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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2003

Howard aims for leading regional role

SYDNEY -- A weeklong diplomatic flourish through East Asia behind him, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has no time to pause for breath before the next push into Australia's newfound activism in regional security, the South Pacific's most chaotic young nation, the Solomon Islands.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2003

DPJ and Liberal Party agree to merge

In preparation for the upcoming Lower House general election, top leaders of the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party agreed Wednesday that the two opposition parties will merge by the end of September.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2003

Diet members tour execution chamber

Nine members of the House of Representatives Judicial Affairs Committee visited the Tokyo Detention House in Katsushika Ward on Wednesday morning for a rare view of its execution chamber.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 24, 2003

Making a BEE line for 'green living' throughout Japan

School's out for summer, and just about everyone seems to be on the road heading for the beach, the mountains or the mall. Chances are, though, many of those drivers will spend most of their time caught up in traffic.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 24, 2003

Whaling safe with the IWC

In 1635, under pressure from the Church of England for his nonconformity, the Rev. Richard Mather decided it was time to leave England with his wife and sons and start a new life in New England.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2003

Rail staff taking passenger violence on chin

A drunken man gets up from his train seat and suddenly decks a railway employee, whose only offense was to wake him up at the end of the line.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2003

Toyota Avensis set for Japan launch

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will release the midsize Avensis on the domestic market in the fall.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Jul 24, 2003

Got milk delivery? Doorstep service doubles in last 10 years

Although once destined to share the same road to oblivion as black and white TVs and rotary telephones, doorstep milk deliveries have been staging a solid comeback.
COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 2003

Revolution's legacy at risk

PARIS -- After endless debate, which led for several weeks to huge strikes -- mainly in the transportation system -- and massive demonstrations, the French Parliament has largely approved, in spite of opposition from most unions, a bill reforming the laws on retirement. It will have two major effects:...
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2003

DoCoMo phone has data glitch

NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s newly launched SH505i cell phone has software problems that could lead to the loss of stored game data, a company official said Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Jul 24, 2003

"Fox," "Stravaganza: City of Masks"

"Fox," Matthew Sweeney, Bloomsbury; 2002; 176 pp. Every city has its ghosts. I don't mean spirits of the dead, I mean real people who might as well be invisible because no one takes notice of them.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2003

Government pension fund logs big loss

The Government Pension Investment Fund posted a record investment loss of 3.061 trillion yen in fiscal 2002, due to tumbling global stock markets and a higher yen, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2003

Enough nonsense about the liquidity trap

Tokyo's cutting interest rates was once the response to borrowing costs being too high or credit too tight. Despite no indications that the financial system is deprived of liquidity, the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve Board continue to hold or push down interest rates.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2003

Mos to woo consumers with higher prices

Hamburger chain Mos Food Services Inc. announced Wednesday it will start selling high-price hamburgers in August, signaling a marketing shift in the country's fast-food industry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jul 24, 2003

The pirate planner

It does not take money to make money, at least not when you're a pirate. In "Tropico 2: Pirate Cove," a new game for PCs from Take 2, you can gin up money from thin air. That is if you have a mighty ship and a blood-thirsty crew.
EDITORIALS
Jul 23, 2003

Can Ms. Doi restore trust in SDP?

The Metropolitan Police Department last week arrested Ms. Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a former Lower House member of the Social Democratic Party, on suspicion of misappropriating salaries paid by the government to her two public secretaries in charge of policy affairs. The MPD also arrested those former secretaries...
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2003

Lawmakers to take rare look at prison gallows

Lawmakers won approval Tuesday to inspect one of the country's execution chambers in an extremely rare glimpse into a secretive system long criticized by international human rights groups.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2003

Japan Alps are sinking; scientists can't say why

Recent analysis of satellite data shows that the Japan Alps are sinking up to 5 mm per year, according to government geographers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 23, 2003

Klimt's women: more feared than loved?

Pornography and women's liberation: It is an incongruous coupling, but one that characterizes the artistic output of Gustav Klimt.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 23, 2003

Dodgers fan scores in 'Hideki Matsui Sweepstakes'

Former Tokyo attorney Russ Roten has won the Baseball Bullet-In "Hideki Matsui Sweepstakes" by coming the closest to guessing Matsui's home run, runs batted in and batting average statistics at the Major League All-Star break on July 14.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2003

Top lobby set to restart party donations

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) hopes to restore its political influence by encouraging member firms to pay donations to parties and by evaluating how the parties measure up.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 23, 2003

Shiseido boss hymns art's power

Shiseido Co., Japan's top cosmetics company, received the Asahi Shimbun Foundation's Grand Prize on July 8 in recognition of its contribution to society.
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2003

Toyota looking at record output

Toyota Motor Corp. will produce a company record 6 million vehicles worldwide this year, up 2.2 percent from a projection in December, the company said Tuesday.
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Jul 23, 2003

Tainted-food scare gives Nichirei an appetite for fewer additives

In the world of business, misfortunes sometimes become blessings.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2003

Market stability doesn't placate Fukui

Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui remained cautious Tuesday over the prospects of an early economic recovery, despite recent stability on the financial markets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 23, 2003

The high priestess of rock 'n' roll 'n' . . . art

Patti Smith has shown her drawings and paintings before in Japan -- some years ago at the Museum Eki in Kyoto. But it is a safe bet that most of her Japanese fans are more familiar with Smith the rock'n'roller, that sexily disheveled female version of Mick Jagger who kicked out prepunk jams from New...

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