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EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2003

No grounds for a McLawsuit

It has been a disheartening couple of weeks for hamburger juggernaut McDonald's. First came the news that McDonald's Japan, once on a seemingly unstoppable upward trajectory, will post a net loss this year for the second year in a row. Still, that was a regional headache, for which company officials...
EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2003

SDF dispatch plan needs a review

The worsening security situation in Iraq is raising serious doubts about Japan's plan to send troops for humanitarian and reconstruction aid. It looks as if the whole country is slipping into a new "war," with terrorists and guerrillas stepping up attacks on occupation troops as well as civilians. Reinforcing...
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2003

Prospects for six-party talks

HONOLULU -- U.S. President George W. Bush's recent offer to provide Pyongyang with written assurances that the United States does not intend to attack North Korea and the North's willingness "to consider" this offer provide the basis, however tentative and contentious, for a negotiated solution to the...
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2003

Takefuji exec, four others arrested in wiretapping case

Tokyo police arrested five people Friday, including a former senior managing director of the consumer loan firm Takefuji Corp., over the alleged wiretapping of a journalist.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 15, 2003

Mackenzie Thorpe

The Japan Dyslexia Society, known as NPO EDGE, exists to promote understanding of dyslexia and to raise funds to help support patients. Recently EDGE organized in Tokyo a charity exhibition of the drawings, sculptures and silk-screen works of Mackenzie Thorpe, an English artist. The recognition of his...
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2003

Nakasone still a believer in LDP, Japan

Although he is still smarting from his enforced retirement before last Sunday's election, former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone still backs the Liberal Democratic Party and the Junichiro Koizumi administration.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2003

Doctors' medical bills lower than average joe

Unlike salaried workers, who despite health insurance must pay 30 percent of their medical bills, most doctors in Japan are paying less under a different scheme that favors medical professionals, insurance union officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2003

Women appeal gender-discrimination ruling

Six women who claimed they suffered gender-based wage discrimination at trading house Kanematsu Corp. lodged an appeal Thursday at the Tokyo High Court against an earlier ruling rejecting their damages suit.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2003

State flip-flops yet again on SDF dispatch

The escalating violence in Iraq has forced the government to once again step back from its on-again, off-again schedule for an SDF mission to the country.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2003

Journalists warned about Taliban

The Japanese government Wednesday warned journalists working in Afghanistan that they could become targeted for kidnapping by members of the Taliban.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 13, 2003

A black hole on our doorstep

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. It's 2,600 meters above sea level and receives almost no rainfall. Visitors, when they are not tending to dry skin and nosebleeds caused by the altitude, often compare the terrain to the barren red rocks that cover...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 13, 2003

The indispensable vagueness of 'domo-domo'

It's when I'm away from Japan and forced to speak in another language (in this case English) that I realize just how vague Japanese can get. At home, it's possible to go through a whole day without uttering one coherent sentence built on spontaneous thought and logic.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2003

Marubeni to raise cash via preferred share issue

Struggling trading house Marubeni Corp. said Wednesday it will raise 75.5 billion yen by issuing preferred shares through third-party allotment mainly to financial institutions.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Delay likely for SDF's Iraq orders

The government will probably postpone Cabinet approval of a basic plan to send Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq until after next week's special Diet session, officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

North Korean agent loses bid for asylum in Japan

The Justice Ministry turned down Tuesday a request for refugee status by a former North Korean agent, judging he does not face the threat of persecution because he already has Chinese and South Korean citizenship, ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

NTT posts nation's largest operating profit

NTT Corp. posted the nation's largest operating profit for the fiscal first half of 2003.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

Online shoppers find 'bargain' PC in Web snafu

Marubeni Corp. will sell some 1,500 personal computers at a discount of 90 percent after posting the wrong price on its online shopping site.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Legal power sought for inquest panels

A government panel suggested Tuesday that decisions by prosecution inquest committees be legally binding and that court-appointed lawyers be allowed to function as prosecutors.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 12, 2003

Gift-giving season came early for the Hawks and Giants

"Kokubo dealt to Giants" read our headline above the story reporting the transfer of infielder Hiroki Kokubo from the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks to the Yomiuri Giants on Nov. 4. But how would this appear in the sports transactions columns listed in many newspapers in North America and around the world?
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Some diners on city's tab to remain secret

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the identities of private citizens who dined at the Osaka Municipal Government's expense will remain a secret.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 12, 2003

A mini 'Mahabharata' of epic proportions

How is your "geijitsu no aki" going? If you haven't got out to enjoy the splendors of "artistic autumn" yet, the Ku Na'uka Theatre Company's new play, "Mahabharata-Nalacaritam (Prince Nala's Adventure)" is as romantic and colorful a spectacle as any laid on by nature.
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2003

Planned bank edges toward fruition

The planned Nippon Industrial Bank, which will specialize in extending loans to small and midsize businesses, was granted a preliminary license from the Financial Services Agency on Oct. 31 to open in April, planners said Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 10, 2003

Les Bleus boot Ireland out of World Cup

The question ahead of France's Rugby World Cup quarterfinal clash against Ireland in Melbourne on Sunday was which French team would turn up, the good one or the bad one.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2003

Party heads Kumagai, Doi lose in single-seat races

Hiroshi Kumagai, head of the New Conservative Party, the junior coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, lost his seat in Sunday's general election.
EDITORIALS
Nov 9, 2003

Two paths to justice

On opposite sides of the world, two trials have been winding their way to justice along very different paths. In each case, the guilt or innocence of the defendants is not seriously at issue. These trials are hardly "whodunits." In a sense, each has been a ritual rather than a substantive procedure,...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2003

Is Japan to mainland Asia what Britain is to Europe?

The European landmass lies to the south and east of Britain, the Asian landmass to the north and west of Japan. A newspaper headline in Britain once famously declared: "Fog over the channel, continent isolated." Japan may lack such endearing chauvinism, but is far more homogeneous and closed as a society...
COMMENTARY
Nov 9, 2003

Iraq changes U.S. presidential scenarios

HONG KONG -- Seen from East Asia, American politics appear to be undergoing a sea-change. Mainly under the pressure of events in Iraq, President George W. Bush's re-election in 2004 has become much more uncertain, and it has become easier to see some of the Democratic Party's potential candidates becoming...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 9, 2003

Down Under at its fun-filled best

Australia has never really needed any ploys to lure travelers to this vast country. The natural beauty of the rain forests in the north, deserts in the dry interior and mountains in the south, all surrounded by some of the greatest beaches in the world, are more than enough reasons to take a trip Down...
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2003

Tokyo to cut officials' retirement pay

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to reduce retirement allowances for its officials from January, reflecting its severe financial situation, according to Tokyo government sources.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes