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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2004

Abductee's brother sees bid to enter Diet end in failure

Teruaki Masumoto, whose sister was abducted to North Korea in 1978, was heading for defeat in the four-seat Tokyo district.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2004

Bureaucrat appointed to serve princess

Takashi Yoshino, a midranking bureaucrat at the health ministry, will on Monday become the fifth chamberlain to Princess Aiko, the 2-year-old daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, the Imperial Household Agency said.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2004

Scandal-hit Tsujimoto loses Diet comeback bid

OSAKA -- Scandal-tainted Kiyomi Tsujimoto failed Sunday in her bid to return to the Diet, finishing fourth in the race for three seats in the Osaka electoral district.
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2004

EU visions go head to head

LONDON -- At the final summit of the Irish presidency of the European Union in Brussels late last month, European heads of government agreed on the text of a European constitution for the enlarged group of 25 states that came into being at the beginning of May. Representatives of the 10 new states were...
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2004

Summits of East Asian unity

East Asia is moving toward regional integration, albeit at a slow pace. In a series of meetings held in Indonesia from late June to early July, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed on a package of measures to expedite economic, financial, political and security integration. This signals...
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2004

DPJ finds favor with unaffiliated voters

More than half of the unaffiliated voters who cast ballots in Sunday's House of Councilors election threw their support behind the Democratic Party of Japan, according to Kyodo News exit polls.
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2004

Bush goes to work with the whitewash

WASHINGTON -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton's commitment to doing the popular thing politically was legendary. He has met his match, however. If anything, President George W. Bush is even more devoted to turning everything to his political advantage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2004

Death-penalty debate rages anew in India

MADRAS, India -- India is once again hotly debating capital punishment. This time the discussion has been provoked by the death sentence given to Dhananjoy Chatterjee, who was convicted of raping and murdering a 14-year-old schoolgirl. Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has stayed Chatterjee's hanging...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2004

Moderate Islam's voice must be heard

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The fact that every day a new "armchair" terrorism expert appears can be viewed as a welcome sign, for it shows that there is growing alertness to the new challenge of our times. Terrorism experts continue to argue over the best ways to confront unimaginable threats, but frequently...
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2004

Dental group donation set to result in charges

Prosecutors are set to establish a case against a former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker and two others on suspicion of embezzlement disguised as a political donation, according to informed sources.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 11, 2004

It's best to be aware of this big trucking problem

The crimes of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have made the media a little more attentive to vehicles that blow up. In the past several weeks, it seems an awful lot of MMC products have spontaneously combusted. Whenever they do, it's reported in the newspapers, and the frequency of such reports (at least four...
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2004

New pieces to a 9-year-old puzzle

Police investigations into the shooting of the nation's police chief more than nine years ago reached a major milestone last week with the arrests of four men, including a former police officer. Around 8:30 a.m. on March 30, 1995, a gunman fired several shots at Mr. Takaji Kunimatsu, then director general...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 11, 2004

Classic love-tragedy finds new blood

Noh, contemporary classical music and calligraphy -- each is an artistic form with its own appeal.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2004

Party leaders make final campaign pitches

Leaders of the major parties made their final pitches Saturday ahead of the House of Councilors election, with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi calling on voters to support his reform efforts amid dismal forecasts for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2004

Aum reportedly asked cop to case site before NPA chief was shot

A former police officer under arrest in connection with the 1995 shooting of the chief of the National Police Agency was asked by a senior female Aum Shinrikyo member to survey the shooting site five days before the attack, according to investigation sources.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 11, 2004

TV Asahi series "Matthew's Best Hit TV" and more

For many people, Matthew Minami has come to represent the wacky, incomprehensible nature of Japanese TV with his brief, colorful appearance in "Lost in Translation." Some probably believe he was simply invented for the movie, but his TV Asahi series, "Matthew's Best Hit TV," is in fact one of the most...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 11, 2004

Believe it ... or not

Japan's vast hoard of war booty known as Yamashita's Gold was long thought to be buried in caves in the Philippines. But in their book 'Gold Warriors,' Sterling and Peggy Seagrave sensationally claim that the treasure trove was secretly recovered -- and continues to oil the wheels of politics in Japan...
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2004

Japan to provide 8.4 billion yen for pipeline study

Japan is ready to provide Russia with 8.4 billion yen to help it study the feasibility of a pipeline project sought by Tokyo, sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 11, 2004

A French kiss from Monte Carlo ballet

The annual archipelago-length steamroll tour by New York's famous all-male classic ballet parody troupe, Les Ballets Trocadero de Monte-Carlo, which is in the middle of its 20th visit to these shores right now, has probably stolen some of the limelight from its namesake, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, which...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 11, 2004

Hero Wilkinson aims to come back bigger, better, fitter, stronger

It's often said that professional athletes are the only people in the world who actually have to look for a job once they retire.
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 11, 2004

Ono, Takahara tabbed

The Japan Football Association has named a 30-man provisional list of players for the men's team for next month's Athens Olympics, which features European-based "over-age" players Shinji Ono and Naohiro Takahara.

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