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JAPAN
May 1, 2006

TOEIC revisions mean big change in English study

is to prevent test-takers who only learn techniques from getting high marks," ARE President Yoshinari Nagamoto said. The revision will affect many workers in Japan.
JAPAN
May 1, 2006

Atami jolted by afternoon quake

An earthquake measuring lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 hit Atami, a famous hot springs resort city in Shizuoka Prefecture, on Sunday afternoon, the Meteorological Agency said.
COMMENTARY
May 1, 2006

From reforms to deadlock

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi greeted the fifth anniversary of his rule, becoming Japan's third-longest serving postwar leader after Eisaku Sato and Shigeru Yoshida.
JAPAN
May 1, 2006

12 sacked for taking coffee money

OSAKA (Kyodo A West Japan Railway Co. subsidiary has fired 12 workers and reprimanded 21 others for pocketing at least 5 million yen from sales of coffee served aboard sleeper express trains, the company said Sunday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 1, 2006

Global inflation changing economic fundamentals

Ajoint statement released April 21 by finance minis- ters and central bankers of the Group of Seven major economies in Washington noted that the global trend in economic expansion has entered its fourth year, with inflationary pressures relatively contained despite the surge in crude oil prices.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2006

France on the mark with hiring subsidies

NEW YORK -- Was France's recent wave of protests against an amendment that would have increased employers' freedom to fire young workers a blessing in disguise? To defuse the protests, President Jacques Chirac was forced to withdraw the provision, and instead has proposed hiring subsidies as a way to...
JAPAN
May 1, 2006

Nukaga, Aso head for U.S. to finalize troop realignment plan

Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga and Foreign Minister Taro Aso left Sunday for Washington where Japan and the United States hope to strike a final agreement on plans to realign American troops stationed in Japan.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2006

Trail to the epicenter of faulty math

Police have arrested disgraced structural designer Hidetsugu Aneha and seven others involved in the scandal that has shaken public confidence in the safety of residences, although the specific allegations against them at this point are not directly related to the core of the scandal -- Mr. Aneha's fabrication...
BASKETBALL
Apr 30, 2006

Osaka, Niigata to play for bj-league title

The Osaka Evessa and Niigata Albirex, the top two seeds in the inaugural bj-league playoffs, advanced to the championship game with victories in Saturday's semifinals before a raucous crowd of 5,450 at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 30, 2006

Recalling lady umpire Perry Barber and Cooperstown cookies

Reader Dennis McCormick from Hyogo Prefecture recently wrote to ask, "Do you remember about 15 years ago an American woman umpire came to Japan and worked a few Japanese games in the Kansai area? I don't recall her name, but I was surprised when I found out she was not a regular umpire in one of the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2006

Falun Gong goes to the White House

If one image lingers from Chinese President Hu Jintao's recent trip to the United States, it is that of 47-year-old Dr. Wang Wenyi, a Chinese-born U.S. resident and member of the suppressed Falun Gong spiritual movement, shrieking at the visiting leader during his appearance with President George W....
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2006

Thousands attend May Day rallies, seek financial parity

More than 200,000 people attended May Day rallies Saturday across Japan, calling for efforts to close a widening gap in financial conditions.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2006

Marking 50 years of Minamata

Hundreds of Minamata disease patients and their supporters marched through central Tokyo on Saturday, two days ahead of the 50th anniversary of its official recognition.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 30, 2006

Ishii youngest to win nationals

Teenager Satoshi Ishii scored a decisive point in the dying seconds of the championship final to beat Olympic and world champion Keiji Suzuki and become the youngest judoka to win the Japanese national title on Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2006

Daughters sue to help guru lodge appeal

Two daughters of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara and his lawyers are suing the government and a psychiatrist to fight the Tokyo High Court's dismissal of his appeal of the death sentence, the lawyers said Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2006

For Golden Week this year, go to a spa and stay close to home

Golden Week may have arrived, but that doesn't mean everyone has elaborate travel plans -- some may be too busy, while others hate the crowds and shun the absurdly expensive air tickets during the holiday season.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 30, 2006

Harking back to the past in order to secure the immediate future

Thanks to continuing malfeasance on the part of some of its employees, NHK remains in the dog house, so it's tempting to view recent programming decisions with an eye for how they might boost the public broadcaster's standing among subscribers. For example, why has NHK revived not one, not two, but four...

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