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JAPAN
Mar 9, 2004

Sato allegedly lent bogus aide's pay to boost local DPJ election war chest

Kanju Sato, a former home affairs minister who was arrested over the weekend on fraud charges, lent 20 million yen to the Aichi prefectural chapter of the Democratic Party of Japan in October to be used for the Nov. 9 general election of the House of Representatives, sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2004

Subway-disaster anniversary marked

Relatives of the people killed in a Tokyo subway train collision on March 8, 2000, observed the anniversary at the accident site Monday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 8, 2004

Speed key to making most of new tax pact

On Feb. 27, a new Japanese-U.S. treaty on taxation was finally submitted to the Diet for ratification by the legislature. The treaty, if approved, will make dividends and royalties earned by U.S. subsidiaries in which the Japanese parent firm has a stake of more than 50 percent tax-free, doing away with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 7, 2004

Frank McComb: "The Truth Volume One"

One of the unremarked aspects of the current '70s soul revival is that many of its practitioners haven't paid their dues. Alicia Keys was barely out of high school before she got a recording contract, and Maxwell spent more time in the penthouse listening to Marvin than he did at the club imitating...
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2004

Police search Sato's Diet office

Investigators searched the Diet office of Kanju Sato on Friday for evidence over allegations that he misappropriated a secretary's state-paid salary.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2004

DPJ's Sato tenders resignation from Diet

House of Representatives lawmaker Kanju Sato tendered his resignation from the Diet on Thursday amid allegations that he pocketed the state-paid salary of a woman falsely registered as his secretary.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2004

Seibu execs allegedly sold bargain land to racketeers

An investigation into alleged payoffs by Seibu Railway Co. to "sokaiya" corporate extortionists has revealed that three executives of the firm sold two land plots in Kanagawa Prefecture shortly after turning down a real estate company's purchase offer, Tokyo police sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2004

Memory of feisty journalist, activist for women's rights to live on at center

The memory of Yayori Matsui, a journalist and women's rights activist who passed away at the end of 2002, will live on in a collection of her papers being established by the Asia-Japan Women's Resource Center in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2004

Tax barriers coming down

WASHINGTON -- Last November, with little fanfare, the governments of the United States and Japan concluded and signed a treaty for "the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income."
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2004

Illegal access of computers last year hit record level

Police in 2003 investigated a record 145 suspected violations of a law banning illegal access to computer networks, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2004

Sato offers to quit DPJ over salary scam

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Kanju Sato tendered his resignation from the main opposition party Wednesday amid allegations that he misappropriated the state-paid salary of a woman falsely registered as his public secretary.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 3, 2004

Giants' Latham aiming for big season after 'nice camp'

Every baseball fan knows the term "nice catch." But in Japanese sports, the use of the word "nice" to praise just about any fine play has become common.
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2004

Kumamoto Family Bank threatened with fresh rebuke from government

The government may issue a second business improvement order to the ailing Kumamoto Family Bank, Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka indicated Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Mar 2, 2004

Komeito torn between LDP, Soka Gakkai

When New Komeito backed the Liberal Democratic Party's decision to send the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq earlier this year, members of Soka Gakkai, Japan's largest lay Buddhist organization whose political arm is New Komeito, launched rare opposition to the party's decision.
EDITORIALS
Feb 29, 2004

The guru's role in murder

The marathon trial of Chizuo Matsumoto, alias Shoko Asahara, the founder of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, reached a milestone on Friday when the Tokyo District Court sentenced him to death. But, to everyone's dismay, the trial left a crucial question largely unanswered: Why did the guru and a handful of his...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 29, 2004

Pooch paradise

A dog's life in Japan can be about as close to canine heaven on earth as it gets.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Cult reiterates its apology

Members of Aum Shinrikyo apologized Friday to the people victimized by the heinous crimes committed by senior cultists on the orders of the guru, Shoko Asahara, who was sentenced to death earlier in the day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Asahara is sentenced to hang

Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara was sentenced to death Friday for ordering a series of crimes carried out by his disciples, including the March 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Eight prefectures now have antiterror units

Almost a decade after Aum Shinrikyo members released sarin on Tokyo subway trains, police in eight prefectures now have dedicated antiterrorism units to respond to nuclear, biological and chemical attacks.
EDITORIALS
Feb 27, 2004

Mr. Putin tightens his grip

Most presidents change the government after an election. This week Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed his entire Cabinet three weeks before he faces voters. The move was not an election gambit -- the outcome of next month's ballot is not in doubt.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2004

Stalking murders climbed in '03

The number of murder and attempted murder cases involving stalkers rose to 19 in 2003 from seven the year before, the National Police Agency said in a report released Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2004

Takei released on 300 million yen bail

Yasuo Takei, Takefuji Corp.'s former chairman, who has admitted ordering subordinates to wiretap journalists, was released on 300 million yen bail Wednesday, his lawyers said.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2004

Gay Iranian recognized by UNHCR loses bid for refugee status

The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit filed by a 40-year-old Iranian seeking recognition as a refugee on the grounds he would be punished due to his homosexuality under Iran's Islamic penal law.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2004

'Our Town' put through the wringer

Dogville Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Lars von Trier Running time: 179 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] There are directors I love, directors I hate, and then there's Lars von Trier, the guy who's going to give me bipolar disorder. Go...
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2004

Sweetener patent to cost Ajinomoto 189 million yen

The Tokyo District Court ordered seasoning maker Ajinomoto Co. on Tuesday to pay 189.35 million yen to a former employee for the transfer of patents on a production method for an artificial sweetener.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 25, 2004

International theater festival takes Japan to a new stage

I recently read a book about a mass breakout by Japanese from an Australian prisoner-of-war camp on Aug. 5, 1944. Some 1,100 Japanese tried to escape, but none succeeded -- indeed, 231 died, many by their own hand using prison-issue cutlery. "Voyage from Shame" by Harry Gordon (1995) portrays this breakout...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Feb 25, 2004

Discovering the bright side of the 'dark continent'

When I was young, Africa and its people were represented to me through two distinct sets of images. The first, delivered by National Geographic and other anthropological sources, were the cliched photographs of tribesmen gripping spears in their hands and bare-breasted woman balancing baskets on their...

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?