Search - 2003

 
 
COMMENTARY
Dec 27, 2004

Democracy by cookie cutter

LONDON -- U.S. President George W. Bush claims his policy is to promote democracy because democratic countries do not wage aggressive wars.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2004

Fukuoka by-election seen as test for party leaders Koizumi, Okada

A House of Representatives by-election this April in the Fukuoka No. 2 district will be a bellwether, not only for the future of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government but also the Democratic Party of Japan, the biggest opposition force.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

Cancer victims' kin demand ban on sales of Iressa

Families of patients who died after experiencing side effects from the lung cancer drug Iressa urged the government Friday to order British pharmaceutical maker AstraZeneca PLC to stop selling it because tests have shown it ineffective at prolonging life.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

Ministry ponders role of crime victims

The Justice Ministry released an interim report Friday on measures to support people victimized by crime that lists pros and cons regarding their participation in trial and other criminal procedures.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 25, 2004

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks get green light

Softbank Corp. officially became a baseball club owner Friday when the Internet service provider obtained approval for its purchase of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks from debt-ridden retail giant Daiei Inc.
Dec 25, 2004

Cancer victims' kin demand ban on sales of Iressa

Families of patients who died after experiencing side effects from the lung cancer drug Iressa urged the government Friday to order British pharmaceutical maker AstraZeneca PLC to stop selling it because tests have shown it ineffective at prolonging life.
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2004

Oil prices cause 28% hike in value of imports

A surge in crude oil prices caused the value of imports in November to jump to a record 4.55 trillion yen, up 28 percent year on year, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2004

DPJ lacks drive to take power

Many Japanese want the Democratic Party of Japan to take power in the next general election in the hope that a DPJ victory will usher in a two-party system that puts Japanese politics on a sounder footing. The party's latest annual convention, however, must have left people wondering whether the DPJ...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2004

Thai orphan gets one-year visa

The government Tuesday granted renewable one-year temporary resident status to a 13-year-old Thai girl orphaned in Thailand and now living in Japan with her adoptive guardians.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 22, 2004

The lady takes to King Lear

Utopia may be a little while coming in the real world, but -- earthquakes and broken bullet-train lines notwithstanding -- Ryutopia is not too hard to find if you are in Niigata, where it is the name given to the city's magnificent Performing Arts Center. Opened in 1998, the vast oval-shaped glass building...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2004

Thai orphan again denied residency; ministry might renew one-year visa

The Justice Ministry may renew for another year the temporary resident status of a 13-year-old Thai orphan living in Japan with her adoptive relatives, sources said Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 21, 2004

Grey to play in Japan

Wallaby center Nathan Grey, a member of the Australian national squad at the 2003 rugby World Cup, is set to join the Kyushu Electric Power team, team officials said Monday.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2004

Cabinet Office downgrades its assessment of economy

The government on Monday lowered its assessment of the economy for the second consecutive month, citing weakening production and exports.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2004

Chief Yasukuni priest brings business savvy to shrine

At one time, Toshiaki Nambu was just an ordinary employee at Dentsu Inc., the nation's top advertising agency, working with such clients as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.
Dec 20, 2004

Chief Yasukuni priest brings business savvy to shrine

At one time, Toshiaki Nambu was just an ordinary employee at Dentsu Inc., the nation's top advertising agency, working with such clients as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2004

Public opinion of China hits record low, national poll shows

Only 37.6 percent of Japanese feel friendship toward China, down 10.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to a Cabinet Office survey.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2004

Funding deal reached for new Kansai runway

The finance and transport ministries agreed Saturday to construct a second runway at debt-ridden Kansai International Airport to be operational by 2007, transport minister Kazuo Kitagawa said.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 19, 2004

Final warning: The horror of horrors medical TV show

The medical industry has become as scary as the diseases it treats. On Dec. 10, the government released a list of 7,000 medical institutions nationwide that handled tainted blood products before 1994, and on the same day a judge ordered the Tokyo Medical University Hospital to preserve evidence related...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Dec 19, 2004

Mannequin sculptor stars crafting heavenly bodies

Next time you spot a short, bespectacled old man closely examining a woman's curves as she climbs the station stairs, don't jump to conclusions. Instead of a would-be groper or pervert, that man could be Makoto Kakeda -- one of Japan's most respected mannequin sculptors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2004

Japanese school gets more asylum-seekers

Seven asylum-seekers believed to be North Korean entered a Japanese school in Beijing on Friday morning, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2004

Fraud sweeping nation amid rise in scam artists, police say

Fraud jumped 41.9 percent to 75,427 cases in the 11 months through November compared with a year ago, the National Police Agency said.
Japan Times
Dec 18, 2004

Japanese school gets more asylum-seekers

Seven asylum-seekers believed to be North Korean entered a Japanese school in Beijing on Friday morning, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2004

JR Tokai rapped over snub for disabled

The Justice Ministry has told Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) that it should allow access to its stations by disabled people who use electric carts, officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2004

State may downgrade economy

The government will probably downgrade the economy in its December report, making it clear things are slowing down, sources at the Cabinet Office said Thursday.

Longform

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