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JAPAN
Nov 13, 2003

Bilateral talks must include abductions: Fukuda

Bilateral talks over compensating North Korea for Japan's colonial rule of the peninsula must also include the abduction issue, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 13, 2003

A black hole on our doorstep

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. It's 2,600 meters above sea level and receives almost no rainfall. Visitors, when they are not tending to dry skin and nosebleeds caused by the altitude, often compare the terrain to the barren red rocks that cover...
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2003

Marubeni to raise cash via preferred share issue

Struggling trading house Marubeni Corp. said Wednesday it will raise 75.5 billion yen by issuing preferred shares through third-party allotment mainly to financial institutions.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 13, 2003

Come to Disney, go to Mars

Mission: Space, a new ride/space flight simulator at Epcot Center, part of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, takes Disney guests in a whole new direction -- straight up into space.
EDITORIALS
Nov 12, 2003

Mr. Koizumi's postelection challenges

Continuity and unity underscored Monday's meeting of the heads of the three ruling coalition parties, which gained a solid majority in Sunday's Lower House election. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, is certain to be re-elected at the outset of a special Diet...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

North Korean agent loses bid for asylum in Japan

The Justice Ministry turned down Tuesday a request for refugee status by a former North Korean agent, judging he does not face the threat of persecution because he already has Chinese and South Korean citizenship, ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

NTT posts nation's largest operating profit

NTT Corp. posted the nation's largest operating profit for the fiscal first half of 2003.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2003

Tax increase to aid welfare has broad support

More than 40 percent of the House of Representatives members elected in Sunday's general election support a rise in the consumption tax to promote welfare programs.
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2003

Planned bank edges toward fruition

The planned Nippon Industrial Bank, which will specialize in extending loans to small and midsize businesses, was granted a preliminary license from the Financial Services Agency on Oct. 31 to open in April, planners said Monday.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2003
Nov 11, 2003

Vote validates SDF's Iraq dispatch: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday that the solid majority won by the ruling coalition in the House of Representatives election represents a public vote of confidence in his intention to send Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2003

LDP may win majority in July race: simulation

The governing Liberal Democratic Party is expected to maintain its majority in the House of Councilors in the Upper House election in July.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2003
Nov 11, 2003

NCP to disband, merge with LDP

The New Conservative Party will disband and join the Liberal Democratic Party, party executives said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2003

LDP bloc weathers DPJ onslaught

The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition lost seats but managed to retain a solid majority in the House of Representatives in the general election Sunday, while the Democratic Party of Japan captured the most seats ever for an opposition force.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 9, 2003

Dancing through the storm in a D-cup

Much of the reporting about the Oct. 29 incident at Northwest University in Xian, China, in which three male Japanese exchange students danced in a university festival wearing brassieres and "fake genitals," gave the impression that the students' faux pas was a matter of cultural differences. What this...
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2003

Baghdad embassy staff to stay despite Spain exit

Japan has no intention of withdrawing its embassy officials in Baghdad despite Spain's decision to do so in the wake of continuous rebel attacks in Iraq, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2003

Ministry denies twins citizenship

The Justice Ministry will not accept the birth notification documents for a Japanese couple's twin boys born to an American surrogate mother in the United States last fall, officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2003

Economic assessment raised on business confidence boom

The government upgraded its assessment of the economy after business confidence in Japan improved significantly in the July-September period from the previous quarter.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2003

Court increases killer's sentence

The Tokyo High Court on Friday increased a man's 15-year prison sentence for killing the manager of a JR Tokyo Station convenience store, handing him a life term.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2003

McDonald's Japan set to log second yearly loss

said Friday it will probably post a net loss of 3.7 billion yen in the year ending Dec. 31, having earlier pledged to return to profitability following last year's first-ever loss in nearly three decades. In August, the firm forecast a net profit of 2.1 billion yen.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2003

Government may dispatch civilians, not troops, to war-torn Baghdad

The government is planning to dispatch civilians rather than Self-Defense Forces units to provide humanitarian assistance in Baghdad, government sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2003

Quake fires cost Idemitsu 10 billion yen

Two fires that broke out at Idemitsu Kosan Co.'s oil refinery in Hokkaido in September have cost the firm about 10 billion yen.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2003

U.S. has proposed peace accord to North

The United States has proposed to North Korea a multinational peace agreement on the Korean Peninsula on condition that Pyongyang abandon its nuclear arms program.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan