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BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2006

Funeral entrepreneur champions affordable rites

Reserving one's own funeral is something of a rarity -- if not unheard of.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2006

Job picture brightens for grads

Companies are expected to offer 825,000 jobs to new graduates of universities and graduate schools in 2007, close to the 840,000 in 1991 when the economic bubble was peaking, the employment and labor research division of Recruit Co. said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2006

JR West's postcrash safety steps find skeptics

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- Each morning, express trains roar past houses and businesses along the JR Fukuchiyama Line, carrying passengers to and from work in Amagasaki and Kobe, or classes at Doshisha University's Kyotanabe campus in Kyoto Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2006

WTO talks may be held in June

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Tuesday it should be possible to hold ministerial talks in June to accelerate World Trade Organization efforts aimed at determining the size of tariff reductions and other trade liberalization measures in the current round of WTO negotiations....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 26, 2006

Dark sleeper

* Japanese name: Donko * Scientific name: Odontobutis obscura * Description: The enigmatically named Dark sleeper is a perch-like fish in the order Perchiformes. Members of this, the largest order of vertebrates, include 40 percent of all fish. They are typically fat-lipped, grumpy-looking fish and...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 26, 2006

A voice of reason countering Big Oil's clout

The United States government may be hemorrhaging money in Iraq, but the financial condition of America's oil companies and their top management couldn't be rosier.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2006

MMC cuts last DaimlerChrysler tie

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will dissolve its engine-production venture with DaimlerChrysler AG by selling its entire stake in the equally owned firm to the German-American automaker, according to MMC officials.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2006

Tanigaki calls for 'orderly' moves in forex markets

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki called Tuesday for "orderly" exchange-rate, movements reacting to what he called volatile fluctuations since last week's Group of Seven meeting.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 25, 2006

Kitajima headed to Pan-Pacific

Olympic breaststroke double champion Kosuke Kitajima and men's backstroke specialist Tomomi Morita were among 42 swimmers named Monday to compete at the Pan-Pacific Championships in Canada in August, the Japan Swimming Federation said.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2006

A less than satisfying visit

These days, the official description of the U.S.-China relationship is that it is "complex." This banal characterization is preferred by both governments for several reasons: In addition to being true, it helps deflect pressure from both sides and deflates expectations. All the complexities of the relationship...
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2006

DPJ win helps Ozawa, reflects anti-LDP mood

The narrow victory of a Democratic Party of Japan candidate in Sunday's by-election in Chiba Prefecture has given a boost to the main opposition force's new president, Ichiro Ozawa, virtually assuring his re-election in the DPJ's presidential poll in September, political pundits say.
SUMO
Apr 25, 2006

Hakuho turns quartet into quintet

Newly promoted Mongolian ozeki Hakuho will make his elite debut at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament, bringing the total number of wrestlers occupying sumo's second-highest rank to five at the 15-day tournament.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2006

Chernobyl survivor on musical mission

me." International reports have shown conflicting views over the effects related to childbirth.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2006

Tokyo court backs reporter on refusing to name source

The Tokyo District Court on Monday accepted in principle a Kyodo News reporter's refusal to reveal a news source in connection with a 1997 report on the taxation of a Japanese subsidiary of a U.S. health food company.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2006

Sweden's IKEA back in Japan after 20-year hiatus

Furniture giant IKEA marked its return to Japan with the opening of a store Monday in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, but some domestic rivals question whether the Swedish firm has learned enough about Japanese consumers to please them.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 25, 2006

Temples, air cons and food

To begin, some responses to earlier columns:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 25, 2006

What's your holiday plan?

BHeather Cone Scuba instructor, 29 I'm going to Beijing with my girlfriend. It's going to be two girls cruising the Great Wall, shopping for handbags and shoes, because we can't find any that fit our big feet in Japan, and drinking whatever they drink over there.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 25, 2006

Amadana appliances, Metaphys' Cyclone Cleaner, Jurgen Lehl furniture, Yukimasa Matsuda/Groovisions for Kokuyo

This month we go freestyle, working with our gut instinct about what we like right now. So whether it's adding a dash of design spice to the kitchen, or taking care of your basic cleaning needs, we guarantee that you'll be keeping house in style.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Apr 25, 2006

Toshie Kobayashi

Toshie Kobayashi, 76, has been working six days a week, since she was 14 years old. As a highly skilled typesetter, she made a good living until the 1980s, when digital systems replaced her and analog typesetting machines. At 54, she registered with a cleaning service, and ever since then she has been...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2006

The oil party is finally over

LONDON -- Welcome to the world of $70-per-barrel oil. That's if there is no crisis in the Persian Gulf over Iran's nuclear ambitions. If there is, then get ready for $140 a barrel. Oil briefly breached the $70 barrier eight months ago, but this time it is going up for good.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 25, 2006

Aso family's 'slave' link under scrutiny

While Taro Aso's public statements as foreign minister have done little to help ease tensions between Tokyo and the rest of Asia, a family connection to wartime forced labor has raised further questions over his ability to oversee good relations with Japan's neighbors.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2006

Survey near disputed isles tied to moves by S. Korea

Japan may conduct a maritime survey near the disputed islets in the Sea of Japan if South Korea proposes naming seafloor topography near the area in the future, Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi said Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2006

TSE resumes normal trading hours

The Tokyo Stock Exchange returned to normal operating hours Monday, with the afternoon session starting at 12:30 p.m., ending three months of shortened hours to prevent the exchange's computers from crashing.

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