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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 2, 2003

Blowing up the merits of charcoal

When I was 12, chemistry didn't interest me much until I found a battered old book in the school library that gave detailed instructions on the making of gunpowder. I still remember the recipe, which includes 75 percent potassium nitrate, otherwise known as saltpeter, and 10 percent charcoal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2003

New law requires recycling of PCs at consumers' expense

Starting Wednesday, new legislation takes effect that compels personal computer manufacturers to collect used PCs from households and recycle their parts, with consumers footing the bill. The following are basic facts about the recycling process:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 1, 2003

Praise be! Hip-hop art gets religious

Picture a classic Byzantine icon of the crucified Christ. The savior's body, having been taken down from the cross, is surrounded by his grieving loved ones. Now imagine that scene in the 21st century. Replace the body of Jesus with that of slain gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur, laid out on a car hood, with...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2003

U.S. mission remains on track in Iraq

WASHINGTON -- How can we really determine if the Iraq mission is going well? Pessimists worry about recent truck bombings and political assassinations, ongoing serious crime problems, sustained attacks against U.S. forces, and high unemployment together with slow progress at improving the Iraqi standard...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2003

Man faces charge over 100 yen theft of old newspapers

Police have turned over to prosecutors their case against a 46-year-old man who allegedly stole 100 yen worth of old newspapers from a garbage collection site in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, it was learned Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2003

Prima Meat case handed to prosecutors

Police on Tuesday handed prosecutors their case against Prima Meat Packers Ltd. and three of its executives, who allegedly misrepresented a product's ingredients in violation of food safety laws.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2003

450 sue over 'power-saving' scam

About 450 small-business operators across Japan filed a raft of lawsuits Tuesday against the failed Tokyo-based retailer Idic Co. and eight consumer credit companies, claiming they were cheated into buying an expensive electricity-saving device that made no dent in their power bills.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Sep 30, 2003

Drugmakers use jargon to market Chinese herbal remedies

Like the Japanese language, herbal medicines originating in China have been adapted into something peculiarly Japanese.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2003

Japanese firm issues denial over Chinese hotel orgy

A Japanese construction firm on Monday denied involvement in "systematic prostitute-buying" during an orgy that allegedly took place earlier this month at a luxury Chinese hotel where the company's employees stayed during a company trip.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2003

Court upholds death sentence for Ikebukuro attack

The Tokyo High Court on Monday upheld a 27-year-old man's lower court-imposed death sentence for a random stabbing spree in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district that left two people dead and six wounded.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2003

Toyota launches minivan in bid for new customers

Toyota Motor Corp., hoping to carve a bigger share out of the expanding minivan market, on Monday released the new Sienta minivan in Japan.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2003

Court finds Japan responsible for abandoned arms

In an unprecedented ruling, the Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered the state to pay a total of 190 million yen to 13 Chinese who lost relatives or suffered health problems due to weapons abandoned by the Imperial Japanese Army at the end of World War II.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2003

New rules target metropolis' diesel exhaust

Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures will debut regulations Wednesday to curb emissions from diesel-powered trucks and buses to clear up the region's air pollution problem -- the nation's worst.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2003

Poor options for Korea talks

HONOLULU -- As the United States, Japan and South Korea prepare for a second round of negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, the options for resolving this dispute seem to have sorted themselves into five -- one unlikely, another unacceptable, a third unproductive, the fourth unrealistic...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2003

Construction delay causes chaos on JR Chuo Line; 180,000 affected

Service on the JR Chuo Line, one of the key commuter lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area, was disrupted Sunday when an overnight project to switch to new tracks was delayed by eight hours.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2003

SDF could join U.N. multinational force in Iraq, Abe says

Japan should consider having the Self-Defense Forces join a multinational force in Iraq if such a force is created under a U.S.-proposed U.N. resolution, a top official of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Sunday.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2003

Aso goes postal over Koizumi's plan

Posts minister Taro Aso on Friday lambasted postal privatization plans submitted last year by an advisory group to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
COMMENTARY
Sep 27, 2003

The Saudi Arabia dilemma

LONDON -- Times are very difficult for the government of Saudi Arabia. Assailed on one side by hardline Islamists for being too pro-American, Saudi leaders have also had to endure a hail of brickbats from Washington for not being sufficiently pro-American and supportive of U.S. policy.
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2003

DPJ's uphill road to power

The birth of the new Democratic Party of Japan -- the largest opposition party to debut since 1994 -- promises to create more constructive tension in Japanese politics. The DPJ, which has absorbed the smaller Liberal Party, is looking to the coming general election as an opportunity to snatch power from...
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2003

Peruvians divided over Fujimori

OSAKA -- With Japan facing mounting international pressure to extradite disgraced former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, the nation's Peruvian community is divided on the matter.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2003

Life sentence for sarin attack upheld for Aum member

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday upheld a senior Aum Shinrikyo member's life sentence for his involvement in the deadly 1994 sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 26, 2003

A seductive spin on 'Swan Lake'

Five pairs of Japan Times readers are invited to attend the dance drama "Rottobaruto -- Yuwaku no Dokusaisha (Rothbart -- A Dictator of Seduction)" to be performed Oct. 10 in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 26, 2003

Banks told to tighten screws on debtors

Banks seeking to help turn around borrower companies should not merely extend life support to businesses doomed to fail, reappointed Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka said.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2003

Business lobby looks to guide party donors

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) unveiled a 10-point policy priority list Thursday for member firms to use to gauge how political parties pursue reforms, including a corporate tax cut and consumption tax hike.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 26, 2003

Documenting a continental crisis

One hundred documentaries, animations and movies dealing with the issue of HIV/AIDS in Africa will be shown in an event called African Documentary 2003, Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2003

Koizumi hauls Aso into line on posts plan

Acting quickly to erase differences in the new Cabinet, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that posts minister Taro Aso "fully supports" his plan to privatize the postal services in April 2007.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 26, 2003

Tama: Pour a libation to summer's end at a stylish washoku hideaway

At last that spell of late summer heat has broken. At last we can generate something approximating an appetite. And -- all praise to the gods of zymurgy -- at last the first of the fresh-season sake is starting to arrive on the shelves and menus of our favorite ryoriya (restaurants) and izakaya.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2003

Second wave of war orphans hits government with lawsuits

In a second wave of collective lawsuits, 612 Japanese who were separated from their parents in China at the end of World War II and lived for decades in Chinese foster homes sued the government Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2003

Test tube baby born using eggs frozen in 1995

A Hokkaido woman gave birth to a boy last year using fertilized eggs frozen in 1995, which may be the longest time in Japan that such eggs have been used after being in storage, according to her doctors.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go