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BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2003

Takenaka disowns reshuffle remarks

Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka said Friday he was considering lodging a protest the same day with the Financial Times newspaper for printing comments attributed to him that he claims he never made.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 1, 2003

Buccaneers, Jets ready to rumble in American Bowl

Defensive tackle Warren Sapp of the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers has only been in Japan for a day but already likes what he sees.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2003

Terrorists find new haven in a quiet corner of Asia

SINGAPORE -- The failed mutiny by 300 Philippine Army soldiers, which gripped Manila's financial district for 21 hours on Sunday, highlighted the intricate problem of security and terrorism in Southeast Asia.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 1, 2003

Armstrong's indelible spirit amazing

Like the changing of the seasons, another Tour de France has come and gone and Lance Armstrong has ridden off victorious again.
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2003

More trouble in Manila

As more information emerges about last weekend's failed mutiny in the Philippines, old fears about the stability of the country have resurfaced. The peaceful conclusion of the episode is to be applauded, but charges that the rebellion was a cover for a coup d'etat raised again the specter of instability....
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2003

Fiscal 2001 saw profits at foreign firms slide 0.2%

Foreign companies operating in Japan saw their combined pretax profits for fiscal 2001 slip 0.2 percent from the previous year to 1.22 trillion yen, marking the first decline in four years, according to a government survey released Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2003

Too rich, too complex to be run by slaves

HONG KONG -- China's new premier, Wen Jiabao, on his first visit to Hong Kong in his new job gave a resounding speech, declaring that local people were in charge of their own destiny. The question now is whether he meant it and whether the leaders in Beijing are prepared to trust the maturity of Hong...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2003

The transmutable Mr. Blair

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair is back in London after his whirlwind tour of Northeast Asia. For many of us the high point of his tour were the delightful moments at Tsinghua University in Beijing when, following a range of predictable questions that he answered with the usual bromides, he was asked...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Aug 1, 2003

901 just wants to play; Games in the mist

She has, for nearly all her life, wanted one thing most of all -- to play. Whether it be in the sanctuary of fantasy anime worlds or along a deep spiritual vibe for healing the soul, just let this woman play.
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2003

RCCJ enlists six banks for revival bids

Resolution and Collection Corp. of Japan has concluded contracts with six banks to farm out corporate rehabilitation efforts under a trust system, the president of the government-backed loan collection body said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2003

Donor of 5.95 million yen has change of heart

Police on Thursday returned 5.95 million yen in cash to a Gunma Prefecture man who had sent the funds anonymously to six public entities in early June.
EDITORIALS
Jul 31, 2003

'Preemptive' bailout system in doubt

For at least the past six months, the Financial System Council, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has tackled a delicate question: Is it necessary to create a system for bailing out banks "preemptively" so that the government can supply cash to lenders with potential problems? The...
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2003

Prisons told to end dodgy job schemes

The Justice Ministry ordered correctional institutions in mid-July to put an end to deceitful manufacturing-work schemes, including disguising the country of origin of products, according to documents obtained Wednesday by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2003

Osaka tourism gambling on casinos

OSAKA -- Local convention and tourism officials said Wednesday they would welcome the chance to build casinos here should the central government decide to legalize gambling.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2003

Toshiba's net loss almost doubled in April-June quarter

Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday its group net loss widened to 36.85 billion yen in the April-June quarter from 18.8 billion yen a year earlier.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2003

Study hopes to dampen boozing

In a bid to reduce drinking in Japan, a health ministry team is conducting the country's first nationwide study on the hazards of alcohol consumption on health and human relations, researchers said Wednesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 31, 2003

Busy by astonishing design

Earlier this year, I watched a number of bumblebees droning back and forth over the ground cover in mountain forest near my home in Hokkaido. They were seemingly oblivious to me. Occasionally one would land, and disappear beneath the leaf litter, or go down a mouse hole or into a crevice, only to emerge...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 31, 2003

When in doubt, just blame it on the wind

The Japanese have traditionally described their island country as being governed by the forces of mizu (water) -- what, with all this rain falling for what seems like 360 days of the year, but our grandmothers say kaze (wind) is the other ruling force that tends to be overlooked. Mizu will wash everything...
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2003

China under more pressure to revalue the yuan

Japan and the United States are stepping up calls on China to revalue the yuan, charging that while growing economically, it is spreading deflation and trade deficits by exporting goods at an unfairly low exchange rate.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jul 31, 2003

Guest teachers build barrier-free minds

My 8-year-old wanted to use my computer. "I need to search the Internet for a picture of a kurumaisu," he said, in his usual blend of English and Japanese. Never mind that both his parents are American; he's lived in Japan since he was 5 and attends a Japanese elementary school. This qualifies him as...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2003

Residents of SARS-hit areas targeted in tourism drive

Japan is now welcoming residents of the once SARS-infected areas of Taiwan and Hong Kong to its shores in a bid to revive its tourism industry.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2003

Koizumi denies postal plan report

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi denied Wednesday he plans to set up an official committee on privatizing Japan's postal services to boost studies that his private panel conducted in 2001 and 2002.
EDITORIALS
Jul 30, 2003

Wanted: clear view of Japan Highway

In recent weeks, Japan Highway Public Corp. has come under intense scrutiny because of its financial status. The pivotal question is whether the corporation, set to go private in 2005, is solvent or not. The answer remains unclear. Two different sets of financial statements -- one "official," the other...
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2003

Household spending logs first rise since September

Spending by households of Japanese wage earners rose a real 0.4 percent in June from a year earlier, marking the first rise since September, the government said Tuesday.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo