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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2003

Japan to see first big effort to train helper dogs

The National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (Zenkyoren) will provide assistance for training dogs to help people with disabilities, federation officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 9, 2003

Dub-tropical of Little Tempo travels well

While most of Tokyo is frantically trying to cool down, Japan's prime dub outfit Little Tempo will be heating things up this summer with a series of live gigs.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2003

Surging Nikkei touches 10,000

Tokyo stocks closed higher Tuesday, and the Nikkei passed the 10,000 threshold for the first time since last August, but profit-taking erased much of the gains and it ended below 9,900.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2003

Web suicide sites have officials worried

The pattern has become eerily familiar. After forging a pact with strangers over the Internet, young people get together to carry out a carefully planned task -- suicide.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2003

Banks urge end to civil servants' cash salary payments

The Japanese Bankers Association called on the government Monday to stop paying civil servant salaries in cash and make all payments through bank transfers to help streamline public service operations.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2003

Nikkei posts 10-month closing high

Tokyo stocks surged Monday, driving the key Nikkei index to an 10-month closing high on active buying of blue-chip issues by domestic investors amid hopes for an economic recovery.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2003

Little gain but lots of pain

Ever since his administration took power in April 2001, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been asking the Japanese public to endure the pain associated with structural reform. This request is justified only when all Japanese equally share the pain.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 6, 2003

Small campus, big dreams

IKOMA, Nara Pref. -- While many national universities are apprehensive about being transformed into independent administrative corporations next April, Koji Torii, president of Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), sees it as a good opportunity.
COMMENTARY
Jul 5, 2003

'Neocon' recipe for disaster

BRUSSELS -- Newspapers are awash with speculation as to the likely outcome of the Korean Peninsula's nuclear crisis. Will it be the United States that blinks or North Korea? Nobody knows. What is clear is that while North Korea and the world wants and needs a solution, opinion in the U.S. is sharply...
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2003

Alarming surge seen in fatty-liver ailment

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, an inflammation of the liver associated with the accumulation of fat in the organ that is similar to a condition found in people who drink too much alcohol, is setting off alarm bells in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 4, 2003

Little Myanmar in big Tokyo

The ongoing ethnic food boom in Tokyo has somehow bypassed some of the most interesting, savory and satisfying food in all of Southeast Asia -- the cuisine of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma before the accession of the current military government in 1989).
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 3, 2003

When males lead to miscarriages

At temples all over Japan, there are stone statues wearing aprons and caps of red cloth. Someone once told me that the cloth was supposed to keep the statues warm at night and protect them when it rained. What my friend neglected to say was that many of these statues are dedicated to mizuko, literally...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2003

Eco-funds spark interest but few buy

While many individual Japanese investors are interested in taking part in so-called ecology funds, few have actually invested in them, according to a recent Internet survey released by the Environment Ministry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 2, 2003

A chip off the old block

IWATE, Iwate Pref. -- The town of Iwate, population 17,302, is one of the last places you'd expect to find an international art event. But though the largely rural Iwate Prefecture put itself on the art map 18 months ago, with the opening of the Iwate Museum of Art (currently hosting a Frank Stella exhibition;...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 2, 2003

On a director's storyboard far, far away

Is there a person in the Western world -- or even globally, given Hollywood's cultural reach -- who is unaware of "Star Wars"? In a society increasingly described as amnesiac, in which pop culture seems to come with an expiry date, George Lucas' movie trilogy (now with two -- soon to be three -- "prequels")...
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2003

Governors' wages rise while mayors' drop

The average income of governors in 35 prefectures rose to 24 million yen in 2002, while that of mayors of 10 of the nation's 13 largest cities fell to 22.37 million yen, with many having their pay and bonuses cut due to tight budgets, according to income reports released Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 1, 2003

Another nudge for the U.S. economy

The stars are beginning to line up for the U.S. economy. The war in Iraq ended quickly, the Bush tax cut has become law, economic indicators point to growth in the second half of the year and the dollar is declining against other currencies, boosting the prospects for exports. To help nudge things along,...
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2003

Smokers get hit with an extra 20 yen per pack

The cost of a pack of cigarettes will increase by 20 yen for most brands on Tuesday as a tobacco tax hike takes effect.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2003

Mystery note preceded Aegis dispatch

The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Shirane was slated to be sent to support U.S.-led antiterrorism operations last November but the mission was scrubbed at the last minute when an anonymous letter was received warning of repair irregularities, leading the government to deploy an Aegis warship...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jun 30, 2003

U.S. policy only fuels fundamentalism

NEW YORK -- "In pre-surrender discussions of the postwar world, no principle, save the basic principle of democracy itself, was more frequently cited than that of religious freedom as essential to the establishment of a permanently peaceful world."
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 30, 2003

Extension of Stackhouse's contract bizarre

NEW YORK -- Who exactly were the Wizards bidding against when they awarded Jerry Stackhouse a two-year extension ($18 million) to piggyback the two years he could have escaped from before July 1?
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2003

FSA lists rules on bank side businesses

The Financial Services Agency has drawn up rules for regional lenders operating sideline businesses, such as providing advice to companies or leasing unused office space, FSA sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2003

FSA lists rules on bank side businesses

The Financial Services Agency has drawn up rules for regional lenders operating sideline businesses, such as providing advice to companies or leasing unused office space, FSA sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2003

FSA lists rules on bank side businesses

The Financial Services Agency has drawn up rules for regional lenders operating sideline businesses, such as providing advice to companies or leasing unused office space, FSA sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 29, 2003

Dishonesty in democracy

JAPAN'S DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY: The Liberal Democratic Party and Structural Corruption, by Roger W. Bowen. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2003, 139 pp. $21.95 (paper). JAPAN'S FAILED REVOLUTION: Koizumi and the Politics of Reform, by Aurelia George Mulgan. Canberra: Asia Pacific Press, 2003, 139 pp. $36 (paper). During...

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?