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JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

LDP OKs sanctions bill targeting North Korea rights abuses

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved a bill Friday that would require the government to impose sanctions on North Korea if it failed to make progress in addressing its human rights abuses, including the abductions of Japanese.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

Saudi crown prince to visit in April

Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz will pay a three-day visit to Japan from April 5, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

Sumitomo Trust, Yachiyo to tie up

Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. said Friday it will invest more than 40 billion yen in Yachiyo Bank to help the Tokyo-based regional bank repay 35 billion yen in public funds to the government.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

Skymark repair lapse scrutinized

Skymark Airlines Co. came under a Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry inspection Friday because it had until recently flown a jet for nine months without required repairs, and then admitted later in the day that the same jet should have been fixed instead of flown after it was hit by lightning...
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

Softbank will buy Vodafone K.K.

Softbank Corp. said Friday it has reached an agreement with Vodafone Group PLC to buy 97.7 percent of its Japanese unit for 1.75 trillion yen in a move that will allow it to acquire Vodafone K.K.'s 15 million users and its nationwide mobile communications network.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

Insurers asked to clarify policies

The Financial Services Agency called on all 86 insurance firms in the nation Friday to check their sales material on savings-type insurance products after it discovered some firms had not been clearly explaining their policies.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

Megabank to lift rates on deposits

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ said Friday it will offer interest rates of double or more what it currently pays on time deposits of one-year and longer, starting Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

General named to joint SDF post

The government appointed Gen. Hajime Massaki on Friday to the new post of Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff chief to serve as a chief aide to the Defense Agency's director general under the planned integration of the operations of the SDF's ground, maritime and air branches.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 18, 2006

O-Higan: a time for prayer and Elvis

Today begins o-Higan, the week of the spring equinox, which is a national holiday in Japan. It is also traditionally a time to visit grave sites. However, unlike Bon, when everyone and their dog returns to their ancestral home to visit family graves, Higan is practiced mostly by those living near the...
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2006

Absentee counsel chided in triple-jeopardy appeal

The Supreme Court has ordered two defense lawyers to attend an April 18 session on an appeal by prosecutors seeking the death penalty for a man sentenced a man to life for killing a woman and her 11-month-old daughter in 1999, court sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

Meiji Yasuda Life to show breakdown in its profit

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. plans to disclose itemized profit data in a first for a major, private-sector life insurer in Japan, possibly starting with its fiscal 2006 financial statement, to regain the trust of policyholders.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

Glitch halts Canada beef facility's exports

Ottawa has disqualified a Calgary beef-processing facility from exporting to Japan due to a technicality that was found by Japanese inspectors, government officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

TSE eyes 30% order cap on buying a firm's shares

The Tokyo Stock Exchange will limit the size of individual stock purchase orders to less than 30 percent of a company's outstanding shares by the end of April, Liberal Democratic Party and TSE sources said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 18, 2006

Confessions of a priest . . . sort of

Meet "Father Smith" -- silver hair, gentle smile and a voice so mellow that it flows with a grace from beyond. Maybe there is a God and maybe there isn't, but when you're with Father Smith, you tend to believe that maybe there is.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

TSE will keep Nishimuro at the helm

Tokyo Stock Exchange Inc. will ask Taizo Nishimuro to stay on as president after its June shareholders' meeting, TSE officials said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 18, 2006

Speaking Circles sets natural tone for open arms

It is Saturday afternoon, and we are in a pleasantly peaceful meeting room in Tokyo's Minami-Aoyama.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 17, 2006

S. Korea stifles Japan

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Not even prayer could help Team Japan.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 17, 2006

Harada to retire at end of season

Veteran ski jumper Masahiko Harada, a member of Japan's gold medal-winning team at the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games, will retire after the current season, the Ski Association of Japan said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2006

Prime minister's airplane to get face-lift

The government aircraft used for overseas state visits will undergo in fiscal 2006 its first full-scale renovation since it was put into service in 1993 to turn it into more of a prime minister's office in the air.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2006

418 schools have asbestos woes

Classrooms and corridors in 418 public schools, ranging from kindergartens to high schools, had exposed asbestos-sprayed walls and ceilings as of last month despite the government's order to take safety measures, according to an education ministry survey released Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2006

Foreign Ministry mind game

Mr. Bunroku Yoshino, 87, director general of the Foreign Ministry's American Bureau from January 1971 to May 1972, was in charge of negotiations with the United States on the reversion of Okinawa to Japanese control. In recent media interviews, Mr. Yoshino admitted that Japan secretly shouldered $4 million...

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