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Jan 6, 2006

Asashoryu nabs second MVP

Mongolian grand champion Asashoryu on Thursday was named the most valuable athlete in Japanese professional sports for the second year in a row. The Japan Professional Sports Association selected Asashoryu for the award after he became the first wrestler in sumo history to win all six meets in a year...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

25 prefectures aid quake checks

Twenty-five prefectural governments are providing subsidies, technical assistance or both to owners of houses and buildings for earthquake-resistance checks, according to figures compiled by Kyodo News on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Researchers plan apolitical surveys near disputed islets

A group of Japanese researchers will conduct underwater surveys around two tiny islets at the center of a dispute with China.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Nikko Citigroup employee makes trading blunder

A Nikko Citigroup Ltd. employee, investing for private purposes, mistakenly placed a buy order on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for 2,000 shares of Nippon Paper Group Inc. instead of two, the investment firm said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Fire rages on over '04 diplomat suicide in China

A spat between Japan and China over the 2004 suicide of a diplomat at the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai continued Thursday as Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe urged Beijing to give a "sincere response" over what has been reported as an attempt to extort intelligence.
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2006

Japan's economic upturn

Last year saw a gradual upswing in the Japanese economy. The stock market revived and many Japanese corporations earned record profits. The average stock price at the Tokyo Stock Exchange has risen by about 40 percent in the past year. Toward the end of 2005, it topped 16,000 for the first time in more...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 6, 2006

Lions get Eto as compensation

The Seibu Lions said Thursday they have acquired infielder Akira Eto from the Yomiuri Giants as compensation for losing free agent closer Kiyoshi Toyoda to the Central League club.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Tuna fetches 3.8 million yen at Tsukiji's first auction of '06

A 191-kg bluefin tuna fetched 3.82 million yen in the first auction at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market Thursday morning as wholesale food markets reopened for the new year across Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Tokyo talent sings about kids rights in U.S. debut

Agnes Chan wears many hats -- singer, actress, child-rights activist, academic, and mother of three.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Number of 110 calls to post first fall

The number of emergency phone calls to police using the 110 service across Japan in 2005 is expected to register the first drop on record, the National Police Agency said Thursday. Records have been kept since 1961.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

93 million take in shrines, temples

An estimated 93.37 million people visited shrines and temples during the first three days of the New Year, a record figure and up 4.07 million from a year before, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Soga ID's Yokota's abductor as Sin

An internationally wanted North Korean agent abducted Megumi Yokota, repatriated Japanese abductee Hitomi Soga has testified, sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2006

Government eyes 30% cut in energy use by 2030

The government will try to cut the ratio of energy consumption to gross domestic product by 30 percent by 2030 to ensure the nation will have a stable supply of energy amid intensifying competition for resources, sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Koizumi cancels visit to Israel, Palestinian areas

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday canceled his plan to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a life-threatening stroke, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2006

Monetary base rose 1% in December

Japan's monetary base grew 1.0 percent in December from a year earlier, continuing its expansion for a 59th consecutive month, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 6, 2006

Giants add ex-Marlin Dillon

The Yomiuri Giants on Thursday announced the acquisition of infielder Joe Dillon, who made his major league debut with the Florida Marlins in 2005. Dillon, 30, has signed a one-year contract worth 60 million yen and is scheduled to come to Japan in late January.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2006

TSE eyes information-sharing computer system for 2008

The Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to install a next-generation computer system as early as 2008 that will have stronger backup functions to cope with system failures and to allow higher transaction speed, Taizo Nishimuro, the bourse's chairman and president, said in a recent interview.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2006

Top execs upbeat about 2006

Hopes were high for Japan's economic resurgence at a New Year's party for corporate executives Thursday at a time when profits are rebounding, consumers are spending and stock prices are at five-year highs.
COMMENTARY
Jan 6, 2006

China eschews Soviet redux

China's rapid-force modernization is driving strategic events in East Asia. But China is no longer communist; nor does it represent the same kind of threat posed by the USSR when it possessed huge military power and stretched across Eurasia, threatening U.S. allies at both ends. Thus important differences...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

Rokkasho tests break plutonium pledge, activists tell IAEA

OSAKA -- Antinuclear activists in Japan warned in a letter sent Thursday to the International Atomic Energy Agency that tests at the Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, reprocessing plant scheduled for early next month will violate the government's policy of holding no surplus plutonium.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2006

East Timor split by truth, justice and reconciliation

EAST TIMOR Swooping low over the azure Savu Sea, the pristine coastline and gnarly hills of Timor suddenly appear about two hours after takeoff from Bali. Before entering the spartan air terminal, visitors pass through a trailer where, upon arrival, $30 one-month visas are sold.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 6, 2006

Butoh troupe stages 'spiritual carnival'

Torifune Butoh Sha has been challenging audiences' perceptions of contemporary dance not only in Japan but in Europe and the United States since it was founded in 1991. Comprising around 30 enthusiasts including housewives, high school dropouts and government employees, the troupe was founded by butoh...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

TB hospitalizations of homeless probed

The health ministry is probing allegations of human rights abuse carried out through the forced hospitalization of homeless people under the Tuberculosis Control Law, the ministry said Thursday.

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