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BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2003

Jobless rate steady at 5.1% in September

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained at 5.1 percent in September, unchanged from the previous month, with both the number of people employed and those unemployed decreasing, the government said Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2003

Multitusking with talented pachyderm painters

Talk about eccentric.
EDITORIALS
Oct 30, 2003

Gearing up for a decisive election

Campaigning for the Nov. 9 general election, the first in the 21st century, officially kicked off Tuesday. The focal question is whether power will switch from the three-way coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party to the enlarged and emboldened Democratic Party of Japan. Put it another way, the...
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2003

September output boosts economic assessment

The government Wednesday revised its assessment of the economy upward in line with a better-than-expected rise -- 3.0 percent -- in industrial production for September reported earlier in the day.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2003

102.5 million eligible to vote Nov. 9

There are roughly 102.5 million eligible voters in Japan, the home affairs ministry said Tuesday as official campaigning for the Nov. 9 general election began.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 29, 2003

Japan Series: Should have known better with those Tigers fans

I should have known better than to predict the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks would win the 2003 Japan Series in five games over the Hanshin Tigers.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2003

Campaign rhetoric faces tougher scrutiny

Few voters in Japan -- or lawmakers for that matter -- ever took a serious look at political party election pledges, knowing they were simply vague policy slogans with little substance.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2003

Ogata, Ooka and others to receive Order of Culture

Former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata will be awarded the Order of Culture along with four other recipients, according to the government's honors list released Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2003

Tanaka joins Kato on Diet comeback trail

Former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and Koichi Kato, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, launched their campaigns Tuesday for the Nov. 9 House of Representatives election.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2003

Companies urged to engage in good citizenship

In the wake of huge corporate scandals in Japan and the United States, companies are under pressure to be more socially responsible.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2003

Upper House by-election win boosts LDP ahead of Nov. 9

The Liberal Democratic Party's narrow victory in Sunday's House of Councilors by-election in Saitama Prefecture has given the party a boost ahead of Tuesday's start of official campaigning for the Nov. 9 general election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2003

Death of Kim's aide seen as unlikely to have any effect on Japan relations

Japanese officials and lawmakers said Monday they see no impact on relations with North Korea because of the death of a close aide to Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Il who had been a key player in negotiations with Seoul and Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
Oct 27, 2003

Resuscitating Japanese labor

Following a protracted economic slowdown, the labor movement in Japan is in the doldrums. The unionization rate has fallen to about 20 percent due to stepped-up corporate restructuring and widespread worker distrust of unions. The nation's top labor federation, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation,...
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2003

N. Korea: down but not out

BRUSSELS -- In the middle of Pyongyang, a new building attracts attention and customers. The Tong Il market is thronged with thousands of North Koreans haggling and buying from an extensive array of products. Fresh meat and dried fish, Spanish oranges and North African dates, suits, skirts, shoes and...
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2003

Diet nepotism -- birthright of passage

In Japanese politics, family ties still count a lot.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2003

Taiwan power rivals must win or perish

TAIPEI -- With five months to go before Taiwan's presidential election, the campaign is heating up between the incumbent, President Chen Shui-bian, leader of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, and the opposition Kuomintang's (KMT) Lien Chan.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Oct 24, 2003

A chill double-bill in the heart of Shibuya

When Matt Nieman and Greg Natali were kids growing up in Philadelphia, neither one of them could have imagined that they would end up living and running nightclubs in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2003

Citizenship elusive for Japanese couple's kids

The granting of citizenship to a Japanese couple's twins born to a U.S. surrogate mother last fall has been put on hold due to legal obstacles, the couple said Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 24, 2003

Fans come out for 'Public Viewing'

NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Pref. -- One of the new elements in this year's Japan Series is the "Public Viewing." While games are being played in Fukuoka Dome, fans of the Hanshin Tigers gather at Koshien Stadium, all decked out in their oendan (cheering group) garb.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2003

Nissan, Renault say alliance is producing results

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- Nissan Motor Co. and French automaker Renault SA are reaping the benefits of their partnership in technological development and businesses in overseas markets, officials of the two companies said Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2003

End of two-track system no help to women

As the protracted economic slump prompts companies to shed the time-honored practices of lifetime employment and seniority-based wages, another victim of the cost-cutting ax is the two-track hiring system that has effectively kept women's wages lower than men's.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2003

Database eyed to counter rising tide of drug mixups

In an effort to curb the growing number of hazardous drug mixups, the health ministry plans to compile an online database in which medicines will be classified according to their names and packaging, ministry sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2003

Nintendo buys 2.6% stake in Bandai

Major video game maker Nintendo Co. has purchased a 2.6 percent stake in toy maker Bandai Co., or 1.28 million shares, becoming one of its top 10 shareholders, Bandai said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 23, 2003

No rush to judgment

In a meeting in Heidelberg earlier this month, science historians concluded that German science between 1933 and 1945 was exploitative and unethical. The organizer of the meeting, Wolfgang Eckhart, head of history of medicine at the University of Heidelberg, said in Nature last week: "We have proven...

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