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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 22, 2004

A first step to understanding the homeless

The mayor of Kawasaki, Takao Abe, is currently under attack from a group of city residents who don't want a planned homeless shelter put in their neighborhood. Last month, Abe rejected the residents' request for a meeting to hear his explanation of why a disused chemical factory in the Tsutsumine district...
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2004

Koizumi tells ministries to swap top bureaucrats

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ordered all ministries Friday to hire more bureaucrats from other sectors of the government so that they will account for 10 percent of all of its high-ranking staff within three years.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2004

Returnees' families urge pressure on Pyongyang

The families of Japanese abducted to North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s urged the government Monday to step up its pressure on Pyongyang.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2004

FSA to launch probe into major bank loans

The Financial Services Agency will conduct special inspections of major banks to assess their loans to big borrowers, Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka said Tuesday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 25, 2004

Japan's culture dictates: Thou shalt eat meat

On Jan. 15, the animal rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, announced that CBS had refused to accept a 30-second TV spot from the group for the network's Feb. 1 Super Bowl broadcast. CBS explained that its policy is not to accept "advocacy advertisements." PETA, which would...
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2004

Japan hopes Mexico is just bluffing

Japan hopes Mexico does not really intend to discontinue ongoing negotiations for a free-trade agreement by the end of March as it proposed last week, both the trade and foreign ministers said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2004

51.6% oppose SDF dispatch to Iraq but Cabinet support up

People opposing the dispatch of Self-Defense Force troops to Iraq for humanitarian operations outnumbered those supporting it in a Kyodo News opinion poll taken over the weekend.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2004

Iraq likely to dominate next Diet session

As former deputy chief Cabinet secretary and House of Councilors member Kosei Ueno prepares for the Upper House election scheduled for mid-July, he is nagged by one major concern: the security situation in Iraq.
MORE SPORTS / NBA REPORT
Jan 17, 2004

Wilkens not the right coach for Knicks

NEW YORK -- So, for a change, the New York Daily News was correct; Don Chaney was, indeed, replaced on the Knicks' sidelines by a former coach of the Cavaliers and Hawks who's represented by Atlanta-based Lonnie Cooper (as is Isiah Thomas) . . . except it's not Mike Fratello, it's Lenny Wilkens.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2003

Visaless foreigners easy scapegoats

One night in December, Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara got together to "inspect" the Kabukicho entertainment district in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, as dozens of government officials, reporters and spectators dogged their steps.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2003

Matsushita in China TV system deal

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Friday it has agreed with two Chinese companies to jointly develop a television broadcast production system based on its semiconductor memory card technology.
COMMENTARY
Dec 26, 2003

Blair's overcast breaking up

LONDON -- As the old year turns, life is looking a little brighter for the besieged British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his team, thanks to a few lucky breaks.
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2003

It's Pyongyang's move

The good news about nuclear nonproliferation is that Iran and Libya, both of which have long been suspected of harboring nuclear ambitions, have apparently changed their minds. The bad news is that North Korea, which already has nuclear-weapons programs, remains adamant about keeping them, thus clouding...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2003

Political entities' fundraising powers on wane

The amount of funds raised by political entities in 2002 fell 11 percent from the previous year to 287.9 billion yen, according to a Kyodo News tally released Tuesday.
COMMUNITY
Dec 20, 2003

Over 4,000 babies delivered and still counting

Dr. Hideki Sakamoto is late for the very best of reasons. "I had an emergency at the hospital, but am happy to be able to say that mother and baby are both doing well."
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2003

Japan balks at cooperating with China in orgy probe

The top government spokesman indicated Thursday it will be difficult for Japan to accept China's call to cooperate in an investigation into an orgy at a south China hotel in September involving hundreds of Japanese businessmen and Chinese prostitutes.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2003

Canberra's silly season of politics

SYDNEY -- Midsummer madness is already upon us. Australians can always tell when the silly season strikes by the antics of Canberra politicians. This time it's come early -- and they're playing their games with comic vengeance.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 18, 2003

Wallace lives up to nickname

NEW YORK -- The less Rasheed Wallace's silly soliloquy is scrutinized, the less exposure his fraudulence is afforded. To so much as deny his drivel, fine him for such tasteless thoughtlessness, much less waste a subdivision of space to refute such uneducated gibberish, is to dignify it.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2003

Terror threat spurs ministry panic

The Foreign Ministry was thrown into confusion Wednesday when Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima told a news conference that the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad had been evacuated -- a remark he later retracted.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2003

New Ashikaga Bank president named

Norito Ikeda, former chief personnel officer of the Bank of Yokohama, became on Tuesday the new president of the recently nationalized Ashikaga Bank.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Dec 11, 2003

A step back for democracy

MOSCOW -- Last Sunday's parliamentary elections in Russia have resulted in a sweeping defeat of democracy and a new start for the Russian nationalists.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2003

Cabinet approves plan to send SDF to Iraq

The government Tuesday approved a basic plan to dispatch Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq, paving the way for the deployment of up to 600 ground troops in southeastern Iraq early next year.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear