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Japan Times
Features
Jul 18, 2004

Bygone botanists bring the past to life

Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2004

Dental donation scandal widens

Tamisuke Watanuki, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, has admitted to accepting a 5 million yen donation from the scandal-tainted Japan Dental Association, his office said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2004

Miyake returnees to go at own risk

Miyake islanders should be responsible for their own safety if they decide to return to their island, whose volcano remains active, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2004

Health chief cool to ending blanket BSE tests of beef

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi voiced caution Friday about a possible end to blanket tests for mad cow disease in Japan, saying a policy change of this kind needs to be based on scientific grounds.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2004

Pension bills littered with errors

The government acknowledged Friday that pension reform legislation enacted by the Diet last month contained as many as 40 technical flaws, and reprimanded bureaucrats in connection with the fiasco.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2004

Jenkins should confess, plea-bargain: Baker

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker suggested to senior lawmakers of the ruling coalition Friday that Charles Jenkins, an alleged U.S. Army deserter to North Korea, should seek a plea bargain, officials said.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2004

UFJ, MTFG agree to start merger talks

UFJ Holdings Inc. and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. -- two of Japan's four major banking groups -- said Friday they have agreed to start merger talks, aiming to integrate their operations during the first half of fiscal 2005.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2004

Mideast talks end with cry for help

Israeli and Palestinian representatives on Wednesday called on the international community to help them create peace in the Middle East, wrapping up a three-day confidence-building meeting on the Middle East hosted by the Foreign Ministry.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2004

Struggling UFJ pursues merger deal with MTFG

Ailing UFJ Holdings Inc. on Wednesday asked rival Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. to merge with it in a deal that would create the world's biggest banking group, with 190 trillion yen in assets.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 15, 2004

High-flying names a far cry from good old days

Like people elsewhere in the world, the Japanese have a fondness for the good old days. My great-grandfather's "good old days" were the 1920s, a time when there were public rose gardens in Hongo, with bushes imported directly from Kew Gardens in London. That was a time when rickshaws pulled up alongside...
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2004

Support for Cabinet slides to record low

Public support for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet has fallen to a record 38.9 percent, according to a Kyodo News poll conducted after Sunday's House of Councilors election.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2004

FTC tells Microsoft to cut restrictive contract clause

The Fair Trade Commission slapped a warning against Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday, demanding that the U.S. software giant remove what it said was an unfair clause from contracts with Japanese personal computer makers.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2004

Peace group protests activists' arrest, beating by cops

An umbrella organization of 51 citizens' groups that has staged peace marches in Tokyo lodged a protest Tuesday over the arrests of three participants in one such walk in Shibuya Ward earlier this month, displaying video footage of one of them being repeatedly beaten by police.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2004

Majority of election victors back deployment of SDF to Iraq

More than half of those elected in Sunday's House of Councilors election support or condone Japan's deployment of troops in Iraq, while almost four in 10 have flawed pension payment records, according to a Kyodo News survey.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2004

Koizumi to meet Roh on South Korean island of Cheju

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit South Korea's resort island of Cheju next week to meet with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2004

METI to guarantee loans to MMC units

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday it will support cash-strapped affiliates of scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors Corp. by offering them guarantees to receive more loans.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2004

Ultraeasy monetary policy to stay despite steady growth

The nation's recent steady economic growth will not immediately lead to a tighter monetary grip by the Bank of Japan due to the inherent time lag between a recovery and a turnaround in deflation, BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 13, 2004

The big squeeze

The news from Japan these days is untypically sunny. The economy is performing at its sharpest clip for 13 years, investment and profits are up and analysts are gingerly forecasting a sustained recovery.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2004

New PlayStation due this fiscal year

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said Monday it will launch the next-generation PlayStation video game console by the end of the current fiscal year.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2004

'No time' to explain Iraq decision: official

The government did not have enough time to explain the decision to join the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq, one reason behind the Liberal Democratic Party's poor showing in the House of Councilors election, a top Foreign Ministry official said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2004

DPJ cleans up as LDP falls shy

The Democratic Party of Japan scored big gains in the House of Councilors election Sunday and was poised to outperform Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party in the number of seats won.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2004

DPJ finds favor with unaffiliated voters

More than half of the unaffiliated voters who cast ballots in Sunday's House of Councilors election threw their support behind the Democratic Party of Japan, according to Kyodo News exit polls.
COMMENTARY
Jul 11, 2004

Japan can't compete with a burning Iraq

LOS ANGELES -- Before too long, Asia might get weary of being declared by self-appointed Occidental experts as the new center of the political universe. For one thing, the notion is hardly novel in Asia. But, then again, it might as well enjoy the limelight so long denied this most pivotal region on...
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2004

Skymark to use Zero's cash reserves

Skymark Airlines Co. said Friday it will merge with Internet service company Zero Inc. on Nov. 1 to boost the discount carrier's financial base.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2004

Crown Princess' health still in doubt

Crown Princess Masako played tennis and attended a lecture with her husband, Crown Prince Naruhito, in the past week, but her ailing health has not improved, the Imperial Household Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2004

Is Pyongyang trying to win the election for the coalition?

North Korea's surprise live broadcast Friday of Hitomi Soga's kin at Pyongyang airport may constitute another indication that the country is apparently trying to back Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration ahead of Sunday's House of Councilors election, government officials claimed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2004

Firms grope for enticing product names

Nissan Motor Co.'s popular March compact becomes the Micra in Europe, while Toyota's Vitz is known as the Echo in the U.S. and the Yaris in Europe.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years