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SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 26, 2003

It's time for Premier League players to grow up

LONDON -- A former footballer once confided to me that after his retirement he and his wife decided to go on the dream holiday they had never been able to take while he was a leading international.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2003

Japan to probe U.S. mad cow case

Japan will send a mission to the United States next month to gather information on the country's first case of mad cow disease, a senior farm ministry official said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2003

Takefuji charged in wiretap case

Tokyo prosecutors on Thursday charged Takefuji Corp. with violating the Telecommunications Business Law by wiretapping a freelance journalist.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2003

SDF to aid Iraq in democratization, Koizumi tells Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday he informed the Al-Jazeera Arabic TV network of Japan's peaceful intentions in dispatching Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq, hoping the mission will help the Iraqi people create a democratic government.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2003

Pyongyang offers to free abductees' kin -- but there's a catch

North Korean officials told Japanese lawmakers that Pyongyang is ready to send the family members of the five former Japanese abductees to Japan if they go to the Pyongyang airport to meet them, Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Katsuei Hirasawa said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2003

High-profile lawyer cleared of obstruction

Lawyer Yoshihiro Yasuda, chief attorney of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara and the country's leading crusader against the death penalty, was acquitted Wednesday of obstructing the compulsory seizure of rent income used by clients as collateral.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2003

Japan's eateries, stores in shock

Reports of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States dealt a blow Wednesday to Japan's food industry, which is still recovering from the fallout over the September 2001 domestic breakout of the fatal brain-wasting disease.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2003

Oh must pay 3 million yen to get wife's ashes back: caller

An unknown man who phoned the Daiei Hawks said that team manager Sadaharu Oh will have to pay cash if he wants his wife's stolen ashes returned.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 23, 2003

Train trips, veggies and stitch-ups

Moonsky star trip Further to last week's information on where to buy tickets for the Trans-Siberian railway, Colette in Yokohama describes the trip she took in 1993 as, "one of the most amazing experiences of my life." She organized her journey through Moonsky Star, a travel agent based in Beijing that...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2003

Taxpayers face 2 trillion yen bill for bad loans

Taxpayers may have to bear nearly 2 trillion yen to cover soured bank loans to small businesses that were guaranteed by the government under a 1998-2001 program, according to a tally compiled by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2003

Ground troops may go to Iraq next month

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has decided to send a unit from the main contingent of the Ground Self-Defense Force to Iraq late next month at the earliest to help with rebuilding efforts, government sources said Sunday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 22, 2003

Dollar's depreciation due more to towering twin debts than euro

With the euro being quoted above $1.20, the media are now reporting that the euro has advanced against the dollar. But you cannot tell for certain whether you are witnessing the euro's appreciation or the dollar's depreciation, merely by looking at the euro's exchange rate vis-a-vis the dollar. This...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2003

Is Kim sweating over dictator's capture?

HONOLULU -- Intelligence agencies from Seoul to Singapore would pay dearly for the answer to perhaps the most intriguing question in Asia arising from the capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein: What does the "Dear Leader" of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, who, like Hussein, is a charter member...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2003

Draft 2004 budget relies heavily on bond issuance

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki submitted on Saturday a draft budget for fiscal 2004 worth 82.11 trillion yen -- but is reliant on bond issuance as Japan faces growing social welfare costs due to the rapidly aging population.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 21, 2003

Olympic champ really was the full Monti

The news that Eugenio Monti had committed suicide on Dec. 1 at the age of 75 (brought about by his battle with Parkinson's disease) probably didn't raise too many eyebrows, but for those in the know the Italian was the very epitome of sportsmanship.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2003

Ministry set to propose 82.11 trillion yen budget draft

The Finance Ministry was set to propose a fiscal 2004 budget draft Saturday totaling 82.11 trillion yen, up 0.4 percent from the initial fiscal 2003 budget, according to a copy of the draft obtained Friday by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2003

Arms exports to U.S. to get nod

Japan is considering a partial lifting of its ban on arms exports so it can sell weapons parts to the United States as it prepares for joint development of a missile-defense system, government officials said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2003

Lame explanations for SDF dispatch

The Diet, although in recess, discussed the Iraq issue on Monday and Tuesday. The debate followed the government's decision last week to send ground troops to Iraq and, of course, Sunday's breaking news of the capture of Saddam Hussein. The government's answers, however, proved mostly unconvincing.
Japan Times
Events
Dec 18, 2003

U.K. journalists upbeat on economic outlook

Japan may still face some serious economic problems in the months and years to come, but the way the government and the financial authorities have handled the economy in the last 12 months mean there is today a great deal more hope for a sustainable recovery, according to five British financial journalists...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Dec 18, 2003

Colorblind schoolkids can see clearly now

Red. Green. Red. Green. A simple pattern. Or so I thought, until I spent an hour at the Japanese elementary school my son attends. I had come in to do holiday crafts, and was showing the kids how to make a paper chain in Christmas colors. I told them to take a strip of red paper and bend it into a circle....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2003

Japanese Embassy in Baghdad issues alert

The Japanese Embassy in Baghdad has asked Japanese nationals to refrain from visiting it for the time being after receiving threats of attack, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 18, 2003

Resona group nixes Saitama's offer

Banking group Resona Holdings Inc., now undergoing rehabilitation, will turn down Saitama Gov. Kiyoshi Ueda's offer to invest 1 billion yen in taxpayer money into the locally operating Saitama Resona Bank, Chairman Eiji Hosoya said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2003

Coalition says consumption tax hike in 2007 could save pension system

The ruling coalition finalized an annual tax reform package Wednesday that vaguely advocates a consumption tax hike in fiscal 2007 as a means of saving the ailing public pension system.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2003

Koizumi in dark over Kanzaki Mideast trip

Takenori Kanzaki, leader of New Komeito and a key coalition ally of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, left for Kuwait on Tuesday and may visit southeastern Iraq if circumstances permit.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
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