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COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2005

Slots, cops, and deception

LAS VEGAS -- The Japanese have been kicking around the idea of building American-style casinos in Japan for four years now. The Parliament Committee on Casinos with 100 Diet members has been gathering information on casinos, and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara has been a major proponent of the idea. In...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2005

Indian growth must co-opt the bypassed

MANILA -- India is a paradox. The successes of a select group of sectors -- from information technology to industr and services -- are creating an urban elite showcased as the builders of a modern and vibrant country on the cusp of joining the major economic powers of the world.
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2005

New law to make firms report greenhouse gas emissions

The Diet passed a bill Friday to revise the current antiglobal-warming promotion law so that about 8,000 firms will have to report emissions of six greenhouse gases.
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2005

The real state of the economy

Japanese corporations, by and large, chalked up their biggest profit gains ever in the financial year ended March 31, breaking previous records for the third straight year. But numbers can be misleading. Earnings statistics indicate economic movements and trends but do not necessarily tell what these...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 9, 2005

Four-lined rat snake

* Japanese name: Shimahebi * Scientific name: Elaphe quadrivirgata * Description: Unfortunately, despite the name, this snake does not always have four lines running down its length. Often it has black lines running down a light-brown body (as in the photo), or sometimes lighter, dashed lines that...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2005

Life support for the pension system

There is widespread concern among Japanese that the nation's pension system is in disarray. The biggest issue is the decline in the rate of premium payers. In fiscal 2003, as many as 36.6 percent of the people registered in the kokumin nenkin (people's pension) system, a plan intended mainly for self-employed...
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2005

IC 'gaijin' card shares personal info

All foreigners staying in Japan for more than 90 days may have to carry identification cards equipped with integrated circuit chips, members of the Liberal Democratic Party said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2005

Oki Data hopes tieup lifts China sales

Oki Data Corp. said Tuesday it has tied up with a Chinese firm in a bid to expand its sales of light-emitting diode color printers in China.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2005

Controversial Tokyo vice governor to quit

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on Tuesday endorsed the resignation of Vice Gov. Takeo Hamauzu, under fire from assembly members for controlling metropolitan government operations.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2005

Quarterly capital spending up 7.4% to four-year high

Capital spending by companies grew 7.4 percent in the January-March quarter from a year earlier to 13.697 trillion yen, the highest level in nearly four years, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 7, 2005

Have you heard the one about . . ?

'And then, when he saw the other side of the car, where his date had been sitting not 15 minutes earlier, on the door handle, hung . . . a bloody . . . HOOK!"
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 6, 2005

Income gap among Japanese expanding, but not by much

Traditionally, the income gap between the rich and the poor has been rather small in Japan, creating what has become known as the "all-Japanese-as-middle class" mentality.
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2005

Sex crime recidivism

In view of recent crime trends, measures to prevent the repetition of crimes have become an issue. What especially needs to be addressed is how to prevent the same people from repeating sex crimes. In November, the public was alarmed by the kidnapping and murder of a 7-year-old girl in the city of Nara....
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2005

'Dead Man Walking' author seeks to end control of the noose

The death penalty is part of the same societal paradigm as war, as both are used by the state to impose control through violence, according to Sister Helen Prejean.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

Hamauzu censured for false charge

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly adopted a motion Thursday to censure Vice Gov. Takeo Hamauzu for falsely accusing a metro vocational school of mismanagement.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2005

Ruling bloc bill to put card theft onus on banks

The Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner New Komeito agreed Thursday to a bill that would require financial institutions to compensate depositors for losses incurred from stolen or forged cash cards unless the users are mainly at fault, officials from the two parties said.
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2005

Not out of the woods yet

Japan's major banking groups all achieved their fiscal 2004 target of halving their bad-loan ratios, which had been considered a stiff hurdle to their recovery of sound management. All of them expect to make a profit in the current fiscal year, ending in March 2006. The disposal of the legacy left by...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2005

Medical approach mulled as way to curb sex offenders

The education ministry will start conducting research with prison and correctional authorities on whether medical treatment can be an effective way to prevent sex offenders from repeating their crimes.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2005

Japan yet to conclude holdout report is hoax

The government has not dismissed the possibility that two former Imperial Japanese Army soldiers are hiding out in the Philippines, officials said Wednesday, despite mounting suspicions the story is a hoax.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2005

Rise in defamation suits threaten media: journalists

The increasing number of lawsuits being filed in response to allegedly defamatory news articles is posing a threat to media organizations and freedom of expression by discouraging aggressive reporting, several journalists said at a recent symposium in Saitama.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2005

JR West vows to relax strict timetables

West Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday it will increase the flexibility of its timetables to reduce the pressure on drivers to be on time, according to a report on safety measures submitted to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.
BUSINESS
May 26, 2005

OIE rules not tough enough on BSE? Prove it: adviser

Japan will need to provide sound scientific evidence if it plans to have stricter regulations to combat mad cow disease than the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), according to an honorary adviser to the international body.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 25, 2005

Designs to refresh the spirit

Some Westerners, when faced with Oriental creativity, have a tendency to gush. Instead of taking a calm, rational, inquisitive point of view, they tend to ascribe the aesthetic effect of what they see to some mysterious, spiritual force -- whether they call it Zen, Tao, yin and yang -- something they...
BUSINESS
May 25, 2005

ATMs need to take foreign cards: critics

The inability of most automated teller machines at Japanese banks to accept foreign credit cards has long irritated tourists and short-term foreign residents in a country where cash still plays a key role in everyday life.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2005

Too soon to let computers replace university libraries

at Houston has announced that it is removing almost all the books from its undergraduate library to provide space for a digital learning center, where students can use computers to access a wide variety of information. University officials are proud to be leading a trend. It is good to see academia catching...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 24, 2005

Here comes the fear

Japan is following other developed countries in drafting antiterrorism laws.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?