Search - 2003

 
 
EDITORIALS
Aug 22, 2005

For safer travel over 65

The National Police Agency chose "Striving for the World's Safest Road Traffic" as the main theme of its 2005 white paper made public recently. This is the first time in about a quarter-century that traffic safety has been the main feature of the annual report, thus denoting the agency's enthusiasm for...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 21, 2005

Hoshino, the next manager of the Giants? Not so fast!

The Nikkan Sports paper claimed in back-to-back front pages on Aug. 11-12 that former Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers manager Senichi Hoshino has been offered the job to head the Yomiuri Giants in 2006.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2005

Party leaders head out on the national stump

Ruling and opposition leaders traveled to various parts of the country Saturday to seek public support ahead of the Sept. 11 general election.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2005

Sufjan Stevens: "Illinois"

Sounding at times like The Moody Blues' "Days of Future Past" as interpreted by a roomful of high-school band geeks, "Illinois" is a 22-track concept album loosely based on the U.S. state of Illinois.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2005

Asylum in Japan eludes Myanmar's close-knit Chin minority

Hundreds of asylum-seekers from Myanmar have come to Japan to escape persecution since the 1980s, including those belonging to ethnic minorities like the Rohingya and Kachin, and dozens have so far been recognized here as refugees.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2005

Beef brouhaha dampens appetites: poll

Nearly half of the respondents to a farm ministry survey said they have changed their diets since the first case of mad cow disease was found in Japan in September 2001.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2005

Postal reform bills still top LDP agenda

The Liberal Democratic Party pledged Friday to resubmit Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's defeated postal privatization bills for passage in the next Diet session.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2005

New Komeito backs LDP reformers, rules out DPJ

New Komeito leader Takenori Kanzaki said Friday his party will stay the course and fully back the Liberal Democratic Party in the Sept. 11 general election because of its stance on reform.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2005

Wakamaru heads for assembly line

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plans to commercialize Wakamaru, its humanoid secretarial guard robot, by the end of the year.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2005

NPT fate tied to response to Iran, North Korea crises

KYOTO -- The atomic ambitions of North Korea and Iran offer direct challenges to the credibility of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, while the international community's response to these challenges will greatly influence global opinion as to whether the treaty itself is still viable.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2005

New lodgings let parents be near sick kids

YOKOHAMA -- Naomi Toyama didn't hesitate when she agreed to take her 16-month-old son, Keisuke, from Okinawa to Yokohama for a month to receive an advanced operation to cure a congenital disease.
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2005

China to swoop on Iran oil field if Tokyo pulls support: firms

On the brink of tapping into one of the world's largest known oil reserves, Japanese companies are fretting over the possibility of further rivalry with China.
BUSINESS
Aug 17, 2005

Japan to ask U.S. for details about meat violations

Japan intends to ask the United States for detailed information on the large number of violations committed by U.S. meatpackers to circumvent rules designed to prevent the spread of mad cow disease, government officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 17, 2005

Short of guests, hotels pitch kid tours

City hotels are selling packages that give children a behind-the-scenes look at the industry.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2005

Vital need for pediatricians converted pair

Ten years ago, when Dr. Yukari Kato's second child was born seven weeks premature, all she could do was pray he would survive. Happily, after time in a hospital intensive-care unit, he did, and this month he turns 11.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2005

Japan Highway exec indicted over bids

Prosecutors filed charges Monday against Michio Uchida, vice president of the Japan Highway Public Corp., for his involvement in rigging bids for bridge projects, resulting in inflated costs.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2005

Police suspect Joyu may try to retake Aum's helm

Fumihiro Joyu, the nominal head of the Aum Shinrikyo cult that launched the deadly sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, may be attempting a comeback, police sources said Sunday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 14, 2005

He hops onto a shuttle, jumps off to a media shuffle

Last Tuesday's landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery in the deserts of California capped a tense two weeks in which the safety of the vehicle and the seven astronauts it contained was never 100 percent assured. The loss of foam insulation during liftoff was eerily reminiscent of the last shuttle mission...
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2005

FSA orders Nagoya bourse to safeguard confidential info

The Financial Services Agency issued a business improvement order Friday to the Nagoya Stock Exchange due to its failure to protect confidential information in violation of the Securities and Exchange Law.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2005

12 LDP chapters set to back postal rebels

The internal strife in the Liberal Democratic Party continued Thursday as at least 12 of the party's prefectural chapters said they would back 18 of the 37 postal privatization opponents in the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election.
COMMENTARY
Aug 12, 2005

Dreams drive the nightmare

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel is again pushing legislation to reintroduce a draft in America. He first did so in 2003 to slow the Bush administration's rush to war. Now he says conscription is necessary to provide the bodies necessary for Iraq's occupation.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2005

Koike takes on Kobayashi as LDP hits postal rebels

The Liberal Democratic Party has stepped up its offensive against the rebels who voted against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills, tapping Environment Minister Yuriko Koike to run against one of Koizumi's leading opponents in the Lower House election scheduled for Sept. 11....
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2005

Japan Post finalizing delivery tieup

Japan Post is in final talks to form a capital alliance with Asocia Corp., a delivery company affiliated with the Daimaru Inc. department store chain, in a bid to strengthen its services in areas where it competes with private-sector firms, Japan Post officials said Wednesday.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?