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OLYMPICS
Jul 12, 2005

IOC decision to drop baseball not welcome news in Japan

Japan did its best to keep baseball in the Olympic program. That made the decision by the International Olympic Committee to drop the sport from the 2012 London Games that much harder to take.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2005

Three major home improvement centers to merge in 2006

Three major home center operators said Monday they will merge their operations under a joint holding company Sept. 1, 2006, to create Japan's largest home center group.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 12, 2005

A fight to the death

Her bony, 80-year-old body floating around inside a nylon shirt and cigarette permanently clamped between what appear to be her two remaining front teeth, Kan Kyon Nam is an unlikely illegal squatter.
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2005

A skittish reform pendulum

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills cleared the Lower House on July 5 by only five votes, demonstrating the strength of anti-Koizumi forces in the governing Liberal Democratic Party. The narrow margin reflected severe criticism of not only the legislation but also Koizumi's...
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2005

U.K. attacks trigger official fears that Japan is next

Thursday's deadly terrorist bombings in London raised fresh concerns among Tokyo officials Friday that Japan might be the next target due to its support for the U.S.-led war on Iraq.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2005

Core machinery orders plummet 6.7%

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell in May by a larger-than-expected 6.7 percent from the previous month to 952.5 billion, yen the government said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2005

Women's gyms find favor with females wanting to shape up

Women's gyms are mushrooming in Tokyo, attracting those who want to work out and lose weight without having to worry about men viewing their exertions.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jul 9, 2005

Brace for more bipartisan battles in wake of Supreme Court justice's retirement

WASHINGTON -- The July 1 announcement by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that she is retiring marks the end of a distinguished 24-year career, and the beginning of a crucial struggle by President George W. Bush to find a replacement.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2005

Samawah security deteriorating: Tokyo

Tokyo perceives a deterioration in security conditions in the southern Iraq city of Samawah, where Ground Self-Defense Force troops are stationed on an aid mission, a government official in Japan said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2005

'G4' submits resolution on UNSC, finds just 23 backers

Japan, Germany, India and Brazil jointly submitted a resolution Wednesday at U.N. headquarters in New York to expand the U.N. Security Council, with only 23 other members listed as joint backers.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2005

Regional economies seen on positive tack

Several regional economies improved in the last three months, but high oil prices and slower growth in China raised worries in some regions, the Bank of Japan's branch managers reported Wednesday during a quarterly meeting at the central bank.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2005

Cabinet disapproval rate at 45.5%, exceeds support

The disapproval rate for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet stands at 45.5 percent, exceeding the approval rate of 42.6 percent for the first time in seven months, according to a Kyodo News survey conducted after Tuesday's passage of postal privatization bills in the House of Representatives....
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2005

Advances in Tokyo poll cast DPJ as bona fide rival of LDP

Sunday's Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election results mirrored a recent trend in national polls, with the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan competing in what increasingly appears to be a two-party rivalry.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2005

'04 tax revenue up 5.3% as jobs, dividends grow

In a sign the economy is growing stronger, tax revenues in fiscal 2004 rose 5.3 percent from the previous year to 45.59 trillion yen for the first increase in four years, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2005

Lawmakers' average income drops to new low

The average annual income reported by members of both houses of the Diet dropped to a record-low 23.59 million yen in 2004, down 5 percent from the previous low of 24.81 million yen in 2003, according to a tally by Kyodo News based on annual reports released Monday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 3, 2005

This is Japan and yes, it's easy to net a pet to enjoy a dog-day life

Ten years ago I was in San Francisco and dropped by the local SPCA's pet-adoption facility in the Mission District to make a donation. When I was living in the city years before, I had adopted a cat there that was still living with me, and I wanted to express my appreciation.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 3, 2005

Many ways to view a temple

MUROJI: Rearranging Art and History at a Japanese Buddhist Temple, by Sherry D. Fowles. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005. 296 pp.; 13 color plates and many b/w illustrations, drawings, maps; $50.00 (cloth). Muroji, one of Japan's most beautiful temples, was founded near Nara in the late 8th...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2005

Forum mulls ways to make racial discrimination illegal here

Citing racial slurs by politicians and biased news reports playing up an increase in crimes committed by foreigners, participants in a Tokyo symposium called Thursday for a legal framework that would eradicate racial discrimination in Japan.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2005

Bank client data loss at 1.8 million

Customer data loss cases at major Japanese banking groups, regional banks and credit unions mounted to more than 1.8 million as of Friday, according to a tally compiled by Kyodo News based on their announcements.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2005

Jobless rate stayed unchanged at 4.4% in May

Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which dropped to its lowest level in more than six years in April, remained unchanged at 4.4 percent in May, while the number of jobless people fell for the 24th straight month, the government said Friday, underscoring the resilience of the nation's labor...
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2005

Law passes to facilitate M&As but allow for takeover defenses

The House of Councilors on Wednesday passed into law a bill to update the corporate legal system, facilitate mergers and acquisitions and enhance defenses against hostile takeovers.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2005

Asylum lawyers threaten boycott

A group of lawyers who represent people seeking asylum threatened Wednesday to boycott appeals hearings for their clients unless the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau changes its procedures.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Jun 30, 2005

"Silverfin," "Baby Touch Playbook"

"Silverfin," Charlie Higson, Puffin Books; 2005; 372 pp. For James Bond's legions of males fans (this possibly includes your father), Charlie Higson's "SilverFin" is news of the best kind. Not for this reviewer, though, who belongs to the female half of the planet and whose grouse is that there are already...
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2005

Imperial prayers for war victims

Japanese got another chance to ponder war and peace following the June 23 commemoration of those killed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 -- this was the recollection of the battle for Saipan, now part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 61 years ago.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2005

China seizes Japanese school's textbooks

Chinese authorities have confiscated 128 Japanese social studies textbooks ordered by a Japanese school in Dalian because they contain "inappropriate descriptions" of Taiwan and mainland China, government officials said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY
Jun 28, 2005

Curing that constant chocolate craving

Food for thought Steph in Saitama writes: "I like Japanese food a lot, but every now and then I get a craving for goodies that are nowhere to be found in my area. I could ask my mom to send a care package, but I'd feel silly asking her to send an emergency supply of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Any suggestions?"...

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