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JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Cost of operating nuclear reprocessing plant seen at 19 trillion yen

Operating the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant under construction in Aomori Prefecture is projected to cost 18.91 trillion yen over a 40-year period, electric power industry officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Legal power sought for inquest panels

A government panel suggested Tuesday that decisions by prosecution inquest committees be legally binding and that court-appointed lawyers be allowed to function as prosecutors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Contact, peer power key to curbing suicides

Close, personal contact -- involving peers whenever possible -- is the key to preventing suicide, experts agreed Tuesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 12, 2003

Gift-giving season came early for the Hawks and Giants

"Kokubo dealt to Giants" read our headline above the story reporting the transfer of infielder Hiroki Kokubo from the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks to the Yomiuri Giants on Nov. 4. But how would this appear in the sports transactions columns listed in many newspapers in North America and around the world?
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

Bank lending balance down 4.7%

The average daily balance of Japanese bank lending fell 4.7 percent in October from a year earlier for the 70th straight month of decline, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday in a preliminary report.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

Private-sector machinery orders fall for third straight month

Core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in September from a month earlier for the third consecutive monthly decline.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Woman wins partial look at school record

A 23-year-old woman in Tokyo has been granted access to part of her elementary school records -- nine years after asking to see the whole document.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Biomass plant to recycle zoo's animal waste now a dung deal

Tama Zoological Park in the western Tokyo suburb of Hino boasts 420 animals representing 59 species, including elephants, lions and giraffes, and cleaning up after them is a tall, costly order.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Pharmaceutical companies to get patents from space research

Japan's space agency is drawing up new rules to give pharmaceutical companies all the intellectual property rights deriving from space research on protein crystal structures, agency sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Tokyo pauses briefly to fete 400th year

From his 14th floor office window, Tsunenari Tokugawa can almost see the exact spot where his ancestors settled four centuries ago. It's just a few blocks away -- but it might as well be in another universe.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

Rakuten eyes online brokerage niche

Rakuten Inc., the nation's largest Internet shopping mall, will enter the online brokerage sector by purchasing DLJdirect SFG Securities Inc., industry sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2003

MMC posts major losses in first half

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. on Tuesday reported hefty losses for the fiscal first half that ended Sept. 30 due to sluggish sales in North America.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Some diners on city's tab to remain secret

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the identities of private citizens who dined at the Osaka Municipal Government's expense will remain a secret.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Foreign student numbers in Japan up 14.6% to 109,508

There were 109,508 foreign students studying in Japan as of May 1, up 14.6 percent from a year earlier, the education ministry said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Record 124 women to be bureaucrats

The number of women to be hired as fast-track career bureaucrats will reach a record 124, or 19.3 percent of the 642 potential recruits for fiscal 2004, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2003

Democracy: a most contentious ideal

MANILA -- No other philosophical or political idea is as contentious as the concept of freedom. All principal writings of political philosophers deal with the issue of freedom in one sense or another, leading to an enormous -- and at times confusing -- body of sources. Freedom defines the relationships...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 12, 2003

A mini 'Mahabharata' of epic proportions

How is your "geijitsu no aki" going? If you haven't got out to enjoy the splendors of "artistic autumn" yet, the Ku Na'uka Theatre Company's new play, "Mahabharata-Nalacaritam (Prince Nala's Adventure)" is as romantic and colorful a spectacle as any laid on by nature.
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2003

A viable two-party system?

In Sunday's election, the voters opted for stability -- with a twist. They gave the three-party ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party a continued mandate to run the country but, at the same time, handed the LDP a slap on the wrist: the loss of a majority in the 480-seat influential Lower...
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2003

One less woman in Lower House

Sunday's general election installed 34 women to the House of Representatives, one fewer than the record high -- under the present Constitution -- of 35 elected in the last Lower House election, in June 2000.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2003

Tax increase to aid welfare has broad support

More than 40 percent of the House of Representatives members elected in Sunday's general election support a rise in the consumption tax to promote welfare programs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2003

Japan Post begins selling 4.4 billion New Year's cards

A ceremony Monday at the Tokyo Central Post Office in Chiyoda Ward marked the nationwide launch of New Year's postcard sales.

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