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JAPAN
Oct 9, 2004

Ichiro refuses national award for second time

Baseball superstar Ichiro Suzuki has done it again.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2004

Cops target black-market sale of bank accounts

The police, justice and financial services authorities have decided to do something about the black-market sale of bank accounts established for fraud crimes, according to National Police Agency officials.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2004

Obituary: Takahiro Sonoda

Takahiro Sonoda, one of Japan's leading pianists, died of a ruptured aorta at his home in Tokyo on Thursday. He was 76.
BUSINESS
Oct 8, 2004

Ito-Yokado first-half profit jumps 40% on subsidiaries' results

Ito-Yokado Co. said Thursday its first-half net profit jumped 40 percent from a year earlier to 32.41 billion yen, powered by the performance of Seven-Eleven Co. and other subsidiaries.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Oct 8, 2004

Boldly going where no bookstore has gone before

Foreigner-run enterprises rarely make much of an impact in Japan, but American publisher Lucas Badtke-Berkow is the proud owner of a small business with a big profile. Paper Sky, his bilingual travel magazine, currently in its 10th issue, has a readership of more than 45,000 and this summer it made the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Oct 8, 2004

At home with wine appreciation

Organizing a home wine-tasting party for a small group of friends can be a huge amount of fun, and is actually much easier than you might think.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2004

Hosoda defends war in Iraq

The government maintains that it had made the right decision to support the U.S.-led war against Iraq, despite the conclusion of the U.S. chief weapon inspector that there were no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction there, the chief Cabinet secretary said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Oct 8, 2004

Fee cut drives NTT into tight financial corner

The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group has been driven into a tight financial corner with its first-ever cut in charges for fixed-line phone services in the face of an onslaught from rivals.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 7, 2004

A woman's happiness is in the home . . . huh?

The term "shufu (main woman of the house, or housewife)" has shifted from derogatory to almost exalted.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2004

METI considers hostile-takeover defenses

Fear over a swarm of hostile takeover attempts by foreign firms has prompted the government to examine whether Japanese companies can adopt U.S.-made defensive measures under the nation's legal framework.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 6, 2004

Asagoe crashes out of Japan Open

Japan's Shinobu Asagoe crashed out of the women's singles competition after being condemned to a first-round defeat by nemesis Tamarine Tanasugarn at the Japan Open on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2004

Japan should bring in overseas labor: panel

The government should consider opening the country to foreign unskilled labor and work to create public support for the issue, an advisory body to the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 6, 2004

Kuehnert to head Rakuten team

Internet services company Rakuten on Tuesday introduced American Marty Kuehnert as the general manager of the company's new professional baseball club.
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2004

Aeon reports record-high earnings thanks to malls and credit cards

Aeon Co., the nation's largest retailer, said Tuesday its first-half net profit jumped 54 percent to a record 28.35 billion yen, with its shopping mall development and credit card businesses making up for the poor performance of its general merchandise stores.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2004

Hosoda coy on award for Ichiro

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda played it safe Monday when asked whether the government will offer baseball star Ichiro Suzuki the prestigious People's Honor Award.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2004

Hosoda denies North negotiator to be moved

The government will not transfer Akitaka Saiki, the diplomat heading Japan's working-level delegation discussing North Korea's nuclear threat and abductions, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 5, 2004

Trouble in paradise

It is one of the more uneven fights in the history of Japanese protest movements.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2004

Softbank goes up against NTT with fiber-optic service

Softbank Corp. said Monday it will start offering a fiber-optic Internet connection service this month, posing another challenge to industry giant NTT Corp., a dominant player in the field.
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2004

Nuclear arsenal deemed infeasible in '81

The main policy research arm of the Defense Agency in 1981 studied the possibility of Japan going nuclear but concluded the idea wasn't feasible in light of the nation's industrial and technological infrastructure, according to a research report obtained by Kyodo News.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 3, 2004

Discrimination keeps Chinese tourists at bay

Japan's neglect of its tourism potential could be called a sidelight of its overall self-image. On the international stage, Japan sees itself as culturally impenetrable and overpriced. Moreover, the xenophobia that many people accuse it of fostering has become accepted by the citizens as a national trait,...
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2004

DPJ policy chief's remarks seen as endorsing terrorism

The policy chief of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan has suggested that a car-burning incident at the Diet on Friday should have occurred at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2004

New locations sought for U.S. bases

The government will work to reduce the U.S. military presence in Okinawa by searching for alternative host cities elsewhere in Japan, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday.
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2004

DoCoMo to halt prepaid services

NTT DoCoMo Inc. plans to discontinue offering prepaid mobile phone services as they are increasingly being used to commit crime, DoCoMo President Masao Nakamura said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2004

Mitsukoshi to shut down 10 unprofitable outlets

Department store chain Mitsukoshi Ltd. said Thursday it will close 10 unprofitable outlets across the country in 2005 in an effort to boost profitability amid weak sales.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?