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BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2005

IRCJ taps Nippon Steel group over U.S. fund to revive Mitsui Mining

The state-backed Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan said Wednesday it has named a Japanese consortium led by Nippon Steel Corp. to sponsor the reconstruction of ailing Mitsui Mining Co.
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2005

A vacuum in Chechnya

Russia is claiming a major victory in the war against Chechen rebels with the killing of Mr. Aslan Maskhadov, leader of the Chechen separatist movement. Mr. Maskhadov has long been Moscow's nemesis, but he is also thought to have been a genuine moderate among the Chechen militants. His death may intensify...
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2005

Willcom to offer first flat-rate PHS service

Willcom Inc., Japan's largest personal handy-phone system company, said Tuesday it will introduce a flat rate for voice communication starting May 1, becoming the first domestic wireless carrier to provide such service.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2005

New leadership in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's chief executive, Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, resigned last week. His departure was in keeping with his entire term as chief executive: confused, messy and ultimately damaging to his office and Hong Kong itself. His replacement must break that tradition and restore the luster to Hong Kong's image....
MORE SPORTS
Mar 10, 2005

Jockey Okabe to call it a day

Japan Racing Association jockey Yukio Okabe, who has won a record 2,943 races, is set to announce his retirement, sources close to him said Wednesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 9, 2005

Can Lions stay focused in midst of scandal?

This could be the final season for the Seibu Lions, at least as we know the ball club by that name.
EDITORIALS
Mar 8, 2005

Military threat is counterproductive

The agenda for the current National People's Congress of China reportedly includes an antisecession bill for preventing the independence of Taiwan. The Chinese leadership wants to have the bill enacted by the end of the session on March 14. The contents of the draft legislation have not been made public,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 8, 2005

Creating laws out of thin air

With terrorists striking fear into governments worldwide, Japan too is currently considering its own version of America's Patriot Act, to be passed in a year or two.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2005

Marubeni-led group inks deal with IRCJ, Daiei over retailer's rehab

The Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan and Daiei Inc. signed a contract Monday with a consortium led by trading house Marubeni Corp. as the sponsor for rebuilding the struggling retail giant.
Japan Times
Features
Mar 6, 2005

Issey Ogata: Comic chameleon

Issey Ogata is nothing if not versatile. Alone on an empty stage, he has audiences in fits as he performs his seriously funny one-man shows portraying characters as diverse as a classic sarariman (office worker) and a folk-song diva -- one after another.
BUSINESS
Mar 5, 2005

Seibu Railway open to offers on baseball club

Scandal-tainted Seibu Railway Co. would consider offers on the Seibu Lions professional baseball club, the head of a Seibu group reform panel said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2005

Jobless rate remained at low of 4.5% in January

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained at a six-year low of 4.5 percent in January, unchanged from December, the government said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2005

DoCoMo confirms plan to drop PHS

NTT DoCoMo Inc. officially confirmed its intention Monday to withdraw from the personal handy-phone system business and will begin turning away new customers at the end of April.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2005

SMFG expects 240 billion yen loss on loan writeoffs

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Monday it expects to record a 240 billion yen group net loss for the current financial year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 1, 2005

Who do you think will take control of Nippon Broadcasting?

Masanori Wakabayashi Sales, 35 It depends on Lehman Brothers. I think Livedoor should win, but the government might help Fuji because they're worried about American hostile takeovers.
COMMENTARY
Feb 28, 2005

Police have let trust escape

The Japanese police system was once regarded as one of the best in the world, but that is no longer true. In a spate of scandals, some officers are said to have created slush funds with public money while others have falsified internal reports to improve their performance records.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 26, 2005

Late kickoff not the reason for hooligan trouble any time

LONDON -- If the matter was not so serious it would almost be funny.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2005

Mad cow panel prodded to reach decision on tests

Farm minister Yoshinobu Shimamura urged a government panel Friday to draw a conclusion quickly on whether to terminate the blanket testing for mad cow disease, in order to lift Japan's 14-month-old import ban on U.S. beef.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2005

JR East lets DoCoMo handsets serve as tickets

East Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday it will start a new service in January that allows NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s smart-card cell phone handsets to be used as train tickets.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2005

Curbs eyed for foreign acquisition of broadcasting firms

Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Taro Aso said Tuesday he has ordered ministry officials to consider revising radio and broadcasting laws to put greater regulations on purchases of Japanese broadcasters by foreign companies.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2005

FSA to assess banks' credit checks

The Financial Services Agency will conduct special inspections to ensure major banks have properly assessed the creditworthiness of their major borrowers for the year through March 31, Financial Services Minister Tatsuya Ito said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2005

FSA to discipline Meiji Yasuda

The Financial Services Agency plans to order Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. later this month to suspend part of its business activities for about two weeks over alleged illegal sales practices, FSA sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2005

BOJ leaves monetary policy alone amid new uncertainties

The Bank of Japan said Thursday its policy-setting panel has left its ultraloose monetary policy unchanged.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2005

Japan Post deliveries hit record high

The number of parcels Japan Post delivered between last April and early this month has reached a record 184.97 million, according to the governmental postal service agency.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2005

Keeping it all in the community

Ten years ago a loosely knit group of friends started hanging out on a regular basis at a local community center in East L.A. They had no money (and still don't by any reckoning), but they cared about their community, and counted on it for inspiration and support. The cultural diversity of East L.A....

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