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BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2004

Digital camera makers slash full-year forecasts

One after the other, Japan's major digital camera makers, have slashed their full-year sales forecasts due to fiercer-than-expected competition at home.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 10, 2004

Ishii, Otsuka do their best to fill shoes of Japan's biggest stars

The organizers of the Major League Baseball All-Star show currently touring Japan were not able to convince Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners or Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees to play in this year's Nichibei yakyu, but the appearance of Japanese pitchers Kazuhisa Ishii and Akinori Otsuka has...
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2004

Koizumi says troops in Iraq are still in a 'noncombat zone'

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday he still considers the southern Iraqi region around the city of Samawah a "noncombat zone," despite the Iraqi government declaring a state of emergency for most of the nation.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2004

MMC posts record first-half loss

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Monday its first-half net loss widened to a record 146.2 billion yen.
JAPAN / History
Nov 8, 2004

U.S. mulled using emperor in wartime propaganda

U.S. psychological warfare experts intended to use the emperor as a "symbol of peace" in propaganda warfare in June 1942 -- six months after Japan bombed Hawaii and triggered the war with the United States -- to baffle Japan's military authorities, according to declassified documents obtained by Kyodo...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2004

Obituary: Kenzaburo Hara

Former House of Representatives Speaker Kenzaburo Hara died Saturday at a Tokyo hospital, his family said. He was 97.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2004

Nippon TV corrects shareholding info

Nippon Television Network Corp. has announced a correction in its financial statements, saying shares that had been reported as held by Tsuneo Watanabe, chairman of Yomiuri Shimbun Group Honsha, actually belong to the group's holding company.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2004

Suzuki fined, handed two-year term

The Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced former House of Representatives lawmaker Muneo Suzuki to two years in prison and fined him 11 million yen for accepting bribes, falsifying a political funds report and perjury.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 6, 2004

MLB players top local talent

Atlanta Braves outfielder Vernon Wells hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and the major league team rallied to crush the Japan All-Star team 7-2 in the first game of an exhibition series on Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2004

China's energy thirst lifts Mitsubishi profit 48%

Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday its first-half net profit jumped 48 percent to 89.4 billion yen, buoyed by robust demand for energy and natural resources amid China's rapid economic growth.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2004

Ministry proposes 2,400 yen per ton carbon tax plan

The Environment Ministry unveiled a carbon tax Friday to discourage use of fossil fuels and promote the use of energy-saving appliances so Japan can meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2004

Training costs cut McDonald's profit

McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) said Friday its third-quarter operating profit fell 19 percent to 1.73 billion yen because it spent more on training workers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2004

U.S. pressure on North may sideline abductee resolution

U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to increase pressure on North Korea over the Pyongyang nuclear threat in his second term -- something Japan does not want, experts say.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 5, 2004

BlueWave GM presents list of 25 protected players

Orix BlueWave general manager Katsuhiro Nakamura visited the baseball commissioner's office on Thursday to present a list of 25 protected players who will receive preferential signing rights with the new team created by the merger with the Kintetsu Buffaloes.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2004

Japan wants to interview Yokota's spouse

Tokyo might ask Pyongyang at bilateral talks next week for an interview with the North Korean husband of Japanese abductee Megumi Yokota, Ichiro Aisawa, senior vice foreign minister, said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2004

Koizumi hopes U.S. ties deepen

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday he hopes to further develop Japanese-U.S. ties through his close personal relationship with President George W. Bush, who was re-elected in a neck and neck race with Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2004

Don't extend GSDF's Iraq aid mission, most in poll say

A majority of people surveyed Wednesday by Kyodo News said they oppose extending the Ground Self-Defense Force troops' humanitarian aid mission in Iraq beyond the Dec. 14 deadline.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Nov 4, 2004

"How I Live Now," "News photo"

"How I Live Now," Meg Rosoff, Puffin Books; 2004; 186 pp. When a good writer writes, even if it is their first book, you can "hear" their voice.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 3, 2004

Stocking of new Sendai team just part of busy NPB offseason

Get ready, fans, for what promises to be a whirlwind, action-packed offseason with an extra-hot hot stove league or, as they say here in Japan, the "hot hibachi" league. Going to be a heckuva offseason.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2004

DPJ member quits over law violations

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yuzuru Tsuzuki submitted his resignation to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, shortly after the Supreme Court upheld suspended sentences handed to his aides for paying election campaign workers in violation of the election law.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 3, 2004

Rakuten awarded pro baseball team

Rakuten was one of two Japanese Internet companies applying to enter Japanese professional baseball next season after the merger of the Orix BlueWave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes led to a reduction in the number of teams in the Pacific League from six to five.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2004

Toyota sets record half-year profits, sales

Toyota Motor Corp. on Monday reported record first-half profits and sales due to cost-cutting and higher performance in all regions that more than offset the impact of a stronger yen.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2004

Koda was not executed because of SDF: officials

Government officials Monday defended the activities performed by the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq, saying the recent execution of a Japanese hostage there was the work of terrorists and was not triggered by local Iraqi people's anger toward the troops.
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2004

Bin Laden exploiting Western divisions

SEOUL -- Ban Ki Moon, ordinarily a mild and discreet gentleman, could barely contain smoldering anger over the "October surprise" as he sat down for breakfast with me just hours after Al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language news network, released a videotape apparently starring the inimitable Osama bin Laden....
EDITORIALS
Nov 1, 2004

Troubling times for the EU

October was a cruel month for the European Union. Although the month closed on a high note with preliminary agreement on a constitution to mark the next stage in the institutional evolution of the EU, ratification of the document is far from certain. At any rate, the lavish signing ceremony in Rome was...
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2004

Opposition demands SDF pullout from Iraq

Opposition parties demanded Sunday that the government withdraw the Self-Defense Forces from Iraq after a 24-year-old Japanese traveler who had been abducted by militants was found beheaded.

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