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ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 10, 2003

Know what you eat

Trying to understand the debate over Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is a bit like trying to pick up mercury. It seems solid enough, but try to grasp it and it slips away. Critics of GMOs might draw another parallel as well. Considering how pervasive GMOs are and yet how little we know about them,...
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2003

Wrong light at the end of the tunnel

Stock prices and long-term interest rates in Japan have climbed rapidly of late. On Monday, the Nikkei index hit a 10-month high of 9,795 points while yields on 10-year benchmark government bonds topped 1 percent, more than double the level of a month earlier. That is good news if it signals an upturn...
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2003

Jobholders fall for first time on record: ministry

The number of jobholders has fallen by 3 percent over a five-year period, marking the first decrease on record, according to a government report released Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jul 10, 2003

Dracula's open house

When you think of James Bond movies, gadgets and martinis come to mind. When you go to a "Matrix" movie, you expect a mixture of multiple realities and dark glasses. When video game players hear the name "Castlevania," they expect a castle, armies of ghouls and a hero with a whip.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2003

Mergers to halve municipalities to 1,700

The total number of cities, towns and villages in Japan is expected to be almost halved to about 1,700 as a result of moves by municipalities to merge by March 2005, when a special law promoting mergers expires, according to a recent Kyodo News survey.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2003

Popular nightclub a microcosm of pain, potential of deflation-beset Japan

Tokyo nightclub owner Sakura Masui is nowhere close to the modern-day geisha girl she appears to be, shuffling demurely in a purple kimono as she pours drinks and chats in hushed tones.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 9, 2003

At play in the (magnetic) fields of Roppongi

With August just a few weeks away, the new Roppongi Complex group of galleries is running its last shows before the O-bon break and the October debut of their raison d'etre (location-wise) -- the Mori Art Museum, which will be Japan's largest contemporary art space.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2003

Delinquency in overtime payments at 30-year high

The number of companies requiring workers to put in overtime hours for which they are not fully compensated has surged, reaching a 30-year high, labor officials and news reports said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2003

Web suicide sites have officials worried

The pattern has become eerily familiar. After forging a pact with strangers over the Internet, young people get together to carry out a carefully planned task -- suicide.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2003

Koizumi not planning North Korea trip

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has no plans to visit North Korea in September to break a stalemate with the country, the government said Monday in rebuttal to a newspaper report, but it left the door open to such a trip if conditions become favorable.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2003

Auditors have different rules for banks' deferred tax assets

Japan's four major auditing firms use different guidelines and standards to calculate banks' deferred tax assets, tax credits they might get in the future that they count as part of their capital today, according to a Kyodo News survey.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 6, 2003

Labor pains

Story ideas for "trendy dramas" usually incorporate current issues that the target audience will be interested in. A major worry of young people right now, especially those attending university, is job prospects -- and the kind of work environment they'll have to face once they do get a job. Some of...
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2003

October House dissolution likely

Speculation is rising that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will dissolve the House of Representatives as early as October now that the ruling coalition has basically agreed to hold an extraordinary Diet session in mid-September.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2003

All right, have a drink then: JCP

Members of the Japanese Communist Party working at the party's headquarters in Tokyo may be able to drink alcohol outside their homes after all.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2003

Lawyer-present request outside SOFA: Moriyama

Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama said Friday it is difficult to agree to Washington's request for a U.S. government official to be present during police interrogations of U.S. military personnel accused of crimes in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2003

Famed sailor Horie plots nonstop circumnavigation

Yachtsman Kenichi Horie, who has twice circumnavigated the globe, will take up a new challenge in October 2004 when he embarks on a solo nonstop voyage around the world eastbound around Cape Horn in a boat made of recycled materials.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2003

Alleged rape comments draw flak

The Democratic Party of Japan will pursue alleged remarks by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, the gender equality minister, suggesting scantily clad women are partially to blame for rapes, senior DPJ lawmaker Yoshihiko Noda said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 5, 2003

'Uchiawase' meeting reveals mooing OL

"Japanese is a vague language." I often hear Japanese people say this, but I've never heard a foreigner say it. To me, what the Japanese mean by their language being "vague" is that the reality is often very different from what you are told. On my planet, the United States, we call this lying. But in...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2003

DPJ decides to oppose sending SDF to Iraq, citing concerns over security

The Democratic Party of Japan decided Tuesday to oppose any dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to help reconstruct Iraq.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2003

Shiokawa seeks budget flexibility

The government plans to include funds for multiyear "model" projects in the fiscal 2004 budget, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2003

Tobacco tax hike seen as wasted effort

The tobacco tax hike that took effect Tuesday will probably not boost government revenue because some smokers will kick the habit, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2003

Governors' wages rise while mayors' drop

The average income of governors in 35 prefectures rose to 24 million yen in 2002, while that of mayors of 10 of the nation's 13 largest cities fell to 22.37 million yen, with many having their pay and bonuses cut due to tight budgets, according to income reports released Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2003

Insurance chief says no progress on terror fund

No progress has been made in talks to obtain government assistance to set up a pool of funds to help insure businesses against potential terrorist attacks, the newly appointed chairman of the Marine and Fire Insurance Association of Japan said Monday during his first news conference as the industry head....

Longform

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