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JAPAN
Oct 29, 2003

Kan rules out specter of DPJ-JCP coalition

Naoto Kan, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, denied Tuesday that his party plans to form a governing coalition with the Japanese Communist Party.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2003

Upper House by-election win boosts LDP ahead of Nov. 9

The Liberal Democratic Party's narrow victory in Sunday's House of Councilors by-election in Saitama Prefecture has given the party a boost ahead of Tuesday's start of official campaigning for the Nov. 9 general election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2003

Death of Kim's aide seen as unlikely to have any effect on Japan relations

Japanese officials and lawmakers said Monday they see no impact on relations with North Korea because of the death of a close aide to Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Il who had been a key player in negotiations with Seoul and Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2003

Sony, DoCoMo team up for e-money cell phones

Sony Corp. and NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Monday they will jointly develop integrated circuit chip technology that will allow mobile phone users to pay for groceries and train fares using their handsets.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2003

NTV chairman resigns other posts

The chairman of Nippon Television Network Corp. on Monday resigned his posts at an industry self-regulatory body following revelations that an NTV producer paid viewers to manipulate ratings.
COMMENTARY
Oct 27, 2003

EU may bite off more than it can chew in euro-dollar rivalry

LONDON -- How fares Europe's single currency, the euro? Much too well.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2003

NTV to probe producer who bribed TV monitors

Nippon Television Network Corp. will set up an in-house investigation panel on Monday to look into the scandal involving a producer who bribed TV viewer rating monitors in a bid to manipulate the ratings of his own shows, the company said Saturday.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2003

LDP's support falls as DPJ narrows gap

Some 28 percent of eligible voters said they support the ruling Liberal Democratic Party but the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan was maintaining its support in a Kyodo News poll released Saturday, two weeks before the Nov. 9 general election.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 26, 2003

Writer behind the writer

As a reporter in Tokyo in the late '60s, what was your professional interest in Yukio Mishima?
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2003

Surrogate case hampered by legal barriers: ministry

The Justice Ministry cannot grant citizenship to a Japanese couple's twins born to a U.S. surrogate mother under the existing legal framework, but is making efforts to resolve the issue as swiftly as possible, Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2003

Iran makes a nuclear deal

A droit diplomacy by Britain, France and Germany may have averted another nuclear crisis. A diplomatic full press appears to have convinced Iran that suspending its uranium-enrichment program and coming into full compliance with its obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency are in the country's...
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2003

Nippon TV producer in ratings scam

A producer at Nippon Television Network Corp. has bribed TV viewer rating monitors in a bid to manipulate the viewer ratings of his own shows, it was learned Friday.
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2003

METI forms task force for plotting FTA strategies

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry launched a task force Friday to deal comprehensively with talks for a free-trade agreement, METI head Shoichi Nakagawa said.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2003

Ishihara tells Fujii to hold his tongue

Transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara said Friday he would not comply with a request by Haruho Fujii for exemption from the public servant's oath to keep official secrets.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2003

Redesigned 1,000 yen bills roll off presses

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki announced Friday the start of printing of redesigned 1,000 yen bills, which will go into circulation in July.
EDITORIALS
Oct 24, 2003

Mr. Mahathir and the Jews

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, under attack for telling a gathering of Islamic national leaders last week that "the Jews rule this world by proxy," has defended himself by saying that this and other remarks he made about Jews were taken out of context. They were.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2003

Koizumi fails to evict LDP elder

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi tried Thursday to persuade two octogenarian former prime ministers to retire from politics because of their age, effecting a quiet exit in the case of Kiichi Miyazawa but running up against a brick wall in the shape of Yasuhiro Nakasone.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2003

Nakasone getting little sympathy at home

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wants former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone to quit politics because he's too old -- and people in the 85-year-old's hometown agree.
COMMENTARY
Oct 24, 2003

Criticism prods Bush to tune diplomacy

So far, the war in Iraq and the issues surrounding North Korea have topped news of international events in 2003.
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2003

Nintendo buys 2.6% stake in Bandai

Major video game maker Nintendo Co. has purchased a 2.6 percent stake in toy maker Bandai Co., or 1.28 million shares, becoming one of its top 10 shareholders, Bandai said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2003

Two placed in protection at Japan consul

A Japanese man who has fled North Korea and a woman claiming to be his sister were put under protection of the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, northeastern China, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 22, 2003

'Unfair' currency rate hit

Japan's attempts to weaken the yen in foreign-exchange markets give its automakers "an unfair advantage" in the United States, a top executive of General Motors Corp. said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 22, 2003

Auto firms hope Tokyo Motor Show can kick-start demand

The 37th Tokyo Motor Show opens to the public Saturday in Makuhari, Chiba Prefecture, and the auto industry hopes the 12-day event will help stimulate the Japanese market.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 22, 2003

Cynic's view of the sex and the city

One of kabuki's most prolific playwrights, Tsuruya Nanboku, produced 120 dramas in the last 25 years of his life. This month, the Kabukiza, in Ginza, stages just two of them, a pair of remarkable sewamono (realistic plays) titled "Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu (A Pledge of Love to Sango)" and "Osome Hisamatsu...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2003

SDF to continue in antiterror efforts

Japan on Tuesday extended its naval logistic support for U.S. antiterror operations in Afghanistan by another six months.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 21, 2003

Japan still bazaar for the bizarre

It's not news that Japan is a vast emporium for some of the weirdest products ever retailed on the planet. We've all read the stories about high-tech toilet seats, used schoolgirls' underwear, million-yen pet beetles, canned whale blubber, and so on.

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