Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
May 13, 2006

Hussein's novel coming

A historical novel that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein wrote shortly before the U.S.-led invasion of his country in March 2003 will go on sale in Japan on May 19, the publisher said.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2006

Iran playing a good game

KUALA LUMPUR -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice couldn't possibly have been more accurate when she accused Iran of "playing games" with the international community.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 26, 2006

Scandal causes 8 JSF officials to step down

Eight members of the Japan Skating Federation executive committee will resign at the end of June over their alleged involvement in questionable business operations, federation officials said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 22, 2006

Trust and the Food Safety Commission

The trustworthiness of the Food Safety Commission appears to be in jeopardy. Half of the 12-member panel under the commission that was tasked with assessing the safety of North American beef resigned as of March 31. The six who quit were regarded by consumer groups as being cautious about the idea of...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 17, 2006

'CPE' by stealth: the state of youth jobs in Japan

French students are victorious. They have managed to push the infamous "first-time employment contract" ("contrat premiere embauche") out of the window.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2006

Enhanced H5N1 response planned

The health ministry has decided to designate the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza as an infectious disease, officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2006

Statistics show worrying increase in underweight newborns

Pediatricians are alarmed at new statistics that show newborn infants are smaller on average than babies born 20 years ago.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2006

Yoshinoya halves loss, harbors high hopes

Yoshinoya D&C Co. President Shuji Abe on Friday painted a rosy picture for his company, one in which United States beef imports resume by September, sharply boosting profit at the restaurant chain famed for its beef-on-rice bowl dishes in time for the latter half of the business year.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2006

DPJ positions to change with new guard

Seiji Maehara's decision Friday to resign as Democratic Party of Japan president will probably test the largest opposition party's solidarity and its conservative stance on defense, according to observers and DPJ sources.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 30, 2006

Yakult looking to get back on top of CL

HANSHIN TIGERS -- The Tigers seem to be taking turns finishing in fourth and first place every other year. Fourth in 2002 and 2004, first in 2003 and 2005, and if not careful, they could drop to the second division in 2006.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2006

Okinawa base issue not cut and dried with locals

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. -- It's a chilly, rainy evening in late January, but more than 1,000 people pack the center of town to hear a speech by Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, the head of the Nago Municipal Assembly.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 13, 2006

Japan Skating Federation marks huge loss

The Japan Skating Federation recorded a huge loss over a period of several years up to 2003 in its international operations, a senior federation official said Sunday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 28, 2006

China finding role in WBC

Chinese baseball is a work in progress, and the World Baseball Classic is the next step for the developing international program.
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2006

Fueling trust in rocket science

In the short span of one month, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has successfully launched three rockets, each carrying a satellite. This success has increased trust in JAXA's technological capability, raising Japan's hopes of entering the commercial rocket business.
EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2006

Building a suicide safety net

Every year, slightly more than 30,000 people kill themselves in Japan. Compared with other countries, the situation is particularly grim. The nation's suicide rate, calculated in terms of the number of suicides per 100,000 people, stands at 25.3 -- compared with 38.7 in Russia, 17.5 in France, 13.5 in...
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2006

Champion chef spreads Naples pizza culture here

Makoto Onishi, the winner of the title of best pizza maker at the annual Naples pizza festival in 2003, busied himself kneading dough and topping pizzas with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2006

Aya Kondo : Rock 'n' roll with manners

What can you say about Aya Kondo, a woodblock-print artist who has taken staid wafu -- traditional Japanese style -- and turned it into girly sass? In doing so, Kondo encapsulates everything we love about Japanese youth culture at its best: well-mannered rock 'n' roll, cultural self-consciousness, the...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 5, 2006

How will Valentine, Hillman and Brown fare in 2006?

One-fourth of the 12 Japanese pro baseball teams in 2006 will be led by American managers. Their performances this season may dictate whether the recent trend for the Central and Pacific Leagues to hire foreign kantoku will continue or if the clubs will return to putting native Japanese in charge.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2006

Police conduct wiretapping in murder case for first time

Police said Wednesday they used wiretapping in a murder case for the first time last year and arrested a suspect in the gangland slaying.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight