Search - 2004

 
 
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2006

'Harry Potter' translator's spell fails on tax office

Tax authorities believe Yuko Matsuoka, the Japanese translator of the global best-seller "Harry Potter" series, failed to declare 3.5 billion yen in income in the three years to 2004, sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2006

No-permit cadaver dissections probed

A 47-year-old former assistant at Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo is suspected of allowing vocational school students to dissect cadavers without a permit, the Metropolitan Police Department said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2006

Online trading was hobby of Nikkei ad man

A Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. employee fired Tuesday after his arrest on suspicion of insider trading has told investigators that stock trading was his hobby and that he placed Internet orders from home and work -- sometimes at a rate of 100 or more per day -- sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2006

Ethanol latest bid to boost Okinawa

OSAKA -- In May, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga and trade minister Toshihiro Nikai to discuss Okinawa's future.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2006

All GSDF troops safely home from historic mission to Iraq

The last batch of Ground Self-Defense Force troops touched down on Japanese soil Tuesday, wrapping up the country's humanitarian mission in Iraq, its biggest and most dangerous overseas deployment since World War II.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2006

Life spans decrease for first time in six years; women still top world

ranking due to the special factor (of influenza), but the long-term trend of Japanese people's average life span has not changed," a ministry official said. In 2004, life expectancy was 85.59 years for Japanese women and 78.64 years for men -- both record highs.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2006

Health ministry rapped over poor quarantine plans

The health ministry's preventive measures to handle outbreaks of serious infectious diseases are inadequate and require major improvements, the internal affairs ministry said Tuesday.
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 25, 2006

Morimoto aims for success in Italy

Tokyo Verdy striker Takayuki Morimoto, who is set to join newly promoted Italian first-division club Catania on one-year loan, said Monday he hopes his skills developed at the J. League club will pay dividends in Italy.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2006

Five North Koreans barred from Japan

Japan has rejected requests for entry by five North Koreans due to tightened immigration regulations imposed after Pyongyang's missile tests on July 5, the Justice Ministry said.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2006

Japan, Indonesia hold disaster talks

Indonesia and Japan on Monday held their second meeting of a joint committee on improving Indonesia's disaster management and establishing a tsunami early warning system.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2006

Hospitals took in over 100 kids for neglect; figure on low side

More than 100 children were hospitalized because of neglect by parents and legal guardians in 2005, but that is likely just the tip of the iceberg, according to a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry study released Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2006

Human rights bill may get another try

Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura said Monday that a controversial provision on regulating media coverage in a human rights protection bill may be revised or deleted before submitting the once-killed bill to the Diet next year.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2006

Marubeni to buy IRCJ stake in Daiei within week

Trading house Marubeni Corp. will lead Daiei Inc.'s rehabilitation by acquiring a 33.4 percent stake in the struggling retailer now held by Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan, sources said Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 22, 2006

UNSC passes the test, so far

HONOLULU -- Hat's off to Pyongyang! It has helped to accomplish in 10 days what American officials had failed to accomplish in almost four years of diplomacy: a unanimous United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution that not only condemns its July 5 (Fourth of July in the United States) missile...
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 21, 2006

Onitake gets nod for J. League top job

The J. League finalized the appointment of vice chairman Kenji Onitake as its chairman on Thursday, taking over from Masaru Suzuki who left the post at the expiration of his term.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 21, 2006

Celtic epic set in Ryukyu

In an outdoor treat to rival summer's traditional fireworks displays, Satoshi Miyagi's renowned Ku Na'uka contemporary theater company is this week staging its version of the Celtic chivalry epic,"Tristan and Isolde" in the grounds of the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno from July 24-30.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2006

Ex-additive salesman warns of hidden dangers

A one-time food-additives salesman and chemist is using his insider information to warn people about the dangers lurking in the prepared-food sections at supermarkets and convenience stores.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2006

Toyota not looking to block GM tieup talks

Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe said Thursday his firm has no plan to block alliance talks involving General Motors Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2006

Fraud allegations spur police raids of Aum locations

Police on Thursday raided the home of a former Aum Shinrikyo member in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, and related places on suspicion that the man and another ex-cultist had fraudulently opened a bank account to evade taxes and to support their condemned guru's family on the sly.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2006

Trust banks sue Seibu over delisting

Seibu Holdings Inc. said Wednesday its subsidiaries Seibu Railway Co. and Prince Hotels Inc. have been sued by five trust banks over the railway's delisting as punishment for falsifying financial statements.
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 18, 2006

Morimoto gets offer from Italy

Tokyo Verdy striker Takayuki Morimoto has received an offer to play for Italian League club Catania, officials of the J. League second-division club said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2006

GSDF goodness elated Samawah: Iraqi journalist

Many Iraqis in the southern city of Samawah feel grateful to withdrawing Japanese troops for rebuilding roads, hospitals and other vital facilities there, but some have felt disappointed because they had higher expectations for what the troops could do, a Samawah-based Iraqi journalist said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 18, 2006

Preventing suicide and axing overtime pay is a risky mix

More than 30,000 people kill themselves each year in Japan, bestowing the country with the shameful honor of the highest suicide rate in the developed world. To deal with this reality, a group of lawmakers from across the political spectrum pushed an antisuicide bill through the Diet last month to force...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2006

Better schools trump caste preferences

BOMBAY -- The United States has long been divided over what it calls "affirmative action," a system of racial preferences intended to overcome the lingering consequences of slavery and discrimination against black Americans. India is now becoming divided in much the same way, and for much the same reason...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 16, 2006

And now for some good news -- on tap for everyone

We have become so used to environmental portents that whenever we hear good news we blink in disbelief, so blink away: It appears that the various concerted efforts to get people in Japan to save water has paid off.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji