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JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Japan asked to aid Falun Gong devotee held in China

The government is being asked to pressure China over an arrest it made last year in connection with the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Takefuji Corp. bugging allegations grow

A former Takefuji Corp. employee arrested last week on suspicion of tapping the phone of a freelance journalist had earlier admitted to bugging the phones of others.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Tokyo stocks slide to three-month lows

Tokyo stocks fell to three-month lows Monday. Selling of heavyweight banking and Internet-related shares after declines in U.S. stocks Friday sparked a selloff in a wide range of issues.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 18, 2003

Frustration with ISPs and keitai spam

ISP trouble On the subject of ISPs, I also was billed about 100,000 yen by my Internet Service Provider. The salesperson explained the contract to me in broken English as I cannot read Japanese. I was told I had to sign now, I couldn't take the contract away, have someone explain it to me and bring it...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Convicted in double-jeopardy, Nepali starts life sentence for 1997 murder

Once acquitted and still proclaiming his innocence, Govinda Prasad Mainali, 37, of Nepal has begun serving a life prison term for the 1997 murder of a Tokyo woman, it was learned Monday.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

Public assistance helps stem bankruptcy rate

The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan fell 18.7 percent in October from a year earlier to 1,387, down for the 10th consecutive month, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

LDP, NCP ink absorption agreement

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and New Conservative Party leader Toshihiro Nikai signed an agreement Monday stating that all seven of the NCP's Diet members will be absorbed by the Liberal Democratic Party.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 18, 2003

Where do you feel most comfortable?

Robert DuncanFinance, 25
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / A GAIJIN'S TALE
Nov 18, 2003

Smokers' heaven

As a native Australian who smokes, I was overjoyed upon arriving in Japan to find that, unlike Australia, smoking is still permitted just about anywhere.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 18, 2003

Lions' Matsui ready to jump to big leagues

Seibu Lions infielder Kazuo Matsui, who declared free agency last month after 10 years in Japanese pro baseball, said Monday he wants to play in the major leagues.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

U.S. raps new insurance product

The United States objected Monday to Japan's approval of the sale of a new postal insurance product by the public corporation that could compete directly with private-sector products.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Japanese researchers cast doubt on El Nino myths

A group of researchers in Japan claims to have overturned the common belief that El Nino-like phenomena only take place in tropical regions.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

Ex-Toyota exec tapped to head new Tokyo bank

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is going to appoint a former Toyota Motor Corp. official as head of a new bank that will finance small and midsize companies.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

Toray's Maeda to resign in June

Katsunosuke Maeda, the chairman and CEO who boosted Toray Industries Inc.'s earnings in the midst of an industry decline, said Monday he will step down from both posts in June.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Nov 18, 2003

Shiseido positions itself for China cosmetics boom

Faced with a maturing market in Japan, the nation's largest cosmetics company has turned its attention to China.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

Travel agencies suffer 38% plummet in overseas trips

Japan's 50 biggest travel agencies saw sales of overseas trips during the April-September period drop 38.2 percent from a year earlier to 767.9 billion yen due to the SARS epidemic.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

Baby boomer retirees hold key

The retirement of Japan's baby boomers will help Japanese companies trim several trillion yen from their salaries and speed much-needed restructuring, according to a study by a private economic institute released Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Aid groups seen working in Iraq vacuum

As Japan continues to debate whether to send troops to help reconstruct Iraq, Japanese nongovernmental organizations are struggling to carry out their relief work in the war-torn country.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

Dentsu profit plunged in first half

Dentsu Inc. said Monday its group net profit in the fiscal first half fell 76.6 percent from a year earlier to 6.80 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

Fuji Heavy reports 50% decline in operating profit

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. said Monday its consolidated operating profit in the first half of fiscal 2003 tumbled 50.4 percent from the same period last year to 18.31 billion yen.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Kelly, Japanese officials mull North Korea issues

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Mitoji Yabunaka, a senior official at the Foreign Ministry, held an "intensive discussion" Monday in Tokyo focusing on how North Korea may be given security assurances.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

Regional economies receive upgrade

Japan's regional economies showed signs of improvement in October, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 18, 2003

Unusual election full of promise

It may be difficult to take an interest in Japan's election last week, since many readers cannot vote. But results this time may be critically important for Japan's future as a democracy.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

JR Tokai maglev surpasses its own world speed mark

A magnetically levitated train broke its own world speed record Monday when engineers sent it hurtling 560 kph down a test track near Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Ueno Zoo to host panda mating mission

A 16-year-old giant panda will leave her home in Mexico City's Chapultepec Zoo early next month to engage in a breeding mission with the only resident giant panda at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, it was revealed Monday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2003

WTO says no to U.S. tariffs

The World Trade Organization has ruled that U.S. tariffs on imported steel are illegal, setting the stage for a showdown with the international body and U.S. trade partners. The ruling, which was widely anticipated, provides U.S. President George W. Bush with an opportunity to signal his commitment to...
MORE SPORTS
Nov 17, 2003

Japan men win World Cup opener

Japan got off to a clean start in its volleyball World Cup campaign by crushing Egypt 3-0 on the opening day of the Olympic qualification tournament for men on Sunday.

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