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JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

575 defense workers took unauthorized trips: agency

A total of 575 Defense Agency employees, including Self-Defense Forces personnel, have traveled abroad without informing their superiors, agency officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Abe saves seats at Aoki's urging

Liberal Democratic Party President Shinzo Abe told his party's Upper House caucus chief Friday that he will allocate two posts when he forms his first Cabinet next week to members of the House of Councilors, keeping the same number as his predecessor, a senior LDP lawmaker said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Sato admits his involvement in Fukushima bid-rigging

The arrested chairman of Fukushima-based construction contractor Sato Kogyo Corp. has begun confessing his involvement in bid-rigging for a public sewage system project ordered by the Fukushima Prefectural Government, investigative sources have said.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

City Hall to appeal 'Kimigayo' ruling

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Friday that City Hall will appeal Thursday's 12.03 million yen district court ruling against the "Kimigayo" directive, which obliges Tokyo's teachers to sing the national anthem before the national flag at school ceremonies.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Gate climber at British Embassy seized

A man climbed over the gate at the British Embassy in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward at around 11:25 a.m. Friday and was seized by security guards, the Metropolitan Police Department said.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

New EC envoy catching up on changes

an ambassador. I wanted to be the ambassador to Japan," said Richardson, European Commission envoy, in a recent interview with The Japan Times. "I'm busy trying to understand Japan again, trying to understand what's changed, and what's the same. Very exciting." The 59-year-old Briton first arrived in...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Foreigners to need 'skills' to live in Japan

A Justice Ministry panel discussing long-term policies for accepting overseas workers said Friday the government should seek out those with special skills and expertise to cope with the shrinking labor force in Japan.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 23, 2006

Weak 'expose' on bungs proof issue is becoming passe

LONDON -- Panorama promised to "rock the foundations of football" but in the end we were neither shaken nor stirred by a program in which the so-called whistle-blowers proved to be the unscrupulous characters rather than the bung-taking managers they were supposedly "exposing."
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Orix chief quits deregulation panel

Yoshihiko Miyauchi, chairman of Orix Corp., tendered his resignation Thursday as chairman of the government's deregulation panel. The resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2006

Sapporo, Fukuoka bourses told to improve standards

The Financial Services Agency on Friday issued business improvement orders to the Sapporo Securities Exchange and the Fukuoka Stock Exchange, saying they don't have proper internal standards to monitor stock transactions.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

More single men expect future wives to work

An increasing number of single men hope their future spouses will continue to work after having children, according to a government survey released Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2006

Japan, Chile agree on FTA framework

Japan and Chile have produced a framework free-trade accord that will abolish tariffs on 92 percent of both countries' exports over 10 years, settling negotiations in principle just seven months after they were launched, the government announced Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 23, 2006

Sports festivals: menace to health?

It's autumn in Japan, and you know what that means -- sports festivals! Oct. 10 is Sports Day, a national holiday started in 1964 to mark the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics. Since then, autumn has been a time of year for schools and communities to hold annual sports festivals.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2006

Stepping up pressure on Pyongyang

Japan imposed financial sanctions on North Korea earlier this week. The action, which came more than two months after the North's July 5 test-firing of seven missiles, may have been be unavoidable since Pyongyang has not shown any sign that it will return to the six-nation talks on its nuclear-weapons...
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2006

JAL Hotels discussing plans to go public in fiscal 2008

JAL Hotels Co., a unit of financially distressed Japan Airlines Corp., is planning to list its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's second section in fiscal 2008, according to sources.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2006

Hanshin, Hankyu stores agree on business tieup

Hankyu Department Stores Inc. and Hanshin Department Store Ltd. said Friday they have agreed to form a comprehensive business alliance ahead of their parent companies' Oct. 1 merger.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2006

Sony takes center stage at Tokyo Game Show

CHIBA -- The nation's biggest game exhibition kicked off at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba on Friday as industry officials and media reporters took a peek at the next-generation video-game consoles before they hit the stores later this year.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2006

Big firms' business confidence up first time in three quarters

Business confidence among large companies improved in the July-September quarter for the first time in three quarters on the back of rising corporate profits and economic growth, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

506 teachers in '05 tagged incompetent

More than 500 teachers at public schools across Japan were branded as incompetent in the 2005 academic year, down about 10 percent from a year earlier but still the second-highest number since the teacher assessment system began in 2000, the education ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Thailand travel advisory softened

The Foreign Ministry downgraded its travel advisory for Thailand on Thursday night, after the Thai capital appeared calm in the wake of the military coup Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 23, 2006

Award-winning docudrama 'From a Silk Cocoon'

It is 1986, the year that the U.S. government passes the Civil Liberties Act for providing financial reparation and an apology to all Japanese-Americans incarcerated in internment camps during World War II.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Nobel winners to coach for science

Nobel prize laureates, business leaders and others agreed Friday to set up a committee in January to coach junior and senior high school students for the "science Olympics."
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2006

A setback for Thai democracy

The Thai military seized power Tuesday, revoking the constitution and declaring martial law. The coup took place while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in New York attending a U.N. General Assembly session.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2006

Lawmaker vows cross-party agreement to revise lending bill

Masazumi Gotoda, former parliamentary secretary in charge of financial services, said Friday he will work to revamp a consumer lending bill to get the ceiling on interest charges lowered and the higher rate on small loans scrapped.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 23, 2006

Anthony Millington

The British School in Tokyo, independent and coeducational, is the only British school in Japan, and the only school in Japan offering the English National Curriculum. It is a nonprofit organization, administered by a board of trustees representing the British and international community in Tokyo. The...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Researchers zap gene that blocks cancer treatment

A group of researchers from the National Cancer Center and other entities have worked out a method to sharply curb the growth of breast cancer by inhibiting a gene that makes cancerous cells resistant to a chemotherapy drug.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2006

Saison, Orient, UC to merge systems

Three of Japan's top credit card companies -- Credit Saison Co., Orient Corp. and UC Card Co. -- have agreed to integrate their core operations systems by 2010, officials of the card companies said Friday.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji