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JAPAN
Mar 22, 2006

Government economist calls for boosting foreign labor

A scholar involved in the government's efforts to formulate a new economic strategy based on globalization called on Japan on Monday to accept more foreign labor as its rapidly aging population continues to shrink.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 22, 2006

Ichiro calls victory 'greatest moment'

SAN DIEGO -- For Team Japan to be No. 1, Ichiro Suzuki had to bat No. 3.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 22, 2006

Self-interest and those Greenland pigs

Why do some societies last for hundreds, even thousands, of years, while others soar, dazzle but then fizzle like short-lived summer fireworks?
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2006

Cabin smoke cancels ANA takeoff

An All Nippon Airways domestic flight scrubbed its takeoff Tuesday at Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture after smoke poured into the cabin as the plane taxied toward the runway, officials said.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 22, 2006

Black-spotted frog

* Japanese name: Tonosama-gaeru * Scientific name: Rana nigromaculata * Description: Males of this handsome frog grow to about 70-mm long, while females are slightly larger at 77 mm. They vary in color, from lime green to gray-brown, but they all have a pattern of black spots down the flanks of their...
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2006

'Rightist' with abduction gripe lops off hand outside Diet

A man almost completely lopped off his left hand with a machete Tuesday in front of the Diet, apparently to protest Japan's policy toward North Korea, police said.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 21, 2006

Kyowa to face No. 1 contender

Japan-based Thai boxer Eagle Kyowa will fight No. 1 contender Rodel Mayol of the Philippines at Korakuen Hall on May 6 in his second WBC minimumweight title defense, boxing officials said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2006

Court misses the big picture

Protecting a news source is the most important ethic of a reporter. But the Tokyo District Court has mounted a frontal attack on this principle, endangering freedom of press and the people's right to know. The court decided March 14 that when the possibility exists that a news source is a public servant,...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 21, 2006

Cuba confident going into WBC final against Japan

SAN DIEGO -- Meet me in the middle. Cuba and Japan will meet Monday night in the World Baseball Classic finals, bringing Asia and Caribbean together at Petco Park in a finals pairing few expected. That includes at least one of the teams involved.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

Contractors hit by public works ban

Authorities said Monday they have suspended eight construction companies charged with bid-rigging in defense-related public works projects from participating in government projects for up to five months.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

Controllers acquitted in '01 near-miss

The Tokyo District Court on Monday acquitted two air traffic controllers charged with professional negligence in almost causing two Japan Airlines jumbo jets to collide in January 2001 over the Pacific Ocean off Shizuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

Two die, one critical in apparent suicide bid

Police found two women dead and one man in critical condition Monday afternoon inside a car in a mountainous part of Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture, apparently victims of a group suicide attempt.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

Local hire pocketed visa overcharges at Indonesian Embassy

JAKARTA (Kyodo) A Japanese employee at the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo allegedly skimmed nearly $1.2 million from applications made to the mission's visa section in Japan, an Indonesian Foreign Ministry official said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

Obituary: Toshinao Yoneyama

Toshinao Yoneyama, an honorary professor of cultural anthropology at Kyoto University, died of gastric cancer at a hospital in Kyoto on March 9, his family said Monday. He was 75.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

'Sakura' trees threatened by witches' broom

Japan's emblematic "sakura" cherry trees have been infected by a contagious mold disease known as witches' broom in at least 18 prefectures, a study by the Flower Association of Japan showed Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2006

Convenience store sales fall 2.4%

Sales at convenience stores in Japan dropped 2.4 percent in February from a year earlier on a same-store basis to 483.54 billion yen, declining for the 19th consecutive month, an industry body said Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2006

Veal blunder laid to bad communications

The veal shipment that arrived in January containing banned spinal cords was an isolated incident and "does not indicate weakness in the overall U.S. beef processing, inspection or export systems," the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released Monday.

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