practice draws 45,000 in Tokyo

David Beckham was the main attraction again Sunday as Real Madrid went through a light training session ahead of its friendly with J. League club FC Tokyo in front of a near-capacity crowd at Tokyo Dome.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2003

When hemlines start rising, don't sell short

NEW YORK -- Short skirts are in the news again. Hemlines are rising and, if you believe in statistical correlation, whenever hemlines go up, so do profits and business activity. No one has a logical explanation for this phenomenon, but it has held true for the past 30 years.
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2003

LDP leadership race heating up

With the end of the regular Diet session, the political focus has shifted to the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership contest in September. The LDP ballot is attracting all the more attention because it is expected to be followed by a general election, possibly in November.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2003

Abductees cite coercion in kids' letters

Yasushi and Fukie Chimura, who were abducted to North Korea 25 years ago and repatriated last October, said Sunday that North Korea appears to have told their daughter in the reclusive state that her parents are being detained in Japan.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 4, 2003

Seasonal thoughts on Japan's sweltering summer troubles

Summer is as much the silly season in Japan as well as elsewhere. Nothing much moves forward and the papers struggle to find suitable topics to comment on. So do economists. Here are some thoughts for the season.
COMMENTARY
Aug 4, 2003

Pyongyang: victim of hawkish irrationality

Irrational, unpredictable, insane. These are just some of the epithets our media commentators have been using lately to describe North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il. But Shinzo Abe, Japan's hawkish deputy chief Cabinet secretary and chief architect of Japan's current hardline policies to North Korea, has...
MORE SPORTS
Aug 3, 2003

Bucs stop Jets from taking off

The Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked up where they left off last season, defeating the New York Jets 30-14 at Tokyo Dome on Saturday in the American Bowl in the NFL's exhibition opener.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2003

War notes for the leaders in Pyongyang

WASHINGTON -- In recent weeks, as the heavy global workload and overcommitment of the U.S. armed forces has become apparent, some have asked if the United States could handle a major crisis or a war in Korea these days.
EDITORIALS
Aug 3, 2003

Season of mellow mindlessness

It's August, which means that, technically, we are well into summer's decline. The days are getting shorter, and September is next up on the calendar. But that is not how it feels. September seems as far off as New Year's.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
Aug 3, 2003

Activist draws on his talents to expose U.S. militarism

American sociologist and antiwar activist Joel Andreas, 46, is the author of "Addicted to War: Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism."

Longform

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