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JAPAN
Apr 14, 2004

Captives' families press on despite exhaustion

Despite visible exhaustion due to lack of sleep and anxiety, relatives of the three Japanese taken hostage last week in Iraq continued their desperate appeal Tuesday for the release of their loved ones.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2004

Consumers get food maker database

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to create a database of farmers, food manufacturers and distributors to enable consumers to track the production process and confirm food safety, according to officials.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2004

By-election races focus on Iraq, pensions

The Japanese hostage crisis in Iraq and pension reform weighed heavy on the agenda as House of Representatives by-election campaigning kicked off Tuesday in Saitama, Hiroshima and Kagoshima prefectures.
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.
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2004

Disillusionment over Iraq

LONDON -- In March 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair apparently believed that there was an imminent threat that Iraq might use weapons of mass destruction. A majority of British voters were accordingly persuaded that Britain was probably justified in taking part in an attack on the tyrannical regime...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2004

Government scrambles for info on hostages and captors

The government continued Saturday trying to gather information on the whereabouts of three Japanese nationals taken hostage in Iraq and details of their captors.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2004

52% of young adults uninterested in science, survey shows

More than half of Japanese between the ages of 18 and 29 are not interested in science, and the percentage is growing despite an increased exposure to information technology products, according to a government poll.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2004

Crisis HQ established in Jordan

The government set up an emergency office at the Japanese Embassy in Jordan to facilitate a possible release of the three hostages in Iraq before Sunday night, the presumed deadline for Japan to withdraw its troops or risk their deaths, officials said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 11, 2004

'Experimental novelist' kicks the regular rulebook into touch

During a recent tour to Guam, members of the Tsunami Teetotallers (a Japan-based ad hoc rugby team) were left speechless when, during prematch introductions, their scrumhalf Richard Beard declared himself to be an English "experimental novelist."
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2004

Acquaintances of hostages express shock at abductions

Aid workers and journalists who know the three Japanese kidnapped by a militant group in Iraq expressed grave concern over the situation Friday, with some vowing to do whatever it takes to bring them back alive.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2004

Abductees' kin want SDF out immediately

Relatives of the three Japanese civilians held captive in Iraq by apparent terrorists asked the government Friday to withdraw the Ground Self-Defense Force troops from Iraq in line with the kidnappers' demand.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2004

Low pollen count nothing to sneeze at

Pollen levels from cedar and cypress trees this year are expected to drop sharply from 2003, a pollen information association said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2004

Land ministry to prod realtors on renting to foreigners

The land ministry will compile guidelines for real estate agents on procedures for leasing property to foreign renters to make it easier for them to obtain housing, ministry officials said Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 8, 2004

Report condemns Bush's corruption of science

Kurt Gottfried, professor emeritus of physics at Cornell University and Chairman of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), is very concerned about the Bush administration.
JAPAN / BULLETIN BOARD
Apr 7, 2004

Foreigners offered free consultations with lawyers

Foreign residents in western Tokyo can benefit from free consultations with lawyers, labor consultants and experts in other fields on April 24.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2004

Mitsubishi Fuso in firing line

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Tuesday that Mitsubishi Fuso Bus and Truck Corp. failed to report about in-house documents showing design flaws in its large vehicles might have caused wheels to detach, and threatened to take legal action.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2004

Ex-cancer patients left in the dark, worry about recurrence

Most former cancer patients fear the often fatal disease could return, and many fret over the inadequate explanation they get from their doctors, a recent health ministry survey found.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 6, 2004

Otaku proud of it

I wouldn't be offended if someone called me an otaku," says Koichi Nakayasu, ". . . because I am."
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2004

Chance to pick up and move

WASHINGTON -- On May 1, the European Union will grow by 10 new members, mostly from Eastern Europe. In public, the optimism is great as is the gloating at overtaking the United States in population, gross domestic product and currency strength. In private conversations, however, there is great fear of...
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2004

Nurturing the sprouts of recovery

Japan's economic recovery, supported chiefly by large, export-oriented manufacturers, is spreading to other sectors, according to the Bank of Japan's quarterly survey on business sentiment. However, it is premature to conclude that the economy is headed for a self-sustaining recovery led by domestic...
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2004

JR East workers use Suica cards as ID

They look like commuters passing the ticket wickets at train stations, flashing their electronic train-fare cards at a scanner.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

NKK may have paid off mob to quell incinerator outcry

Steelmaker NKK Corp., now known as JFE Engineering Corp., is suspected of using some 500 million yen in undeclared income to quell opposition to its construction of two waste incinerators.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2004

State subsidies went to officials

Around a dozen health ministry officials were paid a total of at least 10 million yen in fiscal 2000 and 2002 by a private company for editing training videos for public nurses, the health ministry said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2004

Lessons from the Okamoto case

The Tokyo High Court earlier this week rejected a U.S. request to extradite a medical researcher to face charges of industrial espionage in the United States. The court ruled that Mr. Takashi Okamoto, a former employee of the Japanese government-affiliated Institute of Physical and Chemical Research,...

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight