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EDITORIALS
Nov 13, 2003

A nonproliferation victory in Iran

The bad news is that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded that Iran operated a secret nuclear program and formally breached its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The good news is that the agency caught the clandestine program and forced Tehran to admit...
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 12, 2003

Plot thickens as Tuffy says he doesn't want to change teams

Now the stage is set for another blockbuster off-season deal for the Yomiuri Giants. But Tuffy Rhodes says he is not yet ready to play for another team.
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.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

Tanigaki against New Komeito tax plan

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki indicated Tuesday that he opposes New Komeito's proposal to scrap income tax cuts to allow the government to step up its contributions to the crisis-ridden pension program.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2003

Kan acknowledges LDP's success

Democratic Party of Japan leader Naoto Kan acknowledged that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government won voters' confidence in the general election Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 9, 2003

Wine trade in gear for party of the year

Just 10 days to go, and the scramble to cash in on Japan's biggest-ever demand for France's youngest wine is heating up.
SUMO
Nov 7, 2003

Akebono quits sumo, to be K-1 fighter

Former Yokozuna Akebono said Thursday he has resigned from the Japan Sumo Association and decided to become a K-1 martial arts fighter.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2003

DPJ includes reformists in prototype Cabinet

The Democratic Party of Japan will give Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka and former Vice Finance Minister Eisuke Sakakibara posts in its Cabinet if it wins control of the government in Sunday's election.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 2, 2003

Giants interested in acquiring Tuffy

The Yomiuri Giants are looking to acquire Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes outfielder Tuffy Rhodes after the slugger hit a snag in negotiations for a multiyear contract with his present club, baseball sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2003

Is media scrabbling for scoops or scraps?

Since late July, when a special law allowing the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq was enacted, the Japanese media has engaged in a fierce battle to report when, where and how many personnel will be sent to the war-ravaged country.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2003

Drug suspect, yakuza have same name

A gangster with the same name as a Japanese trader reportedly arrested in North Korea on drug-smuggling charges left Japan for Beijing earlier this month, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2003

Widespread risk-hedging seen limiting short-term menace of rising yen

A strong yen is not good news for Japanese export-driven companies. But the impact of the yen's recent surge against the dollar to three-year highs is expected to be limited for now since firms have hedged the currency risk, economists and major manufacturers said.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2003

Japanese woman bids for asylum in North Korea

A Japanese woman has sought asylum in North Korea after entering the country illegally during a trip to China in August, Foreign Ministry officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2003

Nakasone to quit after being sidelined by LDP

Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone announced he will retire from politics after the Liberal Democratic Party decided Monday not to include him in a party proportional representation list for the upcoming general election.
COMMENTARY
Oct 27, 2003

Ignorance is no longer bliss for China

HONG KONG -- U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was understandably angry that her memoir, "Living History," was censored by the Beijing publisher who put out the Chinese edition. Her comments on the military crackdown in Tiananmen Square in 1989, on her experience at the 1995 United Nations conference...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 27, 2003

War perspective of poets oceans apart

NEW YORK -- A gentleman named Paul Preusser, describing himself as "a composer and fresh graduate from the New England Conservatory," has recently written to ask if I could help him with poems of Kotaro Takamura (1883-1956). He has been commissioned to compose "a song cycle using poetry which is influenced...
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2003

Japan Highway chief sacked

Land minister Nobuteru Ishihara officially sacked Japan Highway Public Corp. President Haruho Fujii on Friday, calling him an obstacle to the government's plan to privatize the debt-strapped entity by 2005.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2003

Nissan, Renault say alliance is producing results

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- Nissan Motor Co. and French automaker Renault SA are reaping the benefits of their partnership in technological development and businesses in overseas markets, officials of the two companies said Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2003

Fujii to spill the beans at Ishihara's OK

If he can get land minister Nobuteru Ishihara's permission, Japan Highway Public Corp. President Haruho Fujii is ready to reveal what went on behind closed doors when he was at the former Construction Ministry.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2003

Cops to sniff out illegal foreigners in Tokyo

Immigration authorities, police and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Friday they will take joint action to halve the number of foreigners without visas in the capital within five years.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2003

Public pension funding increase may be phased in

The government might increase its share of the public pension burden in phases, not all at once next year as promised, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 11, 2003

Igawa snares 20th win as Tigers reel in Carp

Hanshin lefty Kei Igawa fanned eight over six innings for his 20th win while Tomoaki Kanemoto went 3-for-4 at the plate as the Tigers ended their season with a 11-3 victory over the Hiroshima Carp at Koshien Stadium for their club best 87th win.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2003

Ex-envoy spills beans on slush fund, Iraq war

The Foreign Ministry funnels 2 billion yen a year into a discretionary fund handled by the Cabinet Secretariat, it was alleged Wednesday.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb