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JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Veiled North Korea sanction takes toll on port calls

Port calls by North Korean ships fell sharply in March after a revised law requiring vessels be insured against oil pollution took effect on March 1.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Screening preceded by state bid to unify thought

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry on Tuesday released the results of its screening of textbooks for use in junior high schools from next April.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2005

Rise of Spanish does not predicate decline of English

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- Three major American television networks have been facing stiff competition for viewers from cable television and the Internet. One network that seems to be thriving without any serious competition, though, is Spanish language Univision.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2005

Sumitomo sells Tokyo HQ building

Trading house Sumitomo Corp. said Tuesday it has sold its head office building in Tokyo for 86 billion yen in an effort to use assets more efficiently.
COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2005

Security quest curtailing vital freedoms

LONDON -- Since 9/11, the United States and other democratic countries have given priority to security, often at the expense of freedom, justice and human rights. Governments reckon that if they fail to take all possible steps to defend their citizens they will be rightly accused of dereliction of duty....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 6, 2005

Group Sounds A-Go-Go

After The Beatles played Budokan in 1966, hordes of Japanese kids descended on their local barber shops bearing a photo of their favorite member of the band and demanding a moptop. Then they'd buy a guitar, form a band in their bedroom and mimic the sound of their British Invasion heroes, be they the...
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 6, 2005

Butoh creates beauty from misery

"Why are we in this form? Why do we have to be this particular shape? Why is the face on top of the neck? Our face could be on the soles of our feet. . . . Human beings are quite a strange kind of life form . . ."
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 6, 2005

From Zen to story, a tale of artists East and West

The Mori Art Museum in Roppongi is not yet two years old but the two new Mori shows that opened last weekend -- "The Elegance of Silence: Contemporary Art from East Asia" and "The World is a Stage: Stories Behind Pictures" -- suggest a space now comfortable with its potential and its limitations.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Ministry screeners approve contentious history texts

The education ministry on Tuesday approved 103 textbooks for use in junior high schools from next April, including a revised version of a contentious history book criticized for glossing over Japan's wartime aggression.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Disclaimer on government textbook screenings

The way Japan's wartime past is described in history textbooks officially approved Tuesday does not necessarily reflect Japanese policy, according to Akira Chiba, assistant press secretary at the Foreign Ministry.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2005

New Zealand repeats FTA overture

New Zealand has repeated its call for Japan to launch bilateral talks for a bilateral free-trade agreement, economy minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Seibu Railway theme park hit for back tax

Amusement park operator Toshimaen Co., which is under the scandal-hit Seibu Railway Co. group, failed to declare 200 million yen in taxable income in connection with rent payments for a company house used privately by a female acquaintance of its former president, sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2005

Business leader raps environment tax

A senior Japanese business leader urged the government Tuesday to drop an idea to levy a new tax on fossil fuels like oil, warning it could adversely affect people's livelihood.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2005

Postal reforms get nod only from LDP execs

Liberal Democratic Party executives reacted positively Tuesday to the government's postal privatization scheme unveiled the previous day, while rank-and-file members continued to voice opposition.
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2005

Dying in peace with dignity

The death of Terri Schiavo has focused attention on euthanasia. With her feeding tube removed, the 41-year-old American woman died in Florida last week after 15 years of living in a "vegetative state." The long and bitter dispute, in and out of court, that continued through her last days suggest the...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 5, 2005

Ozeki single lifts Lions to walkoff win

Tatsuya Ozeki drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the ninth inning Monday to lift the Seibu Lions to a 2-1 walkoff victory over the Chiba Lotte Marines.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2005

Cabinet OKs compromise postal plan

After compromising with the Liberal Democratic Party, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet adopted a watered-down plan Monday to privatize the state-run postal services by 2017.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2005

Colombia president coming April 9

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will visit Japan from Saturday to April 12 to hold talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and attend the Inter-American Development Bank's annual meeting in Okinawa.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2005

Machimura, Ban to meet on sidelines of Pakistan talks

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and his South Korean counterpart, Ban Ki Moon, will meet in Islamabad on Thursday, Japanese government sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2005

Child patient drowns in hospital bath

An 8-year-old patient at a Tokyo hospital for children with mental disorders drowned last week while taking a bath because the hospital worker who was supposed to care for the girl was absent, it was learned Monday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2005

Bitter medicine to build trust

Political parties are bracing for a new round of joint parliamentary panel talks on social security reform. The biggest issue is how to integrate disparate and unequal parts of the public pension system. Prospects for final agreement look uncertain at best, given the wide differences that exist between...

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