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JAPAN
May 12, 2004

Pension bills clear Lower House

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved contentious bills to revise the pension system, with the ruling coalition and the main opposition party endorsing a key amendment to the legislation.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2004

Top trading houses post record earnings

Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co., Japan's two largest trading houses, on Tuesday reported record earnings for the year through March, helped by surging petrochemical and natural resources markets.
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

Pension bills clear Lower House

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved contentious bills to revise the pension system, with the ruling coalition and the main opposition party endorsing a key amendment to the legislation.
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

90 lawmakers join nonpayment list

Fifty-four of the Diet's 725 members have admitted failing to pay some of their mandatory pension premiums since 1986, when a reform measure obliging lawmakers to join the national pension scheme was put in place, according to a Kyodo News survey released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2004

Most firms upbeat about China's economic growth

Sixty-five percent of major Japanese companies say the rapid growth of the Chinese economy is having a favorable effect on the Japanese economy, according to a recent survey by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

Officials call for increased security in Samawah

Government leaders said security measures need to be bolstered for Ground Self-Defense Force personnel in Samawah following the death of a Dutch soldier there, but denied that the southern Iraqi city is no longer safe enough for the Japanese troops to operate.
JAPAN
May 11, 2004

Dog malpractice death fetches 810,000 yen

Two veterinarians accused of malpractice that led to the death of a pet dog were jointly ordered to pay approximately 810,000 yen Monday in compensation to the dog's owners.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2004

Softbank sinks deeper into red

Softbank Corp. said Monday its net loss widened in fiscal 2003 for the third consecutive year in the red due to heavy spending to attract subscribers to its high-speed Internet connection service.
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2004

The power of a picture

The world has once again been reminded how much more powerful images can be than words. The outrage expressed by Arabs and the abhorrence expressed by the Bush administration last week over U.S. military guards' abuse of Iraqi prisoners were certainly justified, but both reactions were oddly belated....
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2004

Casualty of pension politics

The political battle over pension reform has taken an unexpected -- and ironic -- twist. Accepting responsibility for failing to make mandatory payments to the national pension program, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda resigned abruptly Friday. With national elections two months away, his departure...
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2004

Dahka stalling on joint border patrols

NEW DELHI -- The importance of joint border patrols on the Indo-Bangladeshi border cannot be overemphasized. Although India's northwestern border makes news due to problems in Kashmir or to cross-border terrorism of the most vicious kind, the eastern border that India shares with Bangladesh also has...
BUSINESS
May 8, 2004

DoCoMo saw record profit in '03

NTT DoCoMo Inc. announced Friday a record net profit of 650 billion yen for the year that ended March 31, up more than three-fold from 212.49 billion yen a year ago.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2004

IY Bank logs first net profit since launch

IY Bank said Friday it posted a net profit of 5 billion yen in fiscal 2003, the firm's first profit since it started operating three years ago.
JAPAN
May 7, 2004

Koizumi lauds abductions progress; second Pyongyang visit not ruled out

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that Japan and North Korea have made progress in talks over the abduction issue, and indicated he might visit Pyongyang again to resolve the deadlock.
BUSINESS
May 7, 2004

Numerical bad-loan targets sought for regional banks

The government will ask regional banks to set numerical bad-loan reduction targets and to strengthen their financial bases, according to a draft of fresh government guidelines aimed at bolstering the nation's financial system.
JAPAN
May 7, 2004

Koizumi lauds abductions progress; second Pyongyang visit not ruled out

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that Japan and North Korea have made progress in talks over the abduction issue, and indicated he might visit Pyongyang again to resolve the deadlock.
BUSINESS
May 7, 2004

Arrests darken clouds hovering over MMC

The arrests Thursday of seven former senior officials of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have dealt a further blow to the already tainted image of the carmaker and other Mitsubishi Group firms, just as MMC was poised to unveil another revival plan under a new management team.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 7, 2004

Ozawa suggests DPJ chief Kan should quit over pension scandal

Ichiro Ozawa, deputy president of the Democratic Party of Japan, suggested Thursday that DPJ chief Naoto Kan should resign because he failed to pay the mandatory premiums for the basic pension system while serving as health minister in 1996.
BUSINESS
May 7, 2004

Sumitomo Trust worker left client data on train

Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. said Thursday it has lost some documents featuring personal data on 41 customers at its office in the western Tokyo suburb of Tama.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 5, 2004

Future through sepia-colored glasses

Immortel (ad vitam) Rating: * * 1/2(out of 5) Director: Enki Bilal Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The future is not now, it's retro in "Immortel (ad vitam)" (released in Japan as "God Diva") -- the latest Euro sci-fi created...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 5, 2004

Comic magazine looks for revival via serious, timely topics

Cults, capital punishment, teenage pregnancies and North Korean abductions may not represent the light fare generally associated with "manga" comic magazines, but one such publication is hoping its new focus on serious current issues will spark its revival.
JAPAN
May 5, 2004

Comic magazine looks for revival via serious, timely topics

Cults, capital punishment, teenage pregnancies and North Korean abductions may not represent the light fare generally associated with "manga" comic magazines, but one such publication is hoping its new focus on serious current issues will spark its revival.

Longform

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