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Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2005

Maehara steps forward to run for leadership of DPJ

Seiji Maehara of the Democratic Party of Japan said Wednesday he will run in the main opposition party's presidential election in a bid to succeed Katsuya Okada, who is bowing out over the trouncing in Sunday's Lower House election.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2005

Walking tour to take in Show Kinen Park in western Tokyo

A walking tour will be held Oct. 1 in Showa Kinen Park, a large park that opened in Tachikawa, western Tokyo, in 1983 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the enthronement of Emperor Showa.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2005

Trespassing case is political, activists tell court

Three peace activists on trial for trespassing at a Self-Defense Forces housing compound where they had been distributing antiwar leaflets told the Tokyo High Court on Wednesday their arrest and indictment is a form of political suppression and their case should be dropped.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2005

Opting out of a misguided war

WASHINGTON -- For the first time in six years the U.S. Army is likely to miss its annual recruiting goals. The Army National Guard is facing its worst personnel shortages in a decade. An unnecessary and badly managed war based on false claims is sapping the willingness of young Americans to enlist.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2005

Sony unveils Bravia-brand TVs in turnaround bid

Sony Corp. on Wednesday unveiled its Bravia brand of liquid crystal display televisions with high hopes the new line will be able to turn around its ailing TV-set business.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2005

Disaster responses redefine 'Third World'

BANGKOK -- "If America and Thailand were both hit by natural disaster, Thais would handle it better," a Thai lawyer once told me.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2005

Four companies apply for satellite digital HDTV licenses

The communications ministry said Wednesday it has received applications from four companies for approval to launch digital high-definition TV broadcasting services via satellite.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2005

Human rights key to China's development

NEW YORK -- During a recent visit to Beijing, U.N. rights envoy Louise Arbour called attention to the serious human-rights situation in China and the need for improvements according to international human-rights standards. An important step in that regard would be for China to ratify the International...
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2005

Tokyo Steel plans first mill since '95

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co., a major electric furnace-based steelmaker, plans to establish a steelworks in 2009, the first domestic factory set up by the company in 14 years, company officials said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2005

Koizumi must now master global politics

LOS ANGELES -- I met Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi two years ago for a fascinating interview. I recall slightly pressing him on the touchy question of whether Japan would actually overcome its restrictive pacifist Constitution (a significant legacy of the U.S. Occupation) and dispatch troops to Iraq,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2005

Independent brushstrokes

A commonly heard accusation is that Japanese oil painters are followers rather than innovators. It is a criticism that has been made against many early adopters in this country -- be they filmmakers, fashion designers, chefs or rock musicians -- and one that has even come from painters' compatriots....
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2005

CPAs implicated in another Kanebo scam

Four ChuoAoyama PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants arrested this week falsified a report in 1998 on a troubled Kanebo Ltd. trading partner, leading Kanebo to agree to a massive bailout of the firm, sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2005

Nearly half of drivers purchasing less gasoline

Nearly half of the nation's drivers are cutting back on gasoline consumption amid record-high oil prices, according to a recent survey.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2005

Betting on a bolder Japan

WASHINGTON -- A Latin proverb says, "fortune favors the bold but abandons the timid." That, more than any other explanation captures the drama of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's gravity-defying success in catapulting his Liberal Democratic Party to its biggest electoral success ever -- in...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2005

Consumers reaping benefits of farm deregulation

Fresh tomatoes, sweet oranges and bright green lettuce grown organically and tracked by computer may soon arrive on consumers' tables directly from farms, thanks to agricultural deregulation.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2005

China's Kingsoft taps into Japan

China's major software company, Kingsoft Corp., started offering Wednesday its popular antivirus software for free on the Internet, becoming the first Chinese company to make a full-scale entry into the Japanese software market, its Japanese arm said.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 15, 2005

New revenge of the giant Heike crabs

The term shin kabuki, literally "new kabuki," describes a genre of plays created from the early Meiji Era (1868-1912) through World War II by prominent playwrights such as Shoyo Tsubouchi (1859-1935), Kido Okamoto (1872-1939) and Seika Mayama (1878-1948). Until the preceding Edo Period (1603-1868), classic...
MORE SPORTS
Sep 14, 2005

Tamesue pulls out of Seiko Super

Dai Tamesue, who captured the men's 400-meter hurdle bronze at the world championships last month, will sit out the upcoming Seiko Super track and field meet due to an ankle injury, the Japan Association of Athletics Federations said Tuesday.
SUMO
Sep 14, 2005

Asashoryu trips up Miyabiyama

Yokozuna Asashoryu won his second straight match with a trademark Mongolian trick in a comeback from an opening-day upset defeat at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2005

Fujimori applies for Peru passport

Fugitive former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori applied Tuesday for a Peruvian passport at the Peruvian Consulate General in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2005

Doc sentenced for indecent behavior

A former doctor at a Tokyo metropolitan hospital was sentenced Tuesday to 46 months in prison for tricking women patients into disrobing for medical examinations and taking photographs of them.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2005

Election spurs Upper House posts reform rebels' flip-flop

A House of Councilors member who played a key role in nixing the government's postal privatization bills last month said Tuesday he and 10 other rebels will back them this time, making their passage this month a virtual certainty.

Longform

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