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Features
Jun 13, 2004

Sea changes on sex crime

Tokyo office worker Kyoko Igarashi, in her 20s and living alone, noticed that a man who'd been hanging around her neighborhood had started to loiter outside the door of her second-floor apartment -- just beyond the peep-hole.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2004

European Parliament signals right turn

LONDON -- This weekend the European Union faces its five-year parliamentary makeover as voters across an enlarged union go to the polls. Results will be shaped by three impulses:
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 13, 2004

Murakami's job guide for teens lights the pipe of dreams

In mid-May, NHK's nightly news feature "Closeup Gendai" looked at the current post-university recruitment situation from the viewpoint of the recruit. For the past decade, the main story with regard to this issue has been the difficulty of finding work as more and more companies restructured along nontraditional...
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2004

Ashikaga Bank plans to cut 15% of workforce

Ashikaga Bank, now under temporary state control, said Friday it will eliminate 15 percent of its workforce by the end of fiscal 2006 as part of its new business improvement program.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2004

Government still upbeat about economy: Takenaka

Economic and fiscal policy minister Heizo Takenaka indicated Friday that the government will maintain its upbeat assessment of the economy in its monthly report for June, due out next week.
EDITORIALS
Jun 11, 2004

Saying goodbye to Mr. Reagan

Friday, at a solemn state funeral in Washington, D.C., the United States formally bids farewell to Mr. Ronald Reagan, one of the most eminent, influential and widely liked U.S. presidents of the postwar era. Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone will be there to convey this nation's sincere condolences...
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2004

Simmons to offer upmarket sofas

Furniture importer Simmons Co. announced Wednesday that the firm will start selling sofas and reclining chairs made by two Northern European furniture makers in August.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 10, 2004

Kicking up a storm over climate change

For those who cannot decide whether to see "The Day After Tomorrow," I sympathize. This recent Hollywood thriller that offers an apocalyptic portrayal of global climate change has me at odds with myself. I am torn between the desire to wallow in mindless hyperbole, and the fear of seeing an audience...
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2004

Put pension reform above politics

The ruling parties early Saturday morning rammed much-maligned pension bills through the House of Councilors. However, their resorting to physical violence at a committee session and a tricky procedure at a plenary session badly tarnished the House of Councilors as the "chamber of common sense." The...
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2004

Toyota, Daihatsu team up on compact

Vying for a bigger share of the increasingly competitive market of compact cars and minivehicles, Toyota Motor Corp. and its subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Co. on Monday launched a jointly developed compact car.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2004

What was the girl thinking?

Many people must have been lost for words last week when they heard that a sixth-grade elementary school girl in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, had been slashed in the neck and killed by a female classmate. The incident took place during lunch break in a study room at the school -- the last place one would...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jun 7, 2004

Putin looks back to the future

MOSCOW -- A new catchphrase is making the rounds in Moscow: "We have already seen that." Summing up the results of the first four-year term of President Vladimir Putin, the expression is a far cry from flattery, as it refers not to the reforms of Peter the Great but to the return of the cult of personality...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jun 7, 2004

Frustrating times for left and right alike

WASHINGTON -- It is frustrating being a fan of one of the two main contenders for U.S. president. I find the level of disgruntlement at an all-time high among both Republicans and Democrats.
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 5, 2004

Surgery for Inamoto

Kyodo News Japan international Junichi Inamoto, who suffered a broken ankle in the national team's 1-1 draw away to England in midweek, will undergo surgery in the next few days, the Japan Football Association said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2004

Ishihara attacks government's reform blueprint

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara on Friday said the new government blueprint for economic management and structural reform places a burden on local governments.
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2004

Nikkei crumbles over fears of China rate hike

Tokyo stocks ended lower practically across the board on Thursday following a volatile session, with fears over a possible interest rate increase in China spurring selling in the afternoon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 2, 2004

The challenge of not knowing your place

It is a shame that Ilya Kabakov was not feeling well enough to make the trip to Tokyo for the opening last Friday of his Mori Art Museum exhibition, "Where Is Our Place?" I met the New York-based Kabakov and his wife, Emilia, years ago when they were involved with the now-defunct Satani Gallery in Ginza,...
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2004

H.I.S. to expand overseas operations, help foreign travelers

The new president of H.I.S. Co. said Tuesday he will work hard to increase the travel agency's global presence by expanding its overseas operations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 1, 2004

'No sex please, you're teachers'

"I feel offended that anyone would tell me who I can or can't hang out with," says Brendan (not his real name), one of 6,000 foreign language instructors employed by Nova Corp. in Japan.
COMMENTARY
Jun 1, 2004

Koizumi took the right risks

The success or failure of summit diplomacy depends primarily on whether it promotes the pursuit of medium- and long-term national interests -- not on whether it yields short-term, specific results. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's May 22 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il should be evaluated...
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2004

Elites out of touch on Iraq

CLAREMONT, California -- America's ability to play a positive role in the world, especially with regard to supporting its allies and friends, depends significantly on achieving its wartime aims in Iraq. While it is common to speak of the United States as the world's only remaining superpower, at best...
JAPAN
May 29, 2004

Japan to cover cost of Soga's family reunion

The government will pay travel and other expenses for repatriated abductee Hitomi Soga to reunite in a third country with her American husband and their two daughters, who are now in North Korea, a top spokesman said Friday.

Longform

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