Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2005

Man gets 14 years for killing writer

A former professional diver was sentenced Tuesday to 14 years in prison Tuesday for confining and killing a freelance journalist in 2003.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2005

22% of state offices coerced to buy wares: NPA

Nearly 22 percent of government offices were targets of some form of outside coercion during the year spanning August 2004 to last July, with at least 8.6 percent pressured into buying merchandise, subscribing to publications or making donations, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2005

Give them what they want

When Paul Baron moved to Tokyo three years ago, he was excited to explore the city's vast art world as he had been an avid follower of art events while studying graphic design in London. There was only one problem: Where to find out what was going on. It should have been easy; it should have all been...
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2005

Winning doesn't make him right

The Osaka High Court on Friday found unconstitutional Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's three visits to Yasukuni Shrine from 2001 to 2003. The court said the visits violated Article 20, Section 3, of the Constitution, which prohibits religious education and any other "religious" activity by the state...
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2005

Extending the SDF missions

The government has opted to extend by one year the Maritime Self-Defense Force mission to supply fuel in the Indian Ocean to ships of the U.S. Navy and allied nations engaged in antiterrorist activities related to security in Afghanistan. A law specifying a duration of two years -- enacted after the...
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2005

Dead sperm donor's in vitro paternity not recognized

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday refused to recognize a man as the father of a child conceived by in vitro fertilization after he died, calling the reproductive process "unnatural."
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2005

Top court drops appeal over '03 vote disparity

The Supreme Court dismissed appeals Tuesday filed by lawyers seeking to invalidate the results in several constituencies in the November 2003 House of Representatives election.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2005

Expecting the 'obvious,' killer axes gallows appeal

A 38-year-old man sentenced to death for the murder of two pachinko parlor employees in 2003 has retracted his Tokyo High Court appeal, it was learned Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2005

Six more Japan Highway execs tied to bid-rigging

Six more officials of Japan Highway Public Corp. are suspected of involvement in rigging official bids in connection with bridge building contracts, President Takeshi Kondo said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2005

Outlays for welfare set new record at 84 trillion yen

Social security spending rose to a record high 84.27 trillion yen in fiscal 2003, up 700.2 billion, yen or 0.8 percent, from the previous year due mainly to snowballing outlays for the aging population, a government research institute said Wednesday.
Sep 22, 2005

Firms betting on Russia amid political poker

A screen up front read "Welcome to St. Petersburg!" as top officials of Russia's second-largest city gave a presentation in Tokyo to lure Japanese investment.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2005

Damages awarded over nonhiring of JNR unionists

The now-defunct Japanese National Railways discriminated against employees in a union opposed to the 1987 JNR privatization by not ensuring they were rehired by the spinoff carriers, the Tokyo District Court said in a landmark ruling Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2005

Pyongyang palliative is Bush's bitter pill

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut -- Although buried by headlines from Iraq and Hurricane Katrina-devastated U.S. Gulf Coast region, the fourth round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, about to resume in Beijing, presents the best chance yet to resolve diplomatically the simmering crisis on the...
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2005

Itoham admits role in pork import scam

Major meat processor Itoham Foods Inc. admitted Friday to being involved in a meat importer's evasion of some 940 million yen in customs duties on pork imported from Europe in 2002 and 2003 as the firm's fraud trial opened before the Tokyo District Court.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2005

Family-bred politicians fan out

KURASHIKI, Okayama Pref. -- Japanese politics is often a family affair, with the offspring of Diet members winning seats originally held by their fathers, and in some cases, grandfathers.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2005

Seiko Noda and Yukari Sato in desperate battle in Gifu

GIFU -- A showdown between two female candidates has all eyes fixed on this sleepy conservative city in the Chubu region.
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2005

Capital spending surges 7.3%

Companies' capital spending grew 7.3 percent from a year earlier in the April-June period on an all-industry basis for the ninth straight quarter of expansion, the Finance Ministry reported Monday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 4, 2005

How to beat the high price of Japanese pro baseball tickets

Have you ever thought about going to a Japanese baseball game but, upon checking prices, thought the tickets are rather expensive?
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2005

Welfare trumps posts as candidates' main concern

Most of the declared candidates running in the Sept. 11 general election say social welfare reform should be the policy priority after the poll, according to a Kyodo News survey released Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2005

Four illegal crocodiles take a bite out of crime

Tokyo police have arrested a reptile wholesaler from Shizuoka and two other people on suspicion of illegally breeding and falsely registering four false gavials, a type of endangered crocodile, it was learned Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2005

Postal rebels try to regroup via new party

Four Liberal Democratic Party foes of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal reform push and a defector from the main opposition force announced Wednesday they will form a new party and run on its ticket in the Sept. 11 poll.
BUSINESS
Aug 17, 2005

Investor funds flourish, but caveat emptor

Ranging from hip-hop music to premium wines and a ramen court, funds are emerging in myriad fields to whet the appetites of investors tired of the minuscule interest on regular bank deposits and eager for a taste of adventure.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 17, 2005

Artists' works join the EU

In the last 30 years, the central eastern European nations of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have experienced tumultuous times. Under communism, state control and censorship forced artists to be regional and nationalistic, but since the soft slides into capitalism and democracy epitomized...

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?