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BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2004

FSA chief to hold talks in Europe

Financial Services Minister Tatsuya Ito said Tuesday he will make a five-day visit to Britain and France starting Jan. 5 to meet the heads of the two countries' central banks to discuss financial-sector issues.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2004

November tax revenues off 2.8%

The country's tax revenues in November fell 2.8 percent from a year earlier to 6.3 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2004

Hostage beheading video screened at Chiba rock concert

Video footage showing the decapitation of a Japanese man taken hostage in Iraq this year was shown on a big screen at a rock concert Sunday in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, concert sponsor Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. said.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2004

Tokyo consumer prices fall for sixth consecutive year

The key gauge of consumer prices in Tokyo dropped 0.2 percent in 2004 from the previous year for the sixth straight year of decline, due mainly to falls in prices of personal computers and durable home appliances, the government said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2004

Joetsu Shinkansen back on track after quakes

The Joetsu Shinkansen Line resumed full services between Tokyo and Niigata stations Tuesday for the first time since massive earthquakes struck Niigata Prefecture in late October.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2004

MMC inks deal with Taiwan ally

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with its Taiwanese affiliate, China Motor Corp., to expand production and sales in mainland China.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 29, 2004

MLB settles lawsuit with Morioka

Major League Baseball, which had been the target of a $3.4 million lawsuit by Tokyo native Juri Morioka, charging wrongful termination and overt racism against Asians, has quietly settled the case, The Japan Times has learned.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 29, 2004

Cheers to contemporary art

The years are passing too quickly for this no-longer-young critic. Lest you think me embittered, let me start this year in review on a high note by trumpeting the star of 2004, a grand old dame who looks as bright and new as the day she was born -- the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. Built in the Bauhaus...
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2004

Civilian controls over military matters seen in the balance

As Japan prepares to redefine the Self-Defense Forces as a bona fide military, the government will have to address the sensitive question of how much say SDF officers should have in national security.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 29, 2004

Buy local produce

Japanese films had a good 2004, even if eight of the 10 top box-office slots went to Hollywood. The Japanese exhibition business is coming to resemble the American one, with more multiplex screens and wider openings. This structure favors major Hollywood product -- the latest "Harry Potter" or "Lord...
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 29, 2004

Celebrating ourselves and others on stage in 2004

Many of the best theatrical stagings on these shores this year tackled issues having to do with the current chaotic state of the world. The focus of the best productions in Japan was how to understand, communicate and cope with others from quite different cultural and ethnic backgrounds; or, as part...
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2004

Towa may receive capital from Mitsubishi Estate

Struggling condominium builder Towa Real Estate Development Co. has entered the final phase of talks with Mitsubishi Estate Co. on receiving capital, sources said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2004

Alternative to fading away

In the annals of mankind, various nations that rose and fell over centuries are recognized for what they left for posterity. The Romans laid the foundations of Western civilization with Roman Law and built the infrastructure that enabled the spread of Christianity. The world owes the British for the...
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2004

Industrial production climbs 1.5%

The nation's industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent in November from the previous month for the first increase in three months, due partly to brisk overseas demand for semiconductor machinery, the government said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2004

Turkey's long march to an EU wedding

PARIS -- Although a wedding date has yet to be set between the European Union and Turkey, the two parties managed to conclude what several participants at the Dec. 17 European summit have called a formal "engagement."
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2004

Government panel to debate letting woman ascend throne

The government said Monday it will set up an advisory panel next month to discuss revising the Imperial Household Law with an eye to allowing a female ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2004

Japan as seen through Hollywood's eyes

OSAKA -- Over the past year or so, Japan has figured in several popular Hollywood films.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2004

Reports of Japanese fatalities yet to be confirmed

Foreign Ministry and embassy officials were trying Monday to confirm reports that several Japanese may have been killed in the massive tsunamis that hit South and Southeast Asia the previous day.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2004

Trading house Mitsui probed over fake diesel filter data, subsidy scam

Tokyo police launched a criminal investigation Monday into Mitsui & Co. and one of its subsidiaries, suspecting that the giant trading house fabricated test data to obtain official approval for a diesel particulate filter.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2004

Nori betrothal declaration Thursday

The Imperial Household Agency will formally announce the engagement of Princess Nori and Yoshiki Kuroda, a Tokyo Metropolitan Government official, on Thursday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 28, 2004

Legal bank robbery

Mention residents tax to any foreigner living in Japan and chances are, you aren't likely to win any favorable responses. Otherwise known as city tax, ward tax or inhabitants tax to name just a few aliases, this is probably one of the most dreaded and least understood of all the taxes in Japan. It is...
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2004

Big firms' confidence fell in latest quarter

Business confidence among large companies deteriorated in the October-December period, with manufacturers hit by a strong yen and information technology-related firms undertaking inventory adjustments, the government said Monday.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2004

Yoshinoya cooks up a 573 million yen profit

Yoshinoya D&C Co., which used to be the country's largest "gyudon" chain before U.S. beef was banned a year ago, said Monday it returned to profitability during the three months ended Nov. 30.
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 28, 2004

NPO stretched thin aiding ill illegal aliens

Friendly Asians Home (Ajia Yuko no Ie), a nonprofit organization based in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, has been active since the 1960s in helping people from Southeast Asia facing difficulty in Japan.

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