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JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Ozawa remains DPJ leader

Ichiro Ozawa was in effect named Tuesday to a second term as the Democratic Party of Japan president after no other candidates came forward to challenge him for the post.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 13, 2006

Elephant hawkmoth

* Japanese name: Beni-suzume * Scientific name: Deilephila elpenor lewisii * Description: Large, remarkably handsome insects with a wingspan of 62-72 mm, adult elephant hawkmoths are a velvety, olive-brown in color with a gorgeous pink flush to the wings and the sides of the abdomen. They also have...
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

8.3 billion yen shot in the arm eyed for drugmakers

The government plans to give the nation's anemic pharmaceuticals industry a shot in the arm next year by boosting support by 80 percent so companies can better compete on a global scale, officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 13, 2006

Own goal clouds progress

Tomorrow sees the start of a three-day meeting in the Eternal City that concerns one of the most promising and controversial scientific research areas of our time: stem cells. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to transform into any cell and tissue type in the body, and thus have the potential to...
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Beer shipments get summer boost

Shipments of beer, "happoshu" low-malt beer and nonmalt, beerlike drinks by the nation's top five brewers edged up in August as hot summer weather ended two months of decline, industry figures showed Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 13, 2006

Bush creating a more dangerous world

LONDON -- Directly after the horror of 9/11 there was a moment when America held the good will of almost the entire world in the palm of its hand.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Hokuetsu, Nippon Paper agree to hold tieup talks

Hokuetsu Paper Mills Ltd. and Nippon Paper Group Inc. said Tuesday they have agreed to begin discussing a business tieup that would include mutual supply of printing paper under each other's brands.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Newborn prince is named Hisahito

Prince Akishino has named his new son Prince Hisahito, the Imperial Household Agency announced Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Wholesale prices jumped 3.4% in August

Wholesale prices increased 3.4 percent in August from a year earlier, matching the 25-year high seen in July, as higher crude oil prices pushed up the price of petroleum products and chemicals, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Fibrous plants are helping cars go green on the outside

You might think bamboo, corn and kenaf -- a plant similar to jute -- would make poor materials for building modern cars, but you would be wrong. These plants are helping make auto parts that are green in more ways than one.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

MHI gets Spanish turbine order

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Tuesday it has received an order for three gas turbine combined-cycle power generation systems from Morata Energia S.L. of Spain.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Builders face 6.7 billion yen in penalties for rigging bridge bids

The government and four highway operators are seeking payment of 6.7 billion yen in penalties by Sept. 29 from 38 contractors for allegedly rigging bids on bridge projects since 2003, government officials said Tuesday.
SUMO / Basho reports
Sep 12, 2006

Hakuho rebounds on second day, Asa keeps going strong

Ozeki Hakuho toppled Dejima to rebound from a first-day loss while yokuzuna Asashoryu stayed perfect with a demolition of Tamanoshima on the second day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 12, 2006

Elder Manning teaches brother another lesson on gridiron

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- When Eli Manning was playing for Ole Miss, his elder brother Peyton, who already established himself as one of the top passers in the NFL, taught him how to study films and how to read the defense.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 12, 2006

Waseda's Saito opts for college

Yuki Saito, who led Waseda Jitsugyo to its first title in a victory over Komadai Tomakomai at the national high school baseball championship last month, said Monday he has decided to attend university instead of playing pro baseball.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Imperial imposters get 26 months

The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a man and a woman to 26 months in prison for staging a fraudulent wedding reception in which they pretended to be members of the Imperial family and bilked guests out of 12 million yen in cash and a painting.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Ozawa seeks re-election as DPJ chief

Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa announced Monday he will run for re-election as the party's president.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Trouble looms as foreign labor floods in

OSAKA -- It's 2030, and Japan is facing an unprecedented social problem. For the past quarter-century, ever since the population began declining, the government has encouraged the hiring of foreign laborers. But measures to control immigration have failed, and in some towns and villages foreigners now...
BASKETBALL
Sep 12, 2006

Ex-Lions hurler Higashio named Tokyo Apache president

To make teams better and attract fans' attention, bj-league clubs would ask anyone for help -- even if it is a former baseball player.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Condo owners see dreams shattered in Aneha scandal

When Mitsuhide Taira moved into his 150-sq.-meter condominium in Grand Stage Kawasaki Daishi in November 2004, he thought he had found the perfect place for his wife and him to raise their three preschool-age children.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2006

Donor pledges to Gaza not good enough

NEW YORK -- Although several governments have recently pledged $500 million to help the Palestinian people, the response is late, incomplete and likely to be ineffective unless the aid is accompanied by political measures to alleviate a situation in which Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, have become...
BUSINESS
Sep 12, 2006

April-June GDP growth revised upward to 1.0%

The economy grew an annualized real 1.0 percent in the April-June period from the previous quarter, revised upward from a preliminary 0.8 percent rise, the government said Monday, underscoring the sustained recovery led by domestic demand.
BUSINESS
Sep 12, 2006

July machinery orders fall record 16.7%

Core private-sector machinery orders plunged a seasonally adjusted 16.7 percent in July from the previous month, their biggest fall in 19 years, the government said Monday, but it downplayed the decline as a reaction to a surge in June.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell