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SOCCER / J. League
Sep 30, 2004

Two JFL clubs apply for J. League entry

Japan Football League clubs Tokushima Vortis and Ehime F.C. filed applications on Wednesday for entry into the J. League in a bid to join its second division next season.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2004

MHI, Rolls-Royce to make jet engine

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Wednesday it has signed an accord with Rolls-Royce PLC to jointly develop a new engine for the Boeing 7E7 midsize jet.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 30, 2004

Aso wants private-sector input on postal reform

Ideas from business leaders should be invited when crafting plans to privatize Japan Post to ensure it is profitable from the get-go, according to Taro Aso, minister of internal affairs and communications.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2004

Retail sales slipped 1.8% in August on slackening demand

Japan's retail sales slipped 1.8 percent in August from a year earlier to 10.13 trillion yen, following a 1.0 percent rise in July, as strong demand for digital consumer electronics in connection with the Athens Olympics peaked, the government said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 30, 2004

New finance chief extols 'Takenaka vision,' bank reforms

Newly appointed Financial Services Minister Tatsuya Ito plans to continue pushing banking-sector reforms, the biggest task he worked on as a deputy to his hardline predecessor, Heizo Takenaka.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2004

Sumitomo Metal opens new furnace

Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. began using a new blast furnace Wednesday at its Kashima steelworks, the first time a Japanese steelmaker has started a new large blast furnace in 25 years.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 30, 2004

Japanese baseball owners approve interleague plan

The owners of professional baseball clubs approved a plan Wednesday to hold interleague regular-season games next year for the fist time ever.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2004

Nikon, ASML settle patent disputes

Nikon Corp. said Wednesday it has agreed to a settlement with ASML Holding NV of the Netherlands over patent disputes, with ASML paying Nikon $87 million.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2004

MMC likely to near sales forecast

Struggling Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Wednesday its global sales for fiscal 2004 will probably approach its 1.45 million-unit target because strong overseas sales are offsetting plunging domestic figures.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2004

Insurers to boost travelers' coverage

Japanese nonlife insurers will expand their travelers' insurance coverage in October to include medical expenses for bird flu and other infectious diseases, as well as coverage for travel cancellations attributed to terrorist attacks.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2004

Japan Post seeks fresh bite of parcel-delivery pie

Japan Post said Wednesday it will base charges for its Yu-Pack parcel service on size rather than on weight, effective Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 30, 2004

Deaf school phenomenon points to innate language origins

So there's this deaf American visiting Russia, and he's thirsty. Using American Sign Language, he says to his deaf-guide, "I really want a soda." But in Russian Sign Language, the gestures he used correspond to, "I really want to have sex." Guessing at some linguistic problem, the Russian guide diplomatically...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 29, 2004

Dragons having fun as magic falls to one

Shogo Mori hit a two-run, go-ahead homer in the seventh inning Tuesday night as the Chunichi Dragons reduced their magic number to clinch the Central League pennant to one with a 4-2 victory over the Yakult Swallows.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 29, 2004

Fan power prevails as crisis in Japanese baseball subsides

It appears we will come out of the so-called Japanese baseball crisis with the two-league system intact, six teams each in the Central and Pacific circuits, a new team in Sendai and interleague play in 2005.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2004

Operating officer named Avex chief

Music label Avex Inc. said Tuesday operating officer Masato Matsuura, known as a key promoter of popular singer Ayumi Hamasaki, is now the company's new president.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2004

Toshiba sees boom in audiovisual biz

Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it plans to more than triple annual revenue generated by its audiovisual business to 1.5 trillion yen in fiscal 2010, through the introduction of next-generation flat-screen TVs and DVD players.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 29, 2004

Shibui shooting for run at 2005 worlds

Yoko Shibui, who won the Berlin Marathon in a Japanese record time on Sunday, is aiming to run in next year's World Championships with a plan to enter a qualifying race in January or March, her coach said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2004

Yamato seeks to halt Japan Post-Lawson delivery tieup

Yamato Transport Co. said Tuesday it has sought a court injunction to halt Japan Post's parcel-handling tieup with convenience store operator Lawson Inc.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2004

KDDI phones to function as e-money

KDDI Corp. said Tuesday it will start selling mobile phones by fall 2005 that can function as electronic money.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 29, 2004

Takenaka vows to get LDP members on board for Japan Post privatization

Heizo Takenaka, just named to the brand-new post of minister of postal reform, said Tuesday he will "keep talking" to Liberal Democratic Party politicians until he wins their support for privatization.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 29, 2004

An Eastern art show to rival Venice

On May 18, 1980, the city of Gwangju, South Korea, hit the headlines with an explosion of civilian dissent against the military junta that had seized power the day before. The junta's brutal crackdown culminated in the Gwangju Massacre of hundreds of students and civilians. The uprising would spark South...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2004

Boys be ambitious

Journalists approach Shutoku Mukai warily. As the leading personality of cult group Number Girl, Mukai cultivated an aura of negative charisma. Onstage, he was all contorted painful energy, round geeky glasses slipping down his nose as he spat out lyrics and drew harsh, ranting chords from his guitar....
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2004

The little indie labels that could

In the old days, a band might self-release a record or two. Their hope, however, was to catch the ear of some major-label A&R director and land a coveted contract with Sony, Toshiba EMI or one of Japan's other music behemoths.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2004

Offer Pyongyang transparency challenge

HONOLULU -- "It's all South Korea's fault!" In a refreshing change from its natural tendency to blame Washington for all the world's troubles, Pyongyang has recently announced that it cannot proceed with the six-party talks over its clandestine nuclear-weapons programs since "the foundation for talks...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 29, 2004

Rhapsody to the bohemian lifestyle

More than a century has passed since the first performance Puccini's "La Boheme" in 1896, yet it remains one of the most widely performed operas in the world. That may be because the opera, a dramatization of the French writer, Henry Murger's 1849 novel "Scenes of the Bohemian Life" , seems to celebrate...
EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2004

The road to 'sports citizenship'

The good news about Japanese professional baseball last week was that the players averted a second weekend strike following a last-minute agreement with management. A week earlier, an unprecedented walkout had been staged in protest against a merger deal between the Kintetsu Baffaloes and the Orix BlueWave...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 29, 2004

Death or glory? Not another jingoistic story

The Alamo Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: John Lee Hancock Running time: 137 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The battle of the Alamo, like Bunker Hill or the Battle of the Bulge, remains one of America's most sacred martial myths, which...
OLYMPICS
Sep 28, 2004

Tachibana-Takeda pair retire

Synchronized swimmers Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda, silver medalists in both the duet and team events at the last two Olympic Games, officially announced their retirement from the sport on Monday.

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