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JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

Mondays see most suicides; men tend to pick 5 a.m., women noon

Mondays had the most suicides in Japan in 2003, with the most common hour being around 5 a.m. for men and around noon for women, an analysis by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

Former deportee protests denial of bid to live here, near wife's grave

A Bangladeshi man once deported from Japan staged a protest Friday in front of the Justice Ministry, slamming the government for not allowing him back quickly enough to spend time with his Japanese wife as she died of cancer and for telling him he must now leave the country where she is buried.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

Lower House OKs extra budget

The House of Representatives on Friday approved the government's supplementary budget bills for fiscal 2004, worth about 4.77 trillion yen, including 1.36 trillion yen allocated toward disaster relief.
COMMENTARY
Jan 29, 2005

China's global impact grows

LONDON -- Suddenly China has become the No. 1 topic on the agenda of every Western policy forum and think tank. That the focus should be so sudden is in a way surprising.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 29, 2005

Margaret Powell

Headquartered in Reading, England, GAP Activity Projects is a nonprofit organization that arranges gap year activities for young people. In the U.K., the gap year is offered between high school and university. GAP was originated in 1972 by a teacher who knew that some students were eager for overseas...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

NPA reports 17 cases of 'phishing'

The National Police Agency said Friday it has received 17 reports since late December of online fraud known as "phishing."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 29, 2005

To do or not to do -- that is the decision

Westerners often find it takes Japanese a long time to make decisions. I believe the training for decision-making starts at an early age, when Japanese children are conditioned to be shy.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 29, 2005

Take this job and love it

Maybe it was Benjamin Disraeli or maybe it was Mark Twain or maybe it was me who said, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics . . . followed by Japanese financial data."
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

U.K. vow to fill Samawah security void after Dutch exit elates officials

move," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a regular news conference Friday morning. Although Britain has said its troops would work with Iraqi security forces in the province, some Japanese government officials have expressed doubts over the plan, pointing out that the foreign military presence...
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2005

Seibu urged to merge with spinoff, sell team

A Seibu group reform panel released an interim reform plan Friday urging Seibu Railway Co. to merge with a spinoff from Kokudo Corp., its core firm, absorb the Prince Hotels chain, and consider selling the Seibu Lions baseball team.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

Jobless rate edges to six-year low

Japan's unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percent to a six-year low of 4.4 percent in December.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2005

Output up 5.5% in 2004 despite late slide

Japan's industrial production expanded an unadjusted 5.5 percent in 2004, marking a second straight yearly rise, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2005

CPI declines for the fifth straight year as deflation continues to dog economy

The key gauge of consumer prices in Japan fell 0.1 percent in 2004, marking a fifth straight yearly decline and underscoring that the economy is still beset by deflation, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

Population up 0.05% in 2004

Japan's population rose to about 127,687,000 in 2004, up by 0.05 percent from a year earlier, according to a preliminary government report on estimated demographic shifts obtained by Kyodo News.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 29, 2005

All good things come to those who wait

Judy Ishizu holds up her latest English textbook, "Sekando Raifu no Eikaiwa" ("Second Life English Conversation"), and can scarcely contain her enthusiasm. "It's a dream come true to be in print. This is not my first book, however, but the fifth. To date the second -- "Eigo de Imi . Kangae wo Ieru Hyogen"...
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2005

IRCJ taps Orix to back Daikyo rehab

The government-backed Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan has chosen Orix Corp. to sponsor the rehabilitation of struggling condominium builder Daikyo Inc., according to sources.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2005

U.S. eyes education, medicine sectors

The United States wants to expand U.S. investors' presence in Japan's education and medical services markets, a U.S. State Department official said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2005

Canon logs record net profit despite snarling competition

Canon Inc. said Friday its net profit for 2004 jumped 25 percent from a year earlier to a record 343.34 billion yen, driven by robust sales of multifunctional copiers, laser printers and digital cameras.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

Sugiura called on to resign over funds discrepancy

An opposition lawmaker demanded Friday that Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura resign for allegedly falsifying his annual political funds reports.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 28, 2005

Takayasu, Matsuda, Ito all win

Fresh from setting a new Japanese record in Berlin last weekend, Ryo Takayasu claimed victory in the men's 50-meter butterfly final on the opening day of a short course World Cup meet in Moscow on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2005

Better use of talented people

Ms. Chong Hyang Gyun, a second-generation South Korean resident who is a public-health nurse for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, has been fighting a legal battle the past decade to take up a managerial post. The 54-year-old civil servant has argued that the metro government's rejection of her request...

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