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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2004

Final go-ahead expected for main troop dispatch

The government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was expected Monday to give the final go-ahead for sending the main contingent of the Ground Self-Defense Force to Iraq, according to government sources.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 26, 2004

Okabe becomes oldest to win JRA race

Yukio Okabe became the oldest jockey, at the age of 55 years and two months, to ride and win a Japan Racing Association (JRA) race when he made his comeback after a 13-month absence and won the ninth race at Nakayama Racecourse on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 26, 2004

Steelers capture first Top League rugby crown

The Kobe Kobelco Steelers were crowned the inaugural champions of the Top League, when they defeated the NEC Green Rockets 31-21 at Kobe Wing Stadium on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2004

Angola releases last member of fishing crew

The last three crew members of a Japanese fishing vessel seized in November in Angola's exclusive economic zone headed back to Japan on Saturday night, Foreign Ministry officials said Sunday.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2004

Protesters rally in Tokyo against dispatch of troops to Iraq

Thousands of protesters gathered Sunday in Tokyo to demonstrate against the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to Iraq on the eve of the government's expected announcement that the go order would be given to send a core ground unit.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2004

No change to government fertility rules for now

The health ministry has decided not to take a stab at revising guidelines for fertility treatment, according to ministry sources.
SOCCER / World cup
Jan 26, 2004

Toda set for move to ADO Den Haag

Japan World Cup midfielder Kazuyuki Toda will be moving to ADO Den Haag of the Dutch first division on a loan deal that runs from Sunday through June 30, Shimizu S-Pulse officials said.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2004

Japan, Pakistan stage security talks

Japanese and Pakistani diplomats held their first security dialogue in Islamabad on Saturday, addressing the need for coordinating policies promoting peace and stability in Asia and the world, Foreign Ministry officials in Tokyo said Sunday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 26, 2004

Japan's lone intervention effort reveals poor risk management

Just a few weeks after the new year began, the U.S. dollar dropped to the 105 yen range for the first time in three years and four months, and also hit a new low of $1.28 against the euro.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2004

Trade, tourism thrive on DPRK border

LONDON -- I spent the first two weeks of this year on a whistle-stop tour of Northeast China -- an area once known as Manchuria. The term Northeast China usually means the three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2004

Avoid the road to isolation

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi once again showed insensitivity to the feelings of fellow Asians by going to Yasukuni Shrine on New Year's Day to honor Japan's war dead. Convicted Class-A war criminals are among those whose memories are enshrined there.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2004

Ota leads Osaka governor race: poll

Osaka Gov. Fusae Ota is out in front of the other candidates ahead of next Sunday's gubernatorial election, according to a Kyodo News survey conducted over the weekend.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2004

Fog of politics obscures war

For most Americans, World War II began Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. Europeans date the beginning of the war to the 1939 invasion of Poland. Few Westerners appreciate the length and savagery of the Sino-Japanese war that was already in full force even by then.
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2004

Respecting a pillar of democracy

The government is apparently trying to restrict media coverage of the Self-Defense Forces' activities in Iraq. Earlier this month, the director general of the Defense Agency, Mr. Shigeru Ishiba, requested that newspapers, news agencies and networks exercise "self-restraint." He said he was only "asking"...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 26, 2004

Foreseeing the future -- and ignoring it

NEW YORK -- U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy has recently reminded us why the U.S. forces decided not to go all the way to Baghdad during the Persian Gulf War. Addressing the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, he pointed out that it was none other than the first President Bush and...
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2004

FSA eyes 'rebuilding' of borrowers

The Financial Services Agency will strictly assess banks' ongoing plans to reconstruct struggling large-lot borrowers and may order remedial measures if little improvement is found in the borrowers' earnings conditions, informed sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2004

FSA to probe UFJ's lending documents

The Financial Services Agency plans to examine UFJ Bank's internal lending documents to see whether the bank has responded properly to the agency's inspections, financial sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2004

26 billion yen set aside for hospitals in Iraq

Japan plans to provide a maximum of 26 billion yen in grants to renovate and rebuild 13 hospitals in Iraq it helped construct in the 1980s.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 25, 2004

Japan trio doubtful

Japan coach Zico, who is gearing his side up for a match against Oman in the preliminary round of the World Cup Asian qualifiers, cast doubt on the readiness of injured Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono and other top players for the Feb. 18 fixture at Saitama Stadium 2002.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2004

Red Cross Society seeking more bone marrow donors

The Japanese Red Cross Society may ask blood donors to simultaneously register with the bone-marrow bank when they donate blood, Red Cross officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2004

Mizuho eyes ATM card gambit

Mizuho Bank will start issuing automated teller machine cards with credit card functions in July, becoming the first major Japanese bank to provide cards of this kind to every depositor, bank officials said Saturday.
SUMO
Jan 25, 2004

Asashoryu bags fifth Emperor's Cup

Grand champion Asashoryu dispatched archrival Chiyotaikai for his 14th straight victory to win the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2004

Engine flaws ground more JAS flights

Japan Air System said Saturday it will cancel 93 domestic flights from Sunday to Tuesday due to ongoing work aimed at replacing defective engines in its MD-81 and MD-87 jets.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 25, 2004

Ricoh gets to fight on by ramming Sanyo

The Ricoh Black Rams ensured they avoided one of the two automatic relegation spots from the Top League when they not only beat the Sanyo Wild Knights 45-15 at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya on Saturday, but also earned a valuable bonus point in the process as a result of the seven tries they scored.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2004

GSDF report paves way for Komeito dispatch approval

A Ground Self-Defense Force advance team in the southern Iraqi city of in Samawah has concluded that the security situation there is "relatively stable," the secretaries general of the two ruling parties said Saturday.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’