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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 21, 2004

TV Tokyo's "Monday Entertainment" and more

In Japan, many people believe that blood type affects personality and health. Though the belief is based more on fashion than science, it's started to spread. Korea is now going through a blood-type craze. Interestingly, the traits attributed to certain blood types are different in Japan than they are...
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

DPJ again floats bill to consolidate pension plans

The Democratic Party of Japan submitted a pension reform bill Friday to the Diet aimed at integrating the National Pension System and the pension programs covering salaried workers and public servants into an all-in-one system in fiscal 2008.
EDITORIALS
Nov 20, 2004

Keep the assistance flowing

Four weeks have passed since the Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake struck. The good news is that reconstruction is making progress. Schools in the disaster zone have resumed classes, the Kan-etsu Expressway has reopened to traffic, and the region's well-known sake breweries have started shipping again. The...
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Doshisha to offer college entrance exams in China

Doshisha University in Kyoto Prefecture will hold an entrance examination in China next July to attract gifted Chinese students, university officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Bush eyes Shieffer to replace Baker

Washington is considering appointing U.S. Ambassador to Australia Thomas Shieffer as new ambassador to Japan to replace Howard Baker, sources said Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 20, 2004

Big leaguer Riggs to join Swallows

The Yakult Swallows have reached an agreement to acquire former Anaheim Angels outfielder Adam Riggs, the Central League club said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2004

Converted offices now used as trendy housing

Construction companies are busy these days in cities nationwide converting old office buildings with high vacancy rates into housing complexes.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2004

Fiscal panel calls for tax increases

An finance advisory panel Friday recommended the government drastically cut spending and increase revenue by raising taxes in order to restore Japan's fiscal health -- a prerequisite to ensuring a sustained domestic demand-led economic recovery.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Metro government plans 300-inmate jail near Harajuku

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced Friday that it plans to build a new police station near JR Harajuku Station that will have a jail capable of holding 300 people.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Koizumi faces heavy APEC weekend

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left Friday for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Chile, where he will have to juggle a wide range of diplomatic issues that span the Pacific.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Woman, 77, must hang: top court

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld lower court rulings sentencing a 77-year-old woman to death for killing her husband and another woman for insurance money.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Ajinomoto settles aspartame suit for 150 million yen

Seasoning maker Ajinomoto Co. and a former employee reached a court-mediated settlement worth 150 million yen Friday to settle a dispute over patent transfers dealing with the production method for the artificial sweetener aspartame, the company said.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2004

NTV stock to return to first section

The Tokyo Stock Exchange said Friday it will move Nippon Television Network Corp.'s stock from the monitoring post back to the first section Saturday.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Obituary: Suzuko Egashira

Crown Princess Masako's maternal grandmother, Suzuko Egashira, died Friday at a hospital in the city of Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, the Imperial Household Agency said. She was 88.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 20, 2004

Why Johnny can't read 'kanji'

Here's a quick communication survey of your typical long-term foreign resident of Japan, particularly one from the West.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2004

New GDP calculation likely to show shrinkage

The government is maintaining its bullish view on the economy even though the real gross domestic product is projected to have shrunk in the third quarter with the adoption of a new GDP data calculating method, the economic minister said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Ex-Rengo exec to avoid prison time over dental bribes

The Tokyo District Court sentenced a former vice president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) to a suspended one-year prison term Friday for accepting bribes from the nation's main dental lobby while serving on a government advisory panel.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2004

Profit picture brightens for TV Asahi

TV Asahi Corp. said Friday its group net profit swelled 216.3 percent to 3.47 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2004 from a year earlier.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 20, 2004

Kazuko Siazon

Kudan, the official residence of the Philippine ambassador to Japan, is said to be one of the most beautiful Philippine ambassadorial residences in the world. Kazuko Siazon certainly thought so when she first visited it in 1960. When she came to live in it in 1993, she faced a huge restoration project....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 20, 2004

Shiraishi, island of mists and trances

Shiraishi is an island of trances, a place where one is lured into long contemplative pauses. I can sit on top of the mountain and look out over the sea for hours, awed by the beauty of the Inland Sea. Like getting lost in your favorite song, or an entire CD, these are the moments when our mind is so...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2004

Asbestos use still widespread in Asia, as are its ills: expert

Asia needs to ban the use of asbestos and conduct studies on people who have become ill from exposure or asbestos-related diseases will never end, according to a specialist.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 20, 2004

Hula dance teaches sexuality, spirituality, respect

"I was around 5 (years old) when my mother and grandmother taught me the basics of Hawaiian hula, steps called 'ka-holo.' I've loved it ever since," says Keisuke Yasuda.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell