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EDITORIALS
Oct 13, 2003

To text or not to text

You knew it had to come. When it was reported last week that a British rehabilitation clinic had begun treating patients for an uncontrollable addiction to text messaging, it certainly sounded like a sign of the times. Or something. It was hard to be sure of the precise significance of the announcement...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 12, 2003

Kitajima changes course on competing

Kosuke Kitajima, a double world record holder in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke, has reversed initial plans and will compete in the short course World Cup next year, a report said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 12, 2003

Policy debate apt to decide poll

Vigorous policy debates between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan are likely to feature prominently in campaigning for the Nov. 9 general election, due to begin officially on Oct. 28. The buzzword is "manifesto" -- a published list of campaign promises....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2003

DPJ gains ground on LDP ahead of November election

Nearly 38 percent of Japanese voters support the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, although the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan was gaining in a Kyodo News poll released Saturday, less than a month before a general election on Nov. 9.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2003

Ishihara 'dodging issue' of JH's value

Transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara is avoiding the key issue of whether Japan Highway Public Corp. President Haruho Fujii really hid the negative net worth of the government-backed entity in his ongoing battle to get Fujii fired, JH and ministry officials said Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Oct 12, 2003

Eco-radicals twist tax law to feed habits

WASHINGTON -- Corporate misbehavior remains much in the news in America. One day it is Enron; next it is the New York Stock Exchange. Big Labor, too, must routinely be called to account.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

Resona to post 1.76 trillion yen loss on writeoffs

Resona Holdings Inc. said Friday it will post a first-half net loss of 1.76 trillion yen, a stark reversal from originally projected net profits of 22 billion yen.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

Netizens like DPJ over LDP by surprisingly big margin

The Democratic Party of Japan took a surprising and large lead in support ratings over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party by 61 percent to 19 percent in an Internet survey immediately after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the Lower House on Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

Famed lawyer caught in own net

Renowned lawyer Kohei Nakabo's sudden announcement Friday that he would give up his practice over his alleged involvement in a swindle in connection with debt collection was greeted with a mixture of surprise and coolness.
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2003

Toshiba forges bank note alliance

Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it will set up a joint venture with Oesterreichische Banknoten und Sicherheitsdruck GmbH (OeBS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Austrian National Bank, to promote sales of its latest bank note inspection machine and currency sorting machine.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2003

Redress unlikely for residents poisoned by WWII arms

A senior Environment Ministry official indicated Thursday it is unlikely that Ibaraki Prefecture residents who fell ill after drinking well water apparently contaminated by chemical weapons abandoned at the end of World War II would receive any redress.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Oct 9, 2003

Primaries and polls

WASHINGTON -- Here we are less than four months away from the actual start of the 2004 presidential race. Delegates will begin to be selected in late January. The preliminary season is in its final stage. The third quarter of 2003 proved to be reasonably decisive for the Democrats.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 9, 2003

The roots of national security grow under our very feet

For many policymakers, the concept of national security now simply means possessing the capacity for overwhelming destruction. Armchair warriors find such thinking reassuringly straightforward and comforting, a neat and tidy corollary of "Might makes right." It is also pure fantasy.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 8, 2003

Sato to replace Villeneuve at BAR

British American Racing announced Tuesday that Japanese driver Takuma Sato will complete the 2004 driver lineup alongside Jenson Button.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2003

JR East blames Chuo Line holdup on contractor

Simple errors by a contractor were the cause of delays on an overnight construction project that shut down the JR Chuo Line for eight hours late last month, East Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 8, 2003

Israel's dangerous escalation

Israel's attack Sunday on an alleged terrorist training camp inside Syria marks a dangerous turn in the Middle East conflict. Sadly, the strike is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of "preemption" that has been endorsed by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. The attack makes plain...
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2003

Envoy sacking allegations denied

Vice Foreign Minister Yukio Takeuchi on Monday denied an allegation that the former Japanese ambassador to Lebanon was fired because he opposed Japan's support of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 7, 2003

Do you think the foreign population in a major contributor to the rising crime rate?

Arisa Yokoyama Real Estate, 28
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2003

Fuji Heavy unveils powerful hybrid engine

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. unveiled a new gasoline-electric hybrid engine equipped with a more powerful motor at a technology workshop held Monday by the General Motors Corp. group in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2003

Japan Highway president is sacked

Land, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Nobuteru Ishihara told Japan Highway Public Corp. President Haruho Fujii on Sunday to hand in his resignation Monday to take responsibility for the semigovernmental firm's controversial balance sheet.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2003

Taiwan trying to shake off the old labels

HONOLULU -- In ancient China, a rational sage named Hsun Tzu fashioned what came to be a principle of Chinese thought, the rectification of names. It was vital to clear thinking, Hsun Tzu said, that things be called by the right name.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2003

British National Party must be stopped

BRUSSELS -- There has been a step-change in the activity and success of the British National Party. It is now a serious element in electoral politics. Driven by new ways to attract voters, party members no longer cry "repatriation." Instead, their slogan "pensioners before asylum seekers" is aimed at...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2003

Soga reveals depth of sadness over her divided family

Hitomi Soga, who returned to Japan last year for the first time since being abducted by North Korean agents in 1978, has revealed her loneliness in a letter sent to Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2003

1,400 of museum's works not valued

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo has failed to appraise 1,400 works of art, or about one-third of its entire collection, according to a document submitted by local government auditors that was obtained by Kyodo News on Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
Oct 5, 2003

Winning smile

Think back to 1984, before the Japanese government had recruited armies of foreign-born English instructors to internationalize the countryside and when gaijin commentators on television were all but unheard of.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat