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BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2004

New GDP calculation likely to show shrinkage

The government is maintaining its bullish view on the economy even though the real gross domestic product is projected to have shrunk in the third quarter with the adoption of a new GDP data calculating method, the economic minister said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2004

Construction firms boost profits by slashing costs

Most of Japan's major construction firms Thursday reported increased first-half earnings, due to offsetting flat or shrinking revenue with cost-cutting measures.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2004

Evidence may back Kim-Yokota link

A government delegation has returned from North Korea with material that may confirm Pyongyang's claim that Kim Chol Jun was the husband of abductee Megumi Yokota, a senior official said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2004

Iran strikes another nuclear deal

I ran has agreed to suspend its nuclear programs while it continues negotiations with European nations on the future of those efforts. While the government in Tehran is pleased with the results of the discussions, other nations, worried about the possible proliferation of nuclear weapons, should be more...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2004

New Komeito torn between two masters

A two-party political system involving the now ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan might not be far off, given the DPJ's strong gains in recent elections.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2004

Calls mount for sanctions on North Korea

Calls to impose economic sanctions on North Korea grew louder Tuesday among the Liberal Democratic Party and relatives of abductees to the reclusive state, who charged that the latest talks in Pyongyang were effectively fruitless.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2004

NPO 'skills bank' for entertainer wannabes

Tokyo Artists Skills Operation is attempting to catalog the expertise of potential movie and television performers nationwide.
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2004

Economy 'taking a breather'

The government has revised its assessment of the economy downward for the first time since June 2003, citing slowdowns in exports and production, according to a monthly report issued Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2004

Kumagai Gumi, Tobishima scrap planned merger

Struggling second-tier construction companies Kumagai Gumi Co. and Tobishima Corp. will scrap their planned April 1 merger, the two companies announced Monday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 16, 2004

Health care puzzles

Broad coverage? The Japanese health insurance system is designed to cover you anywhere in Japan, though prices vary from region to region.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 16, 2004

International voyage of dance

More than 120 top contemporary dancers from 11 nations will take part in Dance Biennale Tokyo 2004, Nov. 15-28.
EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2004

Auditors, don't be shy

Every annual report from the Board of Audit (BOA), an independent government body, makes dismal reading -- until you get to the bottom line. The latest says that 43 billion yen in taxpayer money was wasted and misused in fiscal 2003. That is the largest amount in 20 years. The report gives appalling...
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2004

Delegates visit sites linked to abductees

Japanese delegates in North Korea for abduction talks visited locations Saturday near Pyongyang and in other parts of the country where Japanese abductees are said to have stayed, officials in Tokyo said.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 14, 2004

LDP crew want credit where credit isn't due

It's easy to believe that once a person becomes a politician, he tends to lose touch with everyday reality as it's lived by the majority of citizens since he's usually too busy looking after his own interests. Nevertheless, a recent remark by Tsutomu Takebe, the secretary general of the Liberal Democratic...
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2004

Seibu chief announces program to fix up firm

Seibu Railway Co.'s president on Friday vowed to clean up the scandal-ridden firm by setting up a panel to look into the entire Seibu group and distancing itself from parent Kokudo Corp.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2004

Rakuten chief joins Ito policy panel

Rakuten Inc. President Hiroshi Mikitani has been appointed as the sixth member of a private advisory panel of Financial Services Minister Tatsuya Ito.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

Delegates meet Yokota's spouse in North

Japanese negotiators in North Korea met Friday with the apparent husband of a Japanese citizen who was kidnapped by Pyongyang's agents in 1977 and, according to the North, died in the reclusive state, a Japanese official said.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2004

Doyukai pushes government to clean up nation's finances

The Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) urged the government Thursday to come up with specific plans to sort out the nation's finances, association officials said.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2004

Japan continues tracking mystery sub

Japan on Thursday continued tracking an unidentified submarine that entered its territorial waters off Okinawa the previous day.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2004

Lawmakers question delayed response to sub

Ruling bloc and opposition lawmakers Thursday criticized the government's slow response to a mystery submarine that intruded into Japan's territorial waters the previous day.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 12, 2004

Great red hope found at Coco

Can quality wine be made in Japan?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2004

Female bank exec challenges industry

For Miyuki Zeniya, the first female full-time board member in Japan's banking industry, her challenge at Saikyo Bank is a challenge to the country's conservative banking world.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 9, 2004

Classes, groups and driving

Japanese classes I am on a month-long holiday travel staying here in Tokyo. I am interested and looking for Japanese beginner level language courses.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 9, 2004

What do you think of Japan's health-care system?

Magdalena Korb Consultant, 31 I have both Japanese health care and private health care. Here, it's like, take this medicine, but they never explain what the medicine is or what it's for. In Europe they give you a list of what could happen to you.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 8, 2004

Five economic factors point to future deterioration of dollar

The dollar's exchange rate against the yen, which was fluctuating within the 108-112 yen range until early October, has begun to move downward in recent weeks despite such negative factors as the devastating typhoons and earthquakes that ravaged Japan.
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2004

Silence the loose cannons

HONOLULU -- The U.S. presidential election is finally over! Now the hard part begins. I'm not talking about getting North Korea back to the negotiating table; that will come soon enough. Now that Pyongyang knows it has no choice but to deal with the Bush administration, it will find a way to resume the...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2004

Nippon TV corrects shareholding info

Nippon Television Network Corp. has announced a correction in its financial statements, saying shares that had been reported as held by Tsuneo Watanabe, chairman of Yomiuri Shimbun Group Honsha, actually belong to the group's holding company.

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