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BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2004

DoCoMo plans flat rate for e-mail

NTT DoCoMo Inc. officially announced Wednesday it will introduce a flat-rate fee for e-mail and Internet services on mobile phones June 1 that will undercut those of rival KDDI Corp.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 24, 2004

He loves me, he loves me not

Hana to Alice Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Shunji Iwai Running time: 135 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "Shunji Iwai has a shojo manga (girls' comic) sensibility," producer Takenori Sento once explained to me.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 24, 2004

Prince of Darkness

Why did Melt Banana, a local avant-punk band, open for Bonnie "Prince" Billy on his first-ever concert tour of Japan. Simple: Melt Banana like the music of Will Oldham, the man behind the moniker, and wanted to be part of his final show at O'Nest in Shibuya.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2004

MTFG set to take Acom under wing

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. announced Tuesday it will raise its equity stake in Acom Co. to more than 15 percent, a deal that effectively puts the consumer financing firm under the banking group's umbrella.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2004

Top court loses Lockheed records

The Supreme Court no longer possesses official documents on the 1970s payoff involving Lockheed Corp. and then Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, court officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2004

Land prices off for 13th year but pace of decline is easing

Average land prices fell in the 2003 calendar year for the 13th straight year.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2004

JR East Suica card now used for shopping, dining

Holders of the latest version of East Japan Railway Co.'s Suica electronic train fare cards can now use them for shopping and dining at JR stations.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2004

Mitsubishi Fuso's recall likely to include city buses

The imminent recall of large vehicles by Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. is likely to include city buses excluded from its initial recall plan.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 23, 2004

More big sizes and outdoor pursuits

Big sizes So many of you responded to the reader looking for larger sized clothes. Here are some more tips.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2004

Pension role model a shirker herself

While reproaching the nation's youth last year in a government-sponsored TV commercial for not paying into the financially pinched mandatory National Pension System, popular actress Makiko Esumi was keeping her own dark secret.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 22, 2004

Toshiba tops Kobe to capture JRF Championship

Sir Clive Woodward famously said during England's successful Rugby World Cup campaign, "We're not here to be Torville and Dean, we're here to win."
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2004

Farewell to 'Sesame Street'

There are some American icons we would not miss too much if they were to disappear tomorrow. Starbucks, McDonald's, Britney Spears: Despite their popularity here, they all have perfectly adequate local equivalents. Japanese would still be able to drink coffee, eat hamburgers and listen to annoying pop...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2004

Jolly good show, Hidaka-san

At the entrance to the headquarters of concert-promoter Smash is an original poster for the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" single. When the group did a reunion tour of Japan several years ago, Smash President Masa Hidaka had them autograph it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2004

Nothing lost in translation of mum music

It's important to say the band's name correctly: mum, which is always written without an initial capital letter, is pronounced "moom." The band itself is from Iceland, and the name has no meaning.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2004

10% of wealthy households don't pay pension premiums

Around 10 percent of households of self-employed people with an annual income of at least 10 million yen have not paid premiums for the national pension system, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 20, 2004

Shigeko Misaki

Interest in whaling was handed down to Shigeko Misaki at first remove. Her father was minister for agriculture, forestry and fisheries when Shigeru Yoshida was prime minister and Gen. Douglas MacArthur was supreme commander of the Occupation forces. "The International Whaling Commission was the first...
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2004

Citibank data on 123,690 clients vanished Feb. 21

A magnetic tape kept in Singapore that contains information on 123,690 customer accounts at Citibank's Japan unit has been missing since last month, officials at the Japan arm of the U.S. bank said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2004

Takefuji bugging fallout continues

Tokyo prosecutors on Friday charged the former chairman of consumer loan firm Takefuji Corp. with defaming a freelance journalist who wrote an article about the firm's wiretapping of his phone line.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

Japanese packing bags for spring vacations

Japanese are headed for the beach.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2004

Booming manufacturers reward workers

Automakers, electronics firms and other manufacturers responded Wednesday to wage-increase demands from their labor unions, with Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. fully meeting them.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2004

DoCoMo to set lowest flat rate for 3G cell phone data service

NTT DoCoMo Inc. plans to set a monthly flat rate of about 3,900 yen for unlimited third-generation cell phone data transmissions, NTT DoCoMo sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 17, 2004

A 'kitchen sink' filled deep

Strange, but true: These days, the chance of seeing a quality Japanese "kitchen sink" (domestic) drama about ordinary people's everyday lives is rarer than the opportunity of watching yet another reworking of Shakespeare, Chekhov or Tennessee Williams. Now, though, and until the end of the month, theatergoers...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 17, 2004

He's gone and forgot it all again

Paycheck Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: John Woo Running time: 118 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] In the world of sci-fi literary giant Philip K. Dick, memory is a commodity and a liability. Memory is what his characters try to protect...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2004

Protesters slam Kepco MOX plan

OSAKA -- Antinuclear protesters on Tuesday called on Kansai Electric Power Co. not to restart its mixed-plutonium uranium oxide (MOX) program and demanded a public hearing before the utility signs any contracts with a French firm to manufacture the fuel.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2004

Nissan sets up sales affiliate ahead of South Korea foray

Nissan Motor Co. has set up a wholly owned sales company in South Korea in preparation for its bid to enter that market in mid-2005, a Nissan spokeswoman said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2004

IHI expects net loss for fiscal 2003

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. said Monday it has revised its group earnings projections downward for fiscal 2003.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Mar 16, 2004

LDP policy panel calls the shots, not Diet

The Diet shall be the highest organ of state power, and shall be the sole lawmaking organ of the State. Thus reads Article 41 of the Constitution.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’