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JAPAN
Feb 2, 2004

Iraq commander noted for cool-headed decisions

Col. Koichiro Bansho, who is to command the Ground Self-Defense Force in its reconstruction aid activities in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, is credited with a cool head and quick thinking in combat drills.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2004

Thailand paying the price for flu coverup

BANGKOK -- Thai politicians belatedly ceded center stage to the public health experts as a strategy was mapped out to curb and contain the rapidly spreading avian flu. Until Jan. 23, the Thai government emphatically and continuously denied, in the face of mounting evidence and allegations of a coverup,...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2004

Lower House panel OKs Iraq dispatch

The special Lower House committee on Iraq issues on Friday approved the contentious dispatch of Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq, despite last-ditch resistance from opposition parties.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2004

Fukuda refuses to budge on WMD

The Japanese government believes "there is a high possibility" that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, despite congressional testimony to the contrary given by a former top U.S. arms inspector.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2004

Takefuji sorry for suing reporters over wiretaps

Leading consumer lender Takefuji Corp. has apologized for suing freelance journalists and magazine publishers over their reports on the company's use of wiretaps to gather information.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2004

Patent lawsuit costs Hitachi 163 million yen

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday ordered Hitachi Ltd. to pay 163 million yen to a former employee for the transfer of patent rights related to optical discs, quadrupling the award set by a lower court.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2004

Failed U.S. firm agrees to provide satellite, redress

A bankrupt U.S. company commissioned to build a Japanese multipurpose satellite has agreed to supply the device to Japan by the end of March, according to government officials.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jan 29, 2004

Japan is learning to love (and loving to learn) Chinese

Every day, it seems, more and more Japanese want to communicate -- in Chinese. One million Japanese, says Web magazine ChinaGate, are learning Mandarin and other Chinese dialects. At Japanese universities and schools, Mandarin has overtaken French and German to become the most popular language after...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2004

Koizumi slip delays Diet debate on Iraq

A session of a special House of Representatives committee on the dispatch of ground troops to Iraq was canceled Wednesday following a slipup by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi regarding the security situation in southern Iraq.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2004

DoCoMo open on AT&T Wireless

NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Tuesday it has kept open its option to take over AT&T Wireless Services Inc., the third-largest mobile phone service provider in the United States.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2004

File taxes, apply for passports over the Net

A public service will begin Thursday allowing people to file tax returns and apply for passports over the Internet.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2004

Store sales slide for seventh straight year

Sales at supermarkets dropped 3.2 percent in 2003 from the previous year, and sales at department stores fell 2.8 percent, according to industry figures released Monday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 27, 2004

Saving on bills and lookingfor work

Saving energy K.K. writes: "I seem to recall Jean Pearce saying she put plastic sheets on her windows to keep rooms warm, but once they're there I guess you can't open the windows easily. Do you know anything about this subject? Also, where could I buy such sheets?"
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 27, 2004

Rural life's slow death

Matsunoyama town has almost everything its residents could want: spellbinding scenery, gorgeous terraced rice paddies cloaking the hillsides, splendid new roads and magnificent public facilities.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2004

No change to government fertility rules for now

The health ministry has decided not to take a stab at revising guidelines for fertility treatment, according to ministry sources.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2004

NEC sets sights on IC tag market

NEC Corp. plans to enter the fast-growing market for integrated circuit tags, company sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2004

Japan Post to launch easier mail delivery abroad Feb. 2

Japan Post will begin offering an improved international express mail service next month featuring enhanced user-friendliness and lower stamp costs, the public corporation said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2004

PC shipment volume up, value down

Shipments of personal computers in Japan in 2003 dropped for the third consecutive year in terms of value despite the first upturn in two years in volume, an industry association said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2004

Kojima to be next Mitsubishi chief

Mitsubishi Corp. Vice President Yorihiko Kojima will become company president April 1, sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2004

Science majors want to work at Toyota

Toyota Motor Corp. is for the first time the most popular place to work among male university students majoring in science and engineering, according to results of a 2003 survey released Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 21, 2004

Making a spectacle of man's inhumanity to man

"Bent" is one of the outstanding theatrical creations of the 20th century. Ostensibly about the persecution of homosexuals and Jews under Hitler's dictatorship, what the play really addresses is the power -- in even the most disempowered circumstances -- of the individual and of love.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2004

GSDF team to build ties with Iraqis

SAMAWAH, Iraq -- An advance Ground Self-Defense Force team vowed to cement ties with the Iraqi people after arriving at a Dutch base near here Monday evening.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Yamaguchi sends out an SOS over avian flu

Chicken farmers in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the prefectural government urged the national poultry association and other prefectures Monday to help stop sales losses caused by the outbreak of avian flu there.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Online symposium to address peace

The Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and The Japan Times will open the Fourth e-Symposium on Conflict Prevention on Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2004

Universities seek credit ratings as sign of quality

A small but growing number of universities are obtaining credit ratings from agencies such as Standard & Poor's Corp. as competition intensifies amid a decline in students.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2004

Farm ministry wary of more BSE cases in U.S.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry issued a report Monday stating there are no assurances that more cases of mad cow disease won't be discovered in the United States.

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