Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2004

Suit seeks to nix deportation order that will split up family

A Turkish Kurd, his Filipino wife and their 3-year-old Japan-born daughter have filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse the Justice Ministry's decision to deport them over visa violations.
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2004

A sad day for Korean democracy

Even by the rough and tumble standards of South Korean politics, the events of last week were tumultuous. On Friday, the South Korean Parliament impeached President Roh Moo Hyun. President Roh is likely to prevail in this squabble with the opposition, but the unprecedented move has introduced new uncertainties...
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Mar 16, 2004

LDP policy panel calls the shots, not Diet

The Diet shall be the highest organ of state power, and shall be the sole lawmaking organ of the State. Thus reads Article 41 of the Constitution.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 14, 2004

Japanese erotica exposed

FORBIDDEN IMAGES: Erotic Art from Japan's Edo Period, by Monta Kayakawa, (Trilingual: Finnish, Swedish, English). Helsinki: City Art Museum, 2003, 112 pp., 82 color plates, 3,800 yen (cloth). Japanese shunga -- erotic paintings and prints, some of the world's most beautiful -- remain indigenously unknown....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2004

Plants built amid digital gadget boom

With more and more Japanese households using digital appliances that can be monitored and controlled via the Internet and mobile phones, many firms are planning to build more plants in Japan to make components for these smart products.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2004

Kobe killer set free

A 21-year-old man who strangled and decapitated a boy and bludgeoned a girl to death when he was 14 in one of Japan's most notorious juvenile crimes was paroled Wednesday, having spent more than six years at a medical reformatory, the Justice Ministry announced.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2004

JAL group to slash 4,500 jobs in next three years

Japan Airlines System Corp. will reduce its workforce by about 8 percent, or 4,500 employees, by the end of March 2007, with net losses expected amid sluggish demand.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2004

Yen loans to China set to be reduced by 20%

China will slip from the top of Japan's yen-loan recipient list for fiscal 2003, as Tokyo plans to reduce aid to the country by 20 percent from the previous year to about 96.7 billion yen, according to a Foreign Ministry report unveiled Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 10, 2004

Security bills merit deliberation

For all the talk about defending the country against possible armed attacks from abroad, Japan has no legal framework for protecting civilian populations in these national emergencies. Now, belatedly but necessarily, the government is seeking Diet approval of such legislation as a followup to the military...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2004

Part-timers seek some respect; unions step up

Longtime part-time employee Yasue Kitamura found her job becoming more worthwhile after being assigned responsibility for the Calvin Klein bedroom items corner at Takashimaya Co.'s Nihonbashi flagship department store five years ago.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2004

More fake IDs found at airports

The number of fake passports, visas and other official identification documents found by immigration officers at Japanese airports rose 41 percent in 2003 from the previous year, hitting 3,660, the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2004

Diet's plate remains full

Diet deliberations have been proceeding fairly smoothly since the 150-day regular session opened on Jan. 19. This augurs well for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who wants to avoid a legislative gridlock before July's Upper House election. He cleared a major hurdle last month when the Diet approved...
EDITORIALS
Mar 8, 2004

No end to political scandals?

Once again, a lawmaker has had to resign from the Diet after admitting to having borrowed somebody's name to misappropriate the state-paid salary of a bogus secretary. This time, the scandal involves Mr. Kanju Sato of the Democratic Party of Japan, a former minister of home affairs and chairman of the...
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2004

Initial test indicates nation's 11th case of mad cow disease

A dairy cow from a Hokkaido farm has tested positive for mad cow disease, making it Japan's 11th case of the brain-wasting disease if formally confirmed, farm ministry officials said Sunday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 8, 2004

Speed key to making most of new tax pact

On Feb. 27, a new Japanese-U.S. treaty on taxation was finally submitted to the Diet for ratification by the legislature. The treaty, if approved, will make dividends and royalties earned by U.S. subsidiaries in which the Japanese parent firm has a stake of more than 50 percent tax-free, doing away with...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 7, 2004

Much ado about Shakespeare: Reworking a Renaissance giant

SHASHIBIYA: Staging Shakespeare in China, by Li Ruru. Hong Kong University Press, 2003, 306 pp., 14 plates, £21.50 (cloth). It has been 100 years since Shakespeare was first staged in China. His name now sinicized to Shashibiya and even colloquialized, ("Old Man Sha"), productions of his plays continue...
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2004

Pension funds set to make a profit

Japan's public pension funds are expected to generate an investment profit of around 3 trillion yen in fiscal 2003, thanks to a global stock market recovery since the spring, the government said Friday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 6, 2004

Sun sets on Russian democrac

MOSCOW -- Relapses are always regrettable, particularly when the gains lost had been won at such a high cost.

Longform

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