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BUSINESS
May 15, 2004

Social security costs to rise 1.8-fold by '25, hit 152 trillion yen

Japan's social security costs, including pensions, medical treatment and nursing care, are expected to reach 152 trillion yen in fiscal 2025, a 1.8-fold rise from current levels but down from earlier projections, the welfare ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2004

FSA bureau chief Gomi tapped as commissioner

The government plans to promote Hirofumi Gomi, director general of the Supervisory Bureau at the Financial Services Agency, to the post of FSA commissioner, government sources said Friday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2004

Relatives of missing demand results from Pyongyang trip

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi must achieve concrete results when he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on May 22 in Pyonygang, relatives of Japanese abducted to North Korea, and others working on their behalf, demanded Friday.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2004

Now cops spurn Mitsubishi vehicles

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp., mired in a defect coverup scandal, have been barred from bidding for police orders for 11 months, the National Police Agency said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2004

New jailers, same prison?

The stage-managed toppling of ex-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's statue will not, after all, be the image defining the Iraq war. Like the famous photo of the young girl on fire running naked to escape the horror of napalm in the Vietnam War, the photographs emerging from Abu Ghraib prison will be the...
JAPAN
May 14, 2004

COMJAN 'abduction' list grows -- despite lack of evidence

OSAKA -- On the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2003, 42-year-old Naruki Okita, operator of a small marine transport company in Taisho Ward here, showed up near the docks of Izumi Kita with his luggage in tow.
JAPAN
May 14, 2004

COMJAN 'abduction' list grows -- despite lack of evidence

OSAKA -- On the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2003, 42-year-old Naruki Okita, operator of a small marine transport company in Taisho Ward here, showed up near the docks of Izumi Kita with his luggage in tow.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 14, 2004

DPJ names 33 pension delinquents; LDP mum

The Democratic Party of Japan said Thursday that 33 of its 244 Diet lawmakers did not pay mandatory premiums for the nation's basic pension system, leaving the Liberal Democratic Party as the only major party still refusing to disclose the payment records of its members.
JAPAN
May 14, 2004

Hospitals tied to HCV fiasco to be mostly named before '05

The health ministry said Thursday it will disclose the names of all 7,004 hospitals believed to have stocked blood products contaminated with the hepatitis C virus -- but not until year's end.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2004

Ripplewood expresses interest in MMC

Ripplewood Holdings LLC is interested in investing in troubled Mitsubishi Motors Corp., according to sources.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2004

Daiei, while still ailing, now deemed 'out of intensive care unit'

Once a month, bank officials in charge of struggling Daiei Inc.'s financial affairs hold a meeting to assess how well the leading supermarket chain is rebuilding.
JAPAN
May 13, 2004

Mitsubishi Fuso faces release delays

The transport ministry will not certify any new truck or bus from Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. equipped with the firm's latest F-type wheel hub until the hub's safety is confirmed, according to ministry officials.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2004

McDonald's Japan chief quits after two years

McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) said Wednesday its president and chief operating officer, Yasuyuki Yagi, has stepped down to "mark a new chapter" for the company.
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

Militant bomber's sentence stands

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a 20-year prison term for former militant Yukiko Ekita for attempted murder and violation of the explosives law in a series of bombings targeting large companies in the 1970s.
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

Militant bomber's sentence stands

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a 20-year prison term for former militant Yukiko Ekita for attempted murder and violation of the explosives law in a series of bombings targeting large companies in the 1970s.
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

Police raid computer whiz's office

Police on Tuesday raided the office of an elite computer engineer who was arrested a day earlier on copyright-related charges for developing and offering software that allows people to swap movies and video games.
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

War criminals' poems uncovered

The themes found in a newly uncovered collection of traditional Japanese verse would be familiar to any reader here: the melancholy passing of the seasons, fleeting beauty, the inevitability of death.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 11, 2004

Insurance, pension cash and divorce

Health Insurance I have been in Japan for almost 6 years and I have paid into the social health insurance system during my 3 years on the JET Program. After I had finished JET, I dropped out of the system and have not enrolled in the national health insurance system.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 11, 2004

Kan falls on his sword over failure to pay pension fees

Naoto Kan announced Monday that he will resign as chief of the Democratic Party of Japan over his past failure to pay mandatory state pension premiums.
COMMUNITY / Issues
May 11, 2004

Kidnap crisis poses a new risk

When five Japanese were taken hostage in Iraq last month, huge public concern for their safe return quickly gave way to hostility and a campaign of vilification. A disastrous public appeal by the families of three of the hostages for the withdrawal of SDF troops from Iraq encouraged the government to...
JAPAN
May 11, 2004

Dog malpractice death fetches 810,000 yen

Two veterinarians accused of malpractice that led to the death of a pet dog were jointly ordered to pay approximately 810,000 yen Monday in compensation to the dog's owners.
Japan Times
Features
May 9, 2004

Bridging cultures with books

Whether their parents read them fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, or even encouraged them to explore Lewis Carroll's Wonderland, most Japanese have been exposed to overseas literature from an early age, and many go on to discover the likes of Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, Michael...
MORE SPORTS
May 9, 2004

Kitada jumps ahead

Unheralded Rui Kitada took full advantage of a rare slump on the back nine by overnight leader Yuri Fudo on Saturday to jump into the lead heading into the final round of the Nichirei Cup World Ladies.
JAPAN
May 9, 2004

Tokyo, Pyongyang mull Koizumi visit

Japan and North Korea are considering whether Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi can visit Pyongyang to pick up the relatives of Japanese abductees, in an effort to reach a breakthrough on the abduction issue, informed sources said Saturday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami