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BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 1, 2005

Fighters' Iriki garners no suitors

Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher Yusaku Iriki had his hopes of pursuing a career in the major leagues dashed Wednesday after failing to draw a bid via the so-called posting system.
EDITORIALS
Dec 1, 2005

Time to allow a female emperor

A government panel on imperial succession has issued a final proposal to revise the Imperial Household Law. It contains two main points. One is that females and their descendants should be allowed to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. The second is that the emperor's firstborn child, regardless of gender,...
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

Host communities blast U.S. realignment plan

Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga have been visiting communities with military bases to gain their approval of an interim report on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, but strong local opposition persists.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

Condo repairs to cost at least 14 billion yen

The cost of repairing hotels, condominium complexes and other structures built with false quake-resistance data has so far been tallied at over 14 billion yen, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

Romanian EU entry touted as boon for Japan

Romania's envisioned admission to the European Union in 2007 will benefit not only Europe but Japan as well, giving Japanese goods access to the Southeastern European market, according to Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

Former Kanebo execs plead guilty

A former president and vice president of Kanebo Ltd. both pleaded guilty Wednesday at the Tokyo District Court to falsifying financial statements.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

3.25 billion yen awarded in Yokota base noise suit

The Tokyo High Court ordered the government Wednesday to pay a record 3.25 billion yen in noise pollution damages to an estimated 6,000 residents living near the U.S. Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

One-year extension seen for SDF mission in Iraq

The government plans to extend the reconstruction mission of Self-Defense Forces troops in Iraq for another year, sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

Condemned cultist denies guilt in appeal

The counsel for senior Aum Shinrikyo figure Masami Tsuchiya entered a not guilty plea Wednesday on behalf of their client as his Tokyo High Court appeal trial began against his death sentence for 13 cult-perpetrated murders, including those in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

Treating dementia with music trumpeted

, chairman of the Tokyo Music Volunteer Association, encourages elderly people to sing and clap to the music as part of therapy to combat senile dementia. PHOTO COURTESY OF TATSUHIKO AKABOSHI/KYODO
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 1, 2005

Getting a little help from friends

Federico Herrero made a splash with his wall paintings of weirdly morphed animals at the 2001 Venice Biennale and, at age 22, became the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious art fair's Golden Lion Award. In the wake of that success, the Costa Rican-born painter garnered international representation...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 1, 2005

The reign of Vivienne

From being prosecuted under Britain's obscenity laws for her risque punk fashions to twirling pantyless after receiving an honor from the Queen whose image she once defaced with safety pins, Vivienne Westwood has always had a habit of causing controversy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2005

Rakuten and TBS bury hatchet, agree to start tieup talks

After intense 11th-hour negotiations, Rakuten Inc. and Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. agreed Wednesday to launch talks on potential business tieups after the Internet firm withdrew its proposal to merge with the private broadcaster.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2005

Salaried workers' pay still rising

Salaried workers' standard monthly pay averaged 254,066 yen in October, up 0.5 percent from a year earlier for the seventh straight monthly rise, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2005

Seibu to shut anemic Shizuoka, Toyama outlets by end of '06

Seibu Department Stores Ltd. plans to close its outlets in the cities of Toyama and Shizuoka by the end of 2006, it was learned Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2005

Trying to stem controversy in South Korea

LOS ANGELES -- The people of South Korea have responded to the stem-cell scandal involving genius-innovator Hwang Woo Suk with admittedly excessive passion and near-unanimous conviction. Still, by rallying around their amazing Seoul National University pioneer, their support should be a comfort to risk-taking...
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2005

Shinsei Bank doubles revenue in first half

Shinsei Bank said Wednesday its group operating revenue in the fiscal first half more than doubled from the year before to 253.61 billion yen as it consolidated the earnings results of its new consumer-loan and leasing-service units into the group results.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2005

Global robot exhibition gets under way

The 2005 International Robot Exhibition, one of the world's largest of its kind, opened Wednesday at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center, also known as Tokyo Big Sight, for a four-day run through Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2005

China juggles growth, stability

SINGAPORE -- As China's annual Central Economic Conference gets under-way in Beijing early this month, Beijing looks set to sustain the new social-economic shift that was laid out by the 5th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) in mid-October. The plenum signaled the...
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2005

Steps finalized to pare 654 billion yen in subsidies to localities

The government and ruling parties finalized measures Wednesday that will cut 654 billion yen in subsidies to local governments and transfer 610 billion yen worth of tax authority to them in fiscal 2006.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2005

Seniors to pay more for medical service

The government and Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition agreed Wednesday to raise medical costs for the elderly in two stages, starting in 2006.

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