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JAPAN
Jul 10, 2003

Opposition to target Cabinet with no-confidence motion

The opposition parties were united Wednesday behind a move to present a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi but remained divided over when it should be submitted, opposition lawmakers said.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2003

Free Taiwan trips eyed to lift tourism

Taiwan will offer 1,000 Japanese nationals a free tour of the country as part of efforts to revive its tourism industry, which was badly hurt by the SARS epidemic, Taiwan officials said Tuesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2003

ODA spending to aid prosperity, home security

Japan will use its official development assistance in ways that enhance its own security and prosperity, according to a government draft of the revised ODA charter released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2003

University reform bills clear Diet

A set of bills to turn national universities into independent administrative institutions next April made it out of the Diet on Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2003

Homeless shelters' presence, profits irk neighbors

After learning that about 20 homeless people had moved into a dormlike shelter in their neighborhood, a large group of residents in the Higashi-Nippori district of Tokyo's Arakawa Ward demanded that the local assembly close the facility and relocate its occupants.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2003

Trials to be expedited as judicial reform bills pass

The Diet passed a set of judicial reform bills Wednesday, including a law that puts a two-year limit on district court trials and legislation that allows court sessions pertaining to family matters to be closed to the public.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 10, 2003

Know what you eat

Trying to understand the debate over Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is a bit like trying to pick up mercury. It seems solid enough, but try to grasp it and it slips away. Critics of GMOs might draw another parallel as well. Considering how pervasive GMOs are and yet how little we know about them,...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 10, 2003

Suzuki carries Orix over Daiei

Mac Suzuki carried a five hitter over eight sharp innings for his first win in nearly a month as the Orix BlueWave downed the Daiei Hawks 4-2 in the Pacific League on Wednesday.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 10, 2003

Let's all open a window and see what happens

I'm depressed. And hyperventilating. This is because I just came back from visiting my cousin and his wife in their new Tokyo manshon (condo) that boasts among other things, a fully automatic kuchoki (air adjustor) that comes with a year's free supply of shinsenna sanso (fresh oxygen).
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2003

Wrong light at the end of the tunnel

Stock prices and long-term interest rates in Japan have climbed rapidly of late. On Monday, the Nikkei index hit a 10-month high of 9,795 points while yields on 10-year benchmark government bonds topped 1 percent, more than double the level of a month earlier. That is good news if it signals an upturn...
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2003

Shiokawa, Fukui unworried by interest-rate hike

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa and Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui have agreed not to worry over the recent rise in long-term interest rates.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 10, 2003

Sifting through the goo

It's been hailed as the first major scientific breakthrough of the 21st century, but in his recent book, "Prey," Michael Crichton envisioned it taking over the world.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2003

Firms required to have child-care facilities

The Diet, in a bid to encourage working women to have children, enacted legislation Wednesday requiring employers to provide child-care facilities and programs.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2003

Business services see mixed results

Sales for half of the nation's six key business service industries declined in May from a year earlier, while those for the other three increased or remained the same.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2003

Dylan may have lifted lyrics from Japan book

A Japanese writer says he was flattered to learn that passages from one of his books apparently found their way into Bob Dylan's lyrics.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2003

Mitsubishi Electric to slash costs

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said Wednesday it plans to cut its procurement costs by 300 billion yen by the end of March 2005, mainly through increased purchases of parts from Chinese manufacturers.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 10, 2003

One man's battle against mighty Monsanto

"Once you put a genetically modified organism into the environment, there's no bringing it back," farmer Percy Schmeiser told a 180-member audience last week at NPO Plaza in Osaka. Invited by organic farming co-ops and various civic groups from across the country, the 72-year-old native of Saskatchewan,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2003

FedEx first to use fuel-cell car commercially

U.S. courier Federal Express Corp. on Wednesday became the first company in the world to use a fuel-cell vehicle commercially by deploying a pollution-free auto for deliveries, company officials said.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2003

Jobholders fall for first time on record: ministry

The number of jobholders has fallen by 3 percent over a five-year period, marking the first decrease on record, according to a government report released Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Jul 10, 2003

"Big George and the Seventh Knight," "Bang on the Door Animals"

"Big George and the Seventh Knight," Eric Pringle, Bloomsbury; 2002; 200 pp.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight