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BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 29, 2004

Knicks a long way from being a factor

NEW YORK -- Say this much for the Knicks, at least they weren't swept by the Red Sox. But, really, what did you expect?
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2004

BOJ says Japan will 'continue its recovery'

The Bank of Japan said Wednesday in a semiannual economic outlook report that the nation's economy will "continue its recovery" in fiscal 2004.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2004

Airports plan to start shoe X-rays before Golden Week

Japan will start X-raying travelers' shoes at airports before the Golden Week holidays begin in late April as part of an antiterror drive, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Nobuteru Ishihara said Tuesday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 28, 2004

Could Tillman have made greater impact on different path?

It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman last week in a firefight in Afghanistan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 28, 2004

Kanashii is a many-colored thing

For the longest time, my inner dictionary of prosaic Japanese simply tagged the word kanashii with "sad." But no more. In classical Japanese, I have discovered, kanashii has the dual meaning of both sorrow and tenderness, and can be written with the Chinese characters for either sadness or love.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2004

Disappointed by DPJ's election loss, Kan wants law forcing public to vote

Democratic Party of Japan leader Naoto Kan said Tuesday that people should be legally obliged to vote in national elections.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 28, 2004

Winning charm points with Mum and Kurosawa

The demands of stardom are not easily ignored: When Jude Law failed to show for a Tokyo press conference in early April with director Anthony Minghella and co-star Renee Zellweger, the disappointment was palpable -- not just among his many female fans, but also that of the film's distributor, who is...
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2004

Sony restructuring plan bites into 2003 net profit

Sony Corp. said Tuesday its net profit fell 23 percent to 88.5 billion yen in fiscal 2003 due to heavy restructuring expenses.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Government orders former hostages to pay up

The government has demanded that three Japanese civilians previously held hostage in Iraq pay a combined 2.37 million yen to the state to cover expenses it incurred after their release, an official representing a Foreign Ministry affiliate said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Hostages 'anti-Japan': lawmaker

A Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Councilors on Monday described the Japanese civilians recently released from captivity by militants in Iraq as "antigovernment, anti-Japan elements."
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Government relieved as LDP wins all Lower House by-elections

Government and ruling coalition leaders breathed a sigh of relief Monday after the Liberal Democratic Party won all three House of Representatives by-elections held Sunday in a possible prelude to July's House of Councilors poll.
EDITORIALS
Apr 27, 2004

Mixed marks for Mr. Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who completed his third year in office on Monday, is already one of the nation's longest-serving postwar prime ministers. Although the stratospheric popularity he enjoyed early in his administration is no more, media polls still give him considerably high approval ratings...
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Koizumi still popular as he marks third anniversary

Experiencing ups and downs but being kept afloat by generally strong public approval ratings, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday marked the third anniversary of the inauguration of his administration.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Followup beltway ruling snubs land claim

The Tokyo District Court on Monday rejected a request by local residents for an injunction to halt the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's expropriation of property for the construction of a contentious expressway project.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2004

Panel proposes Japan Post be privatized by 2012

A key policy-setting panel on Monday finalized an interim report proposing that Japan Post be fully privatized in 2012 at the earliest and maintain its nationwide network of post offices.
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Apr 27, 2004

Firms now balking at political donations

Kenji Watanabe spent the last year preaching and begging business leaders around Fukui Prefecture to donate to the Liberal Democratic Party. He was always received politely, but company presidents kept their wallets closed.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2004

LDP poised to win three Lower House by-elections

The Liberal Democratic Party looked certain to win all three House of Representatives by-elections held Sunday, according to Kyodo News exit polls and analysis.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 25, 2004

Bob Dylan: "Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall"

The striking thing about the latest addition to the "Bootleg Series" is the realization that four years into his career Bob Dylan was still a callow youth. The concert took place Halloween night, 1964, a year after the Kennedy assassination, nine months after The Beatles conquered America, but a year...
Japan Times
Features / LIFE OR DEATH
Apr 25, 2004

Only the noose can ease victims' pain

More than four years have passed since his 2-year-old granddaughter was murdered, yet never a day goes by without Tsuneo Matsumura mournfully remembering little Haruna, or having images of her flash through his mind whenever he sees a girl about the same age as she would be.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 25, 2004

Agent orange: a weapon of untold destruction

AGENT ORANGE: Collateral Damage in Viet Nam, by Philip Jones Griffiths. London: Trolley Ltd., 2003, 176 pp., £24.95 (cloth). Philip Jones Griffiths' haunting images will sear a space in that part of your memory bank reserved for nightmares and denial. They are powerful and gruesome reminders of what...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 25, 2004

Shame lies with government and media over Iraq hostage crisis

Last week, the Asahi Shimbun ran an opinion piece by writer Genichiro Takahashi that was in the form of an advice column. The anonymous advice-seeker professed to having suffered the same fate as the three Japanese hostages who returned from Iraq to a chorus of derision. After all I went through, said...
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2004

Violence drives aid workers out of Iraq

Intense violence in Iraq has driven Japanese civic aid organizations to scale back their operations there.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 24, 2004

Barkley's commentary makes him look like a buffoon

NEW YORK -- As most of us with a pulse know all too well, Charles Barkley rarely says something that isn't stone stupid unless he has impounded somebody else's original thought. And TNT couldn't be prouder presenting its Master of the Oblivious.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2004

MHI to make line for wing sections of new Boeing 7E7

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Inc. said Friday it will build a new production line to make wing sections for Boeing Inc.'s planned 7E7 airliner in an investment maneuver reportedly expected to be worth 50 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2004

Individual traders boost earnings of online brokerages

Online brokerages' earnings surged in fiscal 2003 due to active trading by individual investors during the recent stock market rally.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2004

Mitsubishi Fuso pledges to prevent future faults

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. said Wednesday it will take measures to prevent a recurrence of the defect that caused wheels to detach from its large vehicles, proving fatal on one occasion.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2004

Lawmakers agree on penalties for lay judges who leak information

Ruling-bloc and opposition lawmakers have reached a basic agreement on penalties for proposed "lay judges" who leak information, deciding that only those who leak information on people involved in criminal cases will face prison, according to sources.

Longform

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