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JAPAN
Sep 16, 2006

Asahara's execution finalized

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a special appeal by lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, finalizing the death sentence for the man who masterminded the cult's horrific nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2006

Horie ordered profit inflation tactics, Miyauchi says

Livedoor Co.'s former Chief Financial Officer Ryoji Miyauchi testified about his former boss Takafumi Horie in court Friday and said that he and other former executives acted on orders from Horie to inflate the company's earnings for the business year to September 2004.
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2006

Mixi shares close at 3.12 million yen

Shares of Mixi Inc. ended their second day of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at 3.12 million yen Friday, up from the initial price of 2.95 million yen fetched in the morning.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2006

Abe, LDP sued over history text approval

A group of people Thursday filed a lawsuit against Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party with the Tokyo District Court, claiming they broke the law by intervening in the approval process for a revisionist history text.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2006

Mixi skyrockets in stock market debut

Shares of Mixi Inc., Japan's most popular social networking site, shot up during the company's stock market debut Thursday as buy orders swamped sell orders and more than doubled its initially offered price.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2006

Uptrend in business failures shown tailing off in August

The number of corporate bankruptcies rose 1.4 percent to 1,169 in August from the previous year, but it was the third-lowest figure for any August in the past 10 years, a private credit research agency said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 14, 2006

Allegations of plagiarism raised by kaleidoscope installation in Echigo-Tsumari

Picasso once said, "good artists copy, great artists steal." Of course, it has never been as simple as that. Questions concerning artistic authenticity, honest or dishonest intentions and outright plagiarism have been around ever since societies began to consider artistic expression the unique product...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2006

Twins wreak havoc in Poland

LONDON -- "I am afraid that with Jaroslaw Kaczynski as prime minister, Poland will become more extreme, more anti-European and a more xenophobic country," warned Bronislaw Komorowski, a member of the opposition Civic Platform party, when the second Kaczynski twin was made prime minister by his brother,...
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Builders face 6.7 billion yen in penalties for rigging bridge bids

The government and four highway operators are seeking payment of 6.7 billion yen in penalties by Sept. 29 from 38 contractors for allegedly rigging bids on bridge projects since 2003, government officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Imperial imposters get 26 months

The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a man and a woman to 26 months in prison for staging a fraudulent wedding reception in which they pretended to be members of the Imperial family and bilked guests out of 12 million yen in cash and a painting.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Trouble looms as foreign labor floods in

OSAKA -- It's 2030, and Japan is facing an unprecedented social problem. For the past quarter-century, ever since the population began declining, the government has encouraged the hiring of foreign laborers. But measures to control immigration have failed, and in some towns and villages foreigners now...
BUSINESS
Sep 12, 2006

Nissan finishes high-speed test facility in Hokkaido

Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it has built an 8.1-km high-speed test track in Rikubetsu, Hokkaido, at a cost of 3.2 billion yen.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Criminal penalties eyed to stem 'amakudari'

A government plan to prevent ministry officials from taking jobs with companies they once regulated calls for criminal penalties against violators and the establishment of an agency to monitor compliance, sources said Monday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 12, 2006

How can I get a mortgage in Japan?

F. wants to know if there are any banks that will give home ownership loans to foreigners who do not have permanent residence status.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 12, 2006

Picking a yoga teacher needn't cause a strain

For anyone interested in yoga, the first step is finding the right teacher.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 12, 2006

Permanent residency

As more foreigners choose to remain in Japan long-term, increasing numbers have sought a status change to reflect their commitment to the country and make it easier to build a stable life here.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 10, 2006

Out of the well, but into the fire

FROG IN THE WELL: Portraits of Japan by Watanabe Kazan 1793-1841, by Donald Keene. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006, 290 pp., including endnotes, bibliography, index and 38 color illustrations, £24.50 (cloth). Watanabe Kazan is not nearly as well known in Western countries as his contemporary...
EDITORIALS
Sep 9, 2006

Mr. Horie gets his day in court

Mr. Takafumi Horie, once the high-flying president of the Internet service firm Livedoor Co., who was known for his T-shirt-and-slacks attire, appeared in public this week in a suit and tie. This time he was in Tokyo District Court charged with violating the securities law. Reflecting not only public...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 8, 2006

Hyde Park

When and where: Saitama is really part of Tokyo, except when you get far enough out and places like Inariyama Park in Sayama feel a bit like Woodstock. That's even more the case on Sept. 9 and 10 (noon to 8:30 p.m.), when more than 20 bands perform at the Hyde Park Music Festival.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 8, 2006

Shakespeare performed in Sendai's native tongue

The Shakespeare Company Japan has been incorporating local Japanese dialects and settings in its innovative adaptations of plays by The Bard since it was founded in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture in 1993.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2006

Princess Kiko delivers a boy

Princess Kiko, the wife of Prince Akishino, the Emperor's second son, gave birth to a boy Wednesday morning, a long-awaited male heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2006

A.Q. Khan remains a hero in Pakistan

MADRAS, India -- If there is one man who can be held singularly responsible for nuclear proliferation, it has to be Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb. Khan was a metallurgist before he became a nuclear businessman. That's what he was: He ran a "Nuclear Wal-Mart," according...
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2006

Legal reforms changing nation's courts

, we now have to carefully narrow them down to 10, and the points of argument from 20 to five," said Kunihiko Sakai, a prosecutor with the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office, which is overseeing the changes. "For more than 50 years, we took it for granted that the judges will read everything we submit,...
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2006

U.S., Japan to take action on Pyongyang resolution

The chief U.S. negotiator on North Korea said Tuesday he and Japanese officials have reaffirmed their nations' cooperation in fully implementing through "concrete action" a U.N. resolution to prevent Pyongyang from conducting more missile tests.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2006

Effort to beef up overseas TV

A government panel Monday began discussing ways to increase government and business cooperation for enhancing Japan's international television broadcasting capabilities and its ability to send information abroad, the communications ministry said.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2006

Capital spending up 16.6% in April-June quarter

Companies' capital spending rose 16.6 percent in the April-June quarter on an all-industry basis from a year earlier, marking the sharpest expansion since comparative data became available in July-September 2002, according to a Finance Ministry survey released Monday.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji