Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2005

Yamasaki declares bid to win back Fukuoka Diet seat

Former Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Taku Yamasaki said Wednesday he will run in April's by-election in Fukuoka Prefecture in a bid to retake the Diet seat he lost in the 2003 general election.
JAPAN / DEMOGRAPHIC DILEMMAS
Jan 4, 2005

Marital expectations help ensure singles ranks soar

She's a 38-year-old Tokyo working woman, enjoys single life, drives a sports car and dines at gourmet restaurants.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2005

Inn finds revival by welcoming foreigners

With its plain concrete and tile exterior and glass double doors, Sawanoya looks like any other ordinary Japanese inn.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2005

Tama's population fall shows how baby boom is bust

Tama New Town -- a bedroom community in Tokyo's western suburbs -- is no longer new.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2004

Dentsu poll finds year's top 10 consumer darlings

2004 saw many things strike the fancy of Japanese consumers, especially on the big screen at home, to the extent that some became social phenomena.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2004

Dalai Lama planning to come to Japan in April

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, is planning to come to Japan in April and the government is expected to allow the visit, sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2004

State to push for child-care leave at all companies

In the latest effort to arrest the nation's falling birthrate, a government task force Friday approved a new five-year plan that includes numerical targets and the introduction of child-care leave at all companies.
Dec 25, 2004

State to push for child-care leave at all companies

In the latest effort to arrest the nation's falling birthrate, a government task force Friday approved a new five-year plan that includes numerical targets and the introduction of child-care leave at all companies.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2004

Lawmaker to quit Diet over court ruling

A Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker said Thursday that she would resign from the Diet in response to the Supreme Court's dismissal of an appeal by campaign workers for her and another DPJ member of the House of Representatives over campaign violations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2004

Bang a gong for . . .

The '60s Live! Award: Tie between Art Garfunkel and David Crosby, both of whom were busted for marijuana possession.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2004

Finance Ministry requests 3.8% cut in foreign aid

Amid the nation's continued tight finances, the Finance Ministry proposed Monday a 3.8 percent cut in foreign aid in fiscal 2005 for the sixth straight year of decrease in the initial budget.
Dec 21, 2004

Finance Ministry requests 3.8% cut in foreign aid

Amid the nation's continued tight finances, the Finance Ministry proposed Monday a 3.8 percent cut in foreign aid in fiscal 2005 for the sixth straight year of decrease in the initial budget.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2004

Parents deny medical care for children

Nearly 20 percent of hospitals with pediatric departments responding to a survey said that parents had refused last year to allow their children to receive medical treatment recommended by doctors, it was learned Sunday.
Dec 20, 2004

Parents deny medical care for children

Nearly 20 percent of hospitals with pediatric departments responding to a survey said that parents had refused last year to allow their children to receive medical treatment recommended by doctors, it was learned Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 17, 2004

Giants give Nishi deadline to re-sign

The Yomiuri Giants demanded Wednesday that free-agent infielder Toshihisa Nishi decide by Monday whether to re-sign with the Central League team or pursue a career in the major leagues, club representative Hidetoshi Kiyotake said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2004

Japan gets intellectual on property rights

From the witness stand, patent manager Hiroshi Ikeda of Asia Manufacturing Co. stares at a copy of a critical e-mail. In it, AMC managers instruct engineers to procure 10 samples of a golf club grip marketed by Sports Grip Co. of the United States for "reverse engineering."
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2004

Rightwinger who shot Nagasaki mayor in trouble again

A senior member of a rightwing group who served prison time for shooting a Nagasaki mayor was arrested Monday for allegedly defaming a female lawyer, police said.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 5, 2004

Telephone fraud is criminally dumb at the end of the line

Misfortune for some can be entertaining to the rest of us. Microwaved poodles and death-by-sexual-dalliance often have such a ridiculous aura about them that we tend not to identify with the victims because the stupidity inferred precludes any feelings of sympathy.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2004

Knives out for Kofi Annan

One would think that the cheerleaders for waging war on Saddam Hussein's Iraq, on the thoroughly discredited grounds that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, would have retreated into a period of quiet introspection. In fact, it is as difficult to find any trace of embarrassment, humility or...
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2004

Recycling of household appliances 'going smoothly'

YASHIRO, Hyogo Pref. -- A Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. plant that recycles household appliances in the town of Yashiro, Hyogo Prefecture, attracts 10,000 visitors annually.
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
Dec 3, 2004

1 yen entrepreneurial startup fee sound too easy?

Setting up companies in Japan is getting easier as the government tries to encourage more people to become entrepreneurs.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2004

UFJ, Misawa Homes reportedly to seek IRCJ aid

UFJ Bank and Misawa Homes Holdings Inc. are finishing preparations to seek help from the Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan to restructure the struggling home builder, sources close to the move said Saturday.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2004

34 sectors' CO 2 output up 1%: industry lobby

Carbon dioxide emissions from Japan's 34 major industrial sectors rose 1 percent in fiscal 2003 from the previous year to 502.39 million tons, for a second straight yearly rise, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2004

Once 'poor food,' cereals now healthy choice

Barn grass, millet, foxtail millet and other cereals, regarded as "poor food" at a time when people had little rice to eat, are becoming more popular with health-conscious women.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2004

Bic Camera searched over unpaid overtime

The Tokyo Labor Bureau on Thursday searched the offices of discount electrical appliance retailer Bic Camera Co., which is suspected of failing to pay employees for overtime.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2004

'Howl's Moving Castle' conjures up box-office record

Famed director Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated film, "Howl's Moving Castle," chalked up 1.48 billion yen in box-office revenue and attracted an audience of 1.1 million people in its first two days of release.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Ex-Rengo exec to avoid prison time over dental bribes

The Tokyo District Court sentenced a former vice president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) to a suspended one-year prison term Friday for accepting bribes from the nation's main dental lobby while serving on a government advisory panel.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2004

Kumagai Gumi, Tobishima scrap planned merger

Struggling second-tier construction companies Kumagai Gumi Co. and Tobishima Corp. will scrap their planned April 1 merger, the two companies announced Monday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami