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JAPAN
Apr 13, 2005

Imperial Couple to visit Dublin, Oslo

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will visit Ireland and Norway next month, accompanied by an entourage led by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, the government said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2005

Kids born, fathered here by Japanese sue state for recognition as citizens

A lawsuit was filed against the government Tuesday on behalf of nine children born in Japan to Japanese fathers and Filipino mothers who are seeking to be recognized as Japanese, according to their lawyer.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2005

Japan wants permission to kill more whale species

Japan will seek permission to conduct a "broader and more comprehensive" research whaling program in the Antarctic when the International Whaling Commission holds its annual meeting in June, a Fisheries Agency official said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 13, 2005

Troubling events in China

The recent wave of anti-Japanese demonstrations in China raises questions about Beijing's will to stabilize the situation. At the beginning of this month, demonstrators went on a rampage in Sichuan and Shenzhen in southern China, smashing windows of a Japanese supermarket and committing other acts of...
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2005

Bank lending kept falling in '04

The average daily lending balance of Japanese banks in fiscal 2004 fell 3.5 percent from the previous year to 386.05 trillion yen, extending the downtrend to eight consecutive years, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2005

Ownership of broadcasters may become difficult for foreigners

The Liberal Democratic Party approved a proposal Tuesday to stiffen a law limiting foreign ownership of Japanese TV and radio broadcasters, party officials said.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 12, 2005

Asagoe takes over as Japan's No. 1

Shinobu Asagoe took over as the No. 1 Japanese player and Ai Sugiyama settled for second in the latest rankings by the WTA released Monday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 12, 2005

Hawks blank Eagles

Toshiya Sugiuchi tossed a three-hitter Monday as the Softbank Hawks blanked the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4-0 at Fullcast Stadium.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

Prime minister's new quarters open after major renovation

The prime minister's newly renovated residential quarters in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, opened Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

Nursing home diapers no hand-washing issue for 38%

Thirty-eight percent of special nursing homes that responded to a survey admitted they failed to instruct their staff to wash and sterilize their hands every time they changed patients' diapers, a government survey showed Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 12, 2005

Teen Asada gets green light

Fourteen-year-old figure skater Mao Asada, winner of the world junior and Junior Grand Prix Final titles, will compete in the senior Grand Prix series starting next season, Japanese skating officials said Monday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 12, 2005

English schools face huge insurance probe

The Social Insurance Agency is to investigate Japan's largest English-language teaching companies over a suspected failure to enroll their full-time foreign employees in the employees' pension and health insurance schemes.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

Koizumi blames China for letting mobs run wild

China should be blamed for failing to protect the Japanese nationals from attack, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

U.S., Japanese envoys confirm ties

Thomas Schieffer, the new U.S. ambassador to Japan, met Monday with Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi and the pair confirmed the importance of their countries maintaining bilateral ties, Foreign Ministry officials said.
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2005

Lee should avoid Yasukuni

With tensions rising again across the Taiwan Strait, some in Japan seem to think that it might be timely for former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to visit controversial Yasukuni Shrine, the memorial in Tokyo to Japan's war dead.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2005

East China Sea test-drilling not to be swayed by unrest

Japan will decide whether to give Japanese firms rights to conduct experimental drilling in disputed waters in the East China Sea regardless of a series of anti-Japanese protests in China, Vice Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hideji Sugiyama indicated Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

Miyake lower schools kick off new year

An elementary school and a junior high school on Miyake Island held opening ceremonies for the new academic year Monday for the first time since all residents were evacuated amid volcanic eruptions in summer 2000.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2005

Progress in Baghdad

After what seemed like interminable delay, Iraqi politicians have agreed on the country's top leaders. The posts have been filled by representatives from all of Iraq's main religious and ethnic groups, creating as inclusive a national leadership as possible. The agreement hints that deals have also been...
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2005

Hostile rallies put companies on edge

Japanese firms doing business with China are taking precautionary measures following a raft of violent anti-Japanese rallies there over the weekend.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

Whalers set off for research hunt

Six ships left a port in northern Japan on Monday for a whale hunt in an offshore research program that critics have denounced as a cover for commercial whaling.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 12, 2005

Do you think national health insurance is worthwhile for foreigners in Japan?

Elly Perkins ALT, 24 It has been for me. It's saved me a lot of hassle because I live in a small town up north where no one speaks English. I just have to give them my name and my card.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

Japan still second on ODA list despite 0.2% decline in 2004

The amount of foreign aid Japan disbursed in 2004 fell 0.2 percent from the previous year to $8.859 billion on a preliminary basis, keeping it in second place among the world's 22 major foreign aid donors, the OECD's Development Assistance Committee said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

Strong quake shakes Kanto sleepers awake

A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 rattled the Kanto region Monday morning, the Meteorological Agency and police said.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2005

Japan to push fast CTBT activation at nuclear talk

Japan will propose that participants at a forthcoming international nuclear conference include a statement urging an early implementation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in a final document to be adopted at the end of the meeting, according to government officials.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2005

PepsiCo to exit TSE as investors elude

U.S. beverage maker PepsiCo Inc. said Monday it has applied to delist from the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange due to the small number of shareholders in Japan who hold its stock.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2005

Last Tsutsumi-handled, pricey Prince Hotel opens

Tokyo Prince Hotel Park Tower opened Monday -- the last in the Prince chain to be handled by former Kokudo Corp. Chairman Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who has been charged with making false financial reports and insider trading in violation of the Securities and Exchange Law.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 12, 2005

Credit card fraud, bike attacks and clothes swap

More on accidents Last month, two people in different parts of Tokyo -- teacher Kristin Newton (who had to use a cane for three weeks) and natural healer/nutritionist Daniel Babu (still suffering headaches) -- were hit by bikes ridden by Japanese teenagers who then fled.

Longform

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