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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...
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2005

Wheat, barley, sugar, starch selected as must-protect farm items for WTO

Japan has designated rice, wheat and four other agricultural products as politically sensitive items that must be protected by high tariffs in unofficial bilateral talks under the World Trade Organization, government sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2005

Earthquake jolts Fukushima, Ibaraki

An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 shook Fukushima, Ibaraki and other prefectures in northeastern and eastern Japan early Monday, the Meteorological Agency said.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2005

IDB meeting theme to spur development, boost trade ties

The Inter-American Development Bank will hold its annual meeting in Okinawa from Sunday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 5, 2005

Burned out, wills and tax advice

Fire! Last week our house had a fire We had just moved into a rental house and paid all the key money, real estate fees etc. and nine days later our neighbor's house had a major fire, which spread to ours. The neighbor's house is completely burned, and one person died. My family all escaped unhurt,...
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2005

Kohler backs Koizumi's reform efforts

Visiting German President Horst Kohler said Monday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reform efforts would boost Japan's competitiveness in the global arena.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2005

LDP's new Constitution will widen SDF's role

The Liberal Democratic Party on Monday unveiled a rough outline of its planned constitutional amendment, which says the Self-Defense Forces should be defined as a military tasked with defending Japan and joining international peacekeeping efforts.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2005

Condolence book for pope, Mass in offing

The Apostolic Nunciature (Vatican Embassy) in Japan will open to the public a book of condolences for Pope John Paul II between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday at the embassy at 9-2 Sanban-cho, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight