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BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 6, 2005

Income gap among Japanese expanding, but not by much

Traditionally, the income gap between the rich and the poor has been rather small in Japan, creating what has become known as the "all-Japanese-as-middle class" mentality.
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2005

Sex crime recidivism

In view of recent crime trends, measures to prevent the repetition of crimes have become an issue. What especially needs to be addressed is how to prevent the same people from repeating sex crimes. In November, the public was alarmed by the kidnapping and murder of a 7-year-old girl in the city of Nara....
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2005

'Dead Man Walking' author seeks to end control of the noose

The death penalty is part of the same societal paradigm as war, as both are used by the state to impose control through violence, according to Sister Helen Prejean.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

Hamauzu censured for false charge

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly adopted a motion Thursday to censure Vice Gov. Takeo Hamauzu for falsely accusing a metro vocational school of mismanagement.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2005

Ruling bloc bill to put card theft onus on banks

The Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner New Komeito agreed Thursday to a bill that would require financial institutions to compensate depositors for losses incurred from stolen or forged cash cards unless the users are mainly at fault, officials from the two parties said.
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2005

Not out of the woods yet

Japan's major banking groups all achieved their fiscal 2004 target of halving their bad-loan ratios, which had been considered a stiff hurdle to their recovery of sound management. All of them expect to make a profit in the current fiscal year, ending in March 2006. The disposal of the legacy left by...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2005

Medical approach mulled as way to curb sex offenders

The education ministry will start conducting research with prison and correctional authorities on whether medical treatment can be an effective way to prevent sex offenders from repeating their crimes.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2005

Japan yet to conclude holdout report is hoax

The government has not dismissed the possibility that two former Imperial Japanese Army soldiers are hiding out in the Philippines, officials said Wednesday, despite mounting suspicions the story is a hoax.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2005

Rise in defamation suits threaten media: journalists

The increasing number of lawsuits being filed in response to allegedly defamatory news articles is posing a threat to media organizations and freedom of expression by discouraging aggressive reporting, several journalists said at a recent symposium in Saitama.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2005

JR West vows to relax strict timetables

West Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday it will increase the flexibility of its timetables to reduce the pressure on drivers to be on time, according to a report on safety measures submitted to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.
BUSINESS
May 26, 2005

OIE rules not tough enough on BSE? Prove it: adviser

Japan will need to provide sound scientific evidence if it plans to have stricter regulations to combat mad cow disease than the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), according to an honorary adviser to the international body.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 25, 2005

Designs to refresh the spirit

Some Westerners, when faced with Oriental creativity, have a tendency to gush. Instead of taking a calm, rational, inquisitive point of view, they tend to ascribe the aesthetic effect of what they see to some mysterious, spiritual force -- whether they call it Zen, Tao, yin and yang -- something they...
BUSINESS
May 25, 2005

ATMs need to take foreign cards: critics

The inability of most automated teller machines at Japanese banks to accept foreign credit cards has long irritated tourists and short-term foreign residents in a country where cash still plays a key role in everyday life.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2005

Too soon to let computers replace university libraries

at Houston has announced that it is removing almost all the books from its undergraduate library to provide space for a digital learning center, where students can use computers to access a wide variety of information. University officials are proud to be leading a trend. It is good to see academia catching...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 24, 2005

Here comes the fear

Japan is following other developed countries in drafting antiterrorism laws.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 24, 2005

NTT Com to offer fragrances via Net

NTT Communications Corp. said Monday it has developed a way to offer fragrances via the Internet.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 22, 2005

It's not all quiet on the (Middle-) Eastern front after the abduction

After it was learned that Akihiko Saito, a Japanese national working for a British security company in Iraq, was captured by a militant group during an ambush, the media seemed so stunned by the revelation that they couldn't get their bearings. So they seized on the only source of local information they...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 21, 2005

Johnson gets ready for night out in Tokyo

Rugby fans, collectors of sports memorabilia, lovers of sporting trivia and those that enjoy the dry sarcastic humor made famous by British comedians over the years are in for a treat on June 10 at Tokyo's Westin Hotel.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 21, 2005

Collaborating on Japan's photography masters

Mumi Trabucco and Kanji Embutsu share a passion for photography. Which is why -- if not how -- they have come to be working together on the two-day exhibition "Modern Masters of Photography -- Japan" to be staged at Prudential Tower in Tokyo's Akasaka-Mitsuke on May 28 and 29.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2005

LDP draws up bill on card-crime redress

The Liberal Democratic Party has outlined a bill that would oblige financial institutions to compensate victims of cash card thefts and card forgery, party members said.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2005

Odakyu berated over bogus data

Financial Services Minister Tatsuya Ito slammed three firms of the Odakyu Electric Railway Co. group Friday for failing to correct fabricated financial statements regarding the identity of their shareholders.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2005

Economic assessment left intact

The government on Thursday left its overall assessment of the economy unchanged for a fifth straight month, stating that a slight improvement in exports was offset by weaker housing construction.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2005

BOJ expected to keep liquidity target

Despite stronger than expected economic growth in the first quarter of 2005, the Bank of Japan is expected to stick to a monetary-easing framework until it sees more evidence the economy is on route to stable recovery, BOJ watchers said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2005

TSE won't shed regulatory division

The Tokyo Stock Exchange has no intention of spinning off the division that sets rules for listing applications and equities transactions when the bourse becomes a listed company later this year, TSE President Takuo Tsurushima said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 17, 2005

Foreign victims lacking a voice

As a foreigner living in Japan, it's often difficult to blend it with the crowd. While at times this might be fun, at others it can be a catalyst for trouble.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
May 15, 2005

Cannon fodder won the war

MOSCOW -- Writing a book is not unlike planting a garden. You make elaborate plans for each section; you comb encyclopedias and guides for advice; you collect every piece of information about the species that interests you; you say to yourself that, unlike other gardens, yours is going to be consistent,...
COMMUNITY
May 14, 2005

Extraordinary Ainu strut their stuff in Scotland

Val Aldridge is the researcher of the exhibition "The Extraordinary: A People Called Ainu," which opened at Scotland's Perth Museum and Art Gallery in April and will run through to the end of the year. It is hoped that it will generate some interest in July when the Group of Eight summit takes place...
EDITORIALS
May 13, 2005

Revitalizing the startup spirit

Small businesses play an important role in creating jobs and invigorating markets. Since the mid-1990s, however, the number of small-business startups has declined, according to this year's white paper on small and medium-size enterprises. The question is how to reverse the trend. The report calls for...

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes