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BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 3, 2004

PL set to propose four-team league if 'Wave-Buffs move approved

The Pacific League is likely to propose a four-team league if a merger between the Kintetsu Buffaloes and Orix BlueWave is formally approved at an owners meeting next Wednesday, confirming a move for a second merger is in the works.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2004

U.S. visa cut pushing translation firm to Asia

A recent cut in the number of U.S. visas given to foreign technical experts has convinced a U.S. translation-services company to expand its business in Japan and other parts of Asia, MultiLing Corp. President Michael Sneddon said in Tokyo this week.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2004

Shinsei Bank to buy Showa Leasing

Shinsei Bank might buy Showa Leasing Co. possibly this year, sources said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 3, 2004

Labour seeks a constituency

LONDON -- A ruler can obtain power only with the help of his own people. He uses them to fight against those who revolt against his party. They fill his administrative offices and he appoints them to prestigious and lucrative positions. They help him to achieve his ascendancy. This is true so long as...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 3, 2004

Arossa spreads Antipodean goodness

Ever since it opened, the Food File has been a major fan of Arossa, the Aussie-specialist wine bar and restaurant out on the leafy fringes of Shibuya's Shoto district. We like the modern styling, the extensive cellar of Antipodean wines and the sophisticated food menu. But there is one area in which...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2004

Economist advocates Japan Post carve-up

The priority in privatizing Japan's gigantic postal system is to quickly split its financial and postal service operations despite strong opposition, according to high-profile economist Hiroshi Kato.
EDITORIALS
Sep 2, 2004

DPJ must shed turf mentality

Mr. Katsuya Okada, president of the Democratic Party of Japan, secured a second term as head of the largest opposition party Monday, the deadline for filing candidacies for president. Since Mr. Okada is the only candidate, he will be formally re-elected without a vote on Sept. 13. That's to be expected,...
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2004

Domestic vehicle sales rise 2.1%

Domestic vehicle sales totaled 250,736 in August, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier for the first rise in seven months.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2004

Unavoidable as death, beer taxes

Since ancient times, alcohol has been an important source of tax revenue for rulers.
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2004

Uniqlo Plus outlet to open in Osaka

Fast Retailing Co. said Wednesday it will open a large-scale Uniqlo store in downtown Osaka in October, with several more to follow in major cities within a year.
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2004

UFJ told to explain data disparities

Britain's Financial Services Authority has ordered UFJ Holdings Inc., which is listed in London, to report by mid-September on the huge gap between its earnings projection and actual results for fiscal 2003, UFJ officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2004

Windows XP SP2 to be offered free

Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday it will exploit a network of 25,000 post offices in Japan to provide a free CD-ROM version of the Windows XP Service Pack 2 with added security features, beginning Oct. 1.
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2004

Firm launches antiforgery service

Tokyo-based software developer Mediaseek Inc. said Wednesday it has launched an antiforgery service for Japanese products sold in China.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 2, 2004

Dragons hoping Ochoa's lucky No. 4 can bring them success

The Chunichi Dragons have won the Central League pennant four times in the past 30 years, and each time the club had a strong foreign player who wore the uniform No. 4 and contributed greatly to the team's championship seasons.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Sep 2, 2004

Ravens, shamans and 'shrooms

In 1988 I made a documentary with the Hokkaido Broadcasting Co. We filmed on the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeast Siberia, in Alaska and in Japan. Our main theme was the raven and the many raven legends that link the peoples of the Pacific Rim.
COMMENTARY
Sep 2, 2004

Orphans vex bureaucracy

WASHINGTON -- Humanitarian crises encircle the globe. Violent resistance afflicts Iraq. Mass death from starvation and war threatens Sudan. Millions have died in other conflicts across Africa. No one has much time for Myanmar (formerly Burma).
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2004

Lawson asks Yamato to renew ties

Lawson Inc. said Wednesday it has asked Yamato Transport Co. to maintain their partnership even after Lawson starts handling parcels for Japan Post in mid-November.
OLYMPICS
Sep 2, 2004

Kitajima cashes in on Athens gold

Double gold-winning breaststroke swimmer Kosuke Kitajima and gymnast Hiroyuki Tomita were among Japan's medal winners rewarded with special bonuses for their achievements at the Athens Olympics by the Japanese Olympic Committee on Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 2, 2004

"A Gathering Light," "The Coldest Day in the Zoo"

"A Gathering Light," Jennifer Donnelly, Bloomsbury; 2004; 383 pp. "Tell the truth!" It's not just children who get that all the time: Writers do, too. The only difference is that writers don't have to treat the truth too literally, as Jennifer Donnelly shows us in "A Gathering Light."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 1, 2004

Dancing with two strangers

House of Flying Daggers Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Japanese title: Lovers Director: Zhang Yimou Running time: 120 minutes Language: Mandarin Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] There's a scene right at the beginning of Zhang Yimou's latest, "House of Flying Daggers," where...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 1, 2004

Flickers in the dead of night

Kaidan Shinmimibukuro Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: See review Running time: 92 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The older I get, the harder I am to scare -- with horror movies at least. After a certain age, real life, including medical...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 1, 2004

Teenager kicks against family

Igby Goes Down Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Burr Steers Running time: 98 minutes Language: English Opens Sept. 11 [See Japan Times movie listings] Watching "Igby Goes Down," I couldn't help thinking how I had wasted my youth on petty things like college and waitressing when I...
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2004

Koizumi under pressure to raise consumption tax

With the government unable to find further effective ways to cut expenditures, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's goal of reconstructing government finances is facing a crucial test.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2004

Hitachi, Matsushita, Toshiba to set up 70 billion yen LCD venture in January

Hitachi Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toshiba Corp. will set up a 70 billion yen joint venture in January to manufacture liquid crystal display panels for flat TVs, the firms said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2004

Ministries want 85.52 trillion yen next year

Fiscal 2005 budget requests from ministries and agencies on Tuesday totaled 85.52 trillion yen, up 3.4 trillion yen from the initial budget for the current fiscal year, the Finance Ministry said.

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