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BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 10, 2005

Cabrera leads Lions past Swallows

Alex Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the first inning Thursday to lead the Seibu Lions to a 4-1 win over the Yakult Swallows in interleague play.
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2005

The real state of the economy

Japanese corporations, by and large, chalked up their biggest profit gains ever in the financial year ended March 31, breaking previous records for the third straight year. But numbers can be misleading. Earnings statistics indicate economic movements and trends but do not necessarily tell what these...
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2005

Diet set to be extended for postal bills

The Liberal Democratic Party and the government Thursday started preparing to extend the current Diet session beyond June 19 to ensure there is enough time to pass the contentious postal privatization bills.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2005

World Cup berth has travel agents, TV sellers purring

Japan's win Wednesday over North Korea, which secured its berth at the 2006 World Cup soccer finals in Germany, is a source of delight for travel agents and consumer electronics stores nationwide.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2005

Current account surplus expanded 5.2% in April

Japan's current account surplus widened 5.2 percent in April on a year-on-year basis to 1.63 trillion yen, marking a second straight monthly increase, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Jun 10, 2005

Black monolith rises in Harajuku

Tokyo is famed for its haphazard layout, with tatty old two-story structures nestling up against ultra-modern constructions, and areas seemingly designated for one type of business that are punctuated by anomalous residential or industrial premises.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2005

Court rejects Nireco bid to revive its poison pill

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday turned down Nireco Corp.'s petition to revoke an injunction against the firm implementing what was to be Japan's first poison pill measure.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2005

Ministry touts perks of growing prison system workforce

Need workers? Japan's penal system has the answer: prison labor.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2005

Spain's bank presence back as BBVA opens branch

Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria announced Wednesday the opening of a branch in Tokyo with the aim of financing Japanese firms doing business in Latin America.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2005

Rice tariff 778% with new WTO formula

Japan's tariff on milled rice imports is 778 percent under a new formula for global trade talks, up sharply from the earlier-published 490 percent, sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2005

Health experts alarmed by surge in AIDS

The rapid spread of AIDS in the past decade has reached a level that has confounded and alarmed the health establishment in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 10, 2005

Sushi Ouchi: There's nothing to fear in naturally good sushi

Entering an old-school Edomae sushi shop for the first time can be daunting -- even for the most self-confident of us. The welcome is often so vocal it verges on the aggressive. The cedarwood counters look scrubbed to the point of sterility, the gleaming bright interiors afford little sense of warmth...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2005

Hardest steps to harmony

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The recent turmoil in Sino-Japanese relations has caused anxiety in Thailand. People here would clearly prefer a calmer atmosphere between the two giant powers of East Asia, as their future is linked to both and they stand to lose if there is a collision. Many believe that the...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 9, 2005

TM bolsters notion of a Japanese mind-set over mortality

As we heard in a government white paper on the elderly last week, the number of people aged 90 or over topped 1 million in Japan for the first time in 2004. Japan has long held the record for its citizens having the longest life expectancy in the world. And the government is only too aware of the graying...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 9, 2005

Jojima, Batista drive Softbank over Hiroshima

Kenji Jojima and Tony Batista each drove in a pair of runs Wednesday to lead the Softbank Hawks to a 6-3 win over the Hiroshima Carp.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2005

Hansen's specimens urged buried

Hansen's disease sufferers and their supporters have demanded that Tokyo apologize and bury the bodies of babies and fetuses that have been kept in specimen jars after being taking from women held in quarantine by the state in the decades after the war.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2005

Panel gets qualified OK for female on the throne

Three of four academics told a government panel on Imperial succession Wednesday it would be acceptable to revise the current law to allow females to sit on the Chrysanthemum Throne, although two said males should be given preference.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 9, 2005

Four-lined rat snake

* Japanese name: Shimahebi * Scientific name: Elaphe quadrivirgata * Description: Unfortunately, despite the name, this snake does not always have four lines running down its length. Often it has black lines running down a light-brown body (as in the photo), or sometimes lighter, dashed lines that...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2005

LDP eyes law to protect gas-drilling ships

The Liberal Democratic Party may draft a new law to protect Japanese vessels that drill for gas in the East China Sea, where the exclusive economic zones of Japan and China are in dispute, a senior LDP member said Tuesday.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji