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JAPAN
Jan 8, 2004

LDP mulls openness, primaries for candidates

A Liberal Democratic Party reform committee wants to adopt an open system for recruiting candidates to run in national elections, according to a draft of the plan made available to Kyodo News.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2004

Fukuda cool on specter of secular alternative to Yasukuni

It is premature for the government to establish a secular memorial as an alternative to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors the nation's war dead, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2004

Nakagawa to urge Washington to bolster U.S. beef safety

Trade chief Shoichi Nakagawa indicated Tuesday he will call on the United States during his upcoming visit to Washington to take steps to ensure the safety of American beef following the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2004

NEC caught overcharging Defense Agency 63 million yen

NEC Corp. overcharged the Defense Agency a combined 63 million yen between 1997 and 2001 in five equipment contracts, according to internal agency documents obtained Monday by Kyodo News.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2004

Mobile phone giants strive for pre-eminence in 3G market

Anticipating that third-generation services will dominate the mobile phone market within a few years, NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp., and Vodafone K.K. are rolling out new handsets with a range of advanced 3G functions.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2004

North Korea blasts visit by Koizumi to Yasukuni

North Korea joined a chorus of criticism across Asia denouncing a surprise visit by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on New Year's Day to a shrine honoring the nation's war dead, warning Saturday it signaled a "revival of militarism."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 4, 2004

Jong gets the gong in 2003 media awards

Media person of the year: Kim Jong Il
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2004

Koizumi takes more flak over new year Yasukuni visit

Protests continued Friday in Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine on New Year's Day.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

SDF dispatch decision like a double-edged sword

When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi voiced his unequivocal support of the U.S.-led war on Iraq in March, he was left with little choice but to commit Self-Defense Forces troops to the country's postwar reconstruction effort.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

Decision to dispatch SDF troops to Iraq a watershed for defense, security policy

Japan's decision to send Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq, coupled with the decision to introduce a missile defense system, marks a major turning point for the nation's defense and security policy. Never in its 50-year history has the SDF been mobilized for noncombat duties in a foreign country in...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

Japan needs to emerge from behind America's apron: Wolferen

Japan may be the world's No. 2 economic power, but where diplomacy is concerned, Karel G. van Wolferen likens it to a boy who has to ask his parents (i.e. the United States) if he can go outside to play.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 31, 2003

Automakers turn to 'telematics' to get tech lovers' attention

In the fight for a bigger share of the domestic car market, Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have shifted to a new battlefield -- "telematics" informational network systems
BUSINESS
Dec 31, 2003

70% of business leaders say the economy is improving

About 70 percent of business leaders believe the economy is improving, according to a recent Kyodo News poll.
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2003

Bankrupt companies failed to disclose risk information

Seven of the 14 listed companies that have gone bust since April did so without previously disclosing information about their business risks, such as excessive debts and huge operating losses, according to a survey conducted by Kyodo News.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2003

China, like Japan, using wrong antidote

GUATEMALA CITY -- Just when it seems that China was escaping the economic disasters typical of the bad old days of communism, it is succumbing to the theories of warmed-over Keynesianism. Beijing is giving up class struggle and central planning for discredited tools designed to manage aggregate demand....
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2003

Unmarried couple attempted in vitro

A general hospital in western Japan attempted to fertilize ova from a woman who was to undergo cancer treatment with the sperm of her fiancee, it was learned Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 28, 2003

If truth be told . . .

There was once a Chinese emperor who abolished time. Wei Ming decreed that day broke when the dawn sky flushed the color of his pet bullfinch's breast. Nighttime began whenever he retired from the audience chamber with his concubines, and was consequently rather longer.
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2003

Behind the veil in France

Sometimes when we read about a political decision being taken in another country, the response seems both easy and obvious. Chechen independence, an Iraqi trial for toppled leader Saddam Hussein, approval of the Kyoto treaty to slow global warming, disapproval of the Israelis' land-gobbling border fence:...
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2003

Making U.S. voters happier, not safer

WASHINGTON -- "The capture of Saddam Hussein has not made America safer," declared Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, and denunciations have rained down upon him. But Dean obviously was correct: "The capture of Saddam does not end" the coalition's difficulties in Iraq.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2003

Jikei med school fires three doctors standing trial for malpractice death

Jikei University School of Medicine sacked three doctors Friday in connection with a botched prostate cancer operation in November 2002 that claimed the life of the 60-year-old male patient.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2003

Japan officially slaps ban on U.S. beef over BSE scare

Japan, the biggest importer of U.S. beef, said Friday it will ban imports of the meat and order a recall of meat already in the country after a laboratory in Britain confirmed a cow from Washington state has tested positive for mad cow disease.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2003

No panic over latest BSE scare

Japanese consumers are taking the news of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States with relative calm, with restaurants and supermarkets reporting none of the tumbling sales they experienced two years ago.

Longform

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