Search - 2003

 
 
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 3, 2004

Stocking of new Sendai team just part of busy NPB offseason

Get ready, fans, for what promises to be a whirlwind, action-packed offseason with an extra-hot hot stove league or, as they say here in Japan, the "hot hibachi" league. Going to be a heckuva offseason.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2004

Automakers focus on disabled drivers at 38th motor show

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- Automakers over the last decade have expanded their lineup of vehicles catering to the needs of disabled people and the elderly.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 31, 2004

At-home dads

Kazuyuki Yamamura is a tall, good-looking man in his 30s, who was also good at his job. In fact, not so long ago he bought a house for himself, his wife and their kindergarten-age daughter in a leafy suburb of Tokyo. Then, unexpectedly, his company found itself in choppy financial waters -- and he was...
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2004

State aims to boost sales of soccer lottery tickets by lowering the odds

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry will try to boost sales of soccer lottery tickets by increasing the chances of winning and selling tickets on the Internet, beginning April 2006.
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2004

Dealing with a murderous past

The 1970s in Cambodia is described as one of the darkest periods in modern history. That was when the Communist Pol Pot regime, or the Khmer Rouge, exterminated nearly 2 million people during its rule from 1975 to 1979. Now, a quarter of a century since the regime collapsed, some of its former leaders...
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2004

Dental body tied to Ishihara faction

The scandal-tainted Japan Dental Association gave 10 million yen in political donations last December to a Liberal Democratic Party chapter headed by former transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara, according to the 2003 political funds report released Wednesday by the Tokyo election board.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2004

Bleak outlook for Myanmar democracy

After days of speculation over the fate of Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt, the country's official media announced that he was permitted to retire for health reasons. The reasons given were usual for someone who had been removed from the inner circle.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2004

UFJ execs grilled over alleged block of FSA probe

Prosecutors on Monday questioned three former executives of UFJ Bank on suspicion of obstructing a government inspection, according to investigative sources.
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2004

ODA looks wasted on China

This year Japan marks the 50th anniversary of the official development assistance program it launched after getting out of the postwar economic chaos. The Foreign Ministry's 2004 white paper on ODA boasts that Japan, now one of the world's largest ODA providers, has made major contributions to the economic...
Japan Times
Features
Oct 24, 2004

The cat's whiskers of Kawaii

At 10 a.m. last Saturday, the moment the doors of the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district were opened, a small scrum of people rushed in, headed straight to the escalators and then up to the fifth floor.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 14, 2004

New options raise the stakes in the 'Name that Baby' game

Since middle names are not used in Japan, the parents of a newborn need only agree on one name for their offspring. This is probably just as well: Choosing a kanji name involves a whole host of complex considerations, and while some couples settle on a name written in kana (Japan's phonetic script),...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2004

Crisis that hangs on hearsay

LONDON -- I am rapidly approaching the age of retirement. I am already cutting back on my activities, slimming down my portfolio of work and deciding what activities are wastes of time.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2004

10 million have missed pension payments, audit finds

Some 10 million people -- roughly 45 percent of those registered with the National Pension System -- failed to pay at least one month of premiums in fiscal 2002 or fiscal 2003, the Board of Audit said Sunday.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2004

Extortionist gets four years for Softbank scam

The Tokyo District Court sentenced a self-styled rightwinger to four years in prison Tuesday for attempting to extort billions of yen out of Softbank Corp.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2004

Gadget helps bathroom-bashful

When Naoko Ito uses a public bathroom, she cringes in embarrassment at the thought other patrons can hear the sounds coming from her stall.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2004

Japan reports 50 years of its ODA amounted to $221 billion

Japan has provided some $221 billion in official development assistance to 185 nations since 1954, the Foreign Ministry said Friday in releasing its annual white paper on ODA.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 29, 2004

Rhapsody to the bohemian lifestyle

More than a century has passed since the first performance Puccini's "La Boheme" in 1896, yet it remains one of the most widely performed operas in the world. That may be because the opera, a dramatization of the French writer, Henry Murger's 1849 novel "Scenes of the Bohemian Life" , seems to celebrate...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2004

Subtle changes under Hu

HONOLULU -- The ascent of Hu Jintao to the third of the top three posts in China's hierarchy will most likely cause subtle changes in Beijing's relations with the United States and with China's neighbors North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia -- but not on the sensitive issue of Taiwan....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004

You can't beat an old master

Coffee Jiko Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Hou Hsiao- hsien Running time: 103 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Yasujiro Ozu's trademark style -- the low camera angles, the straight cuts, the actors talking at the camera in medium closeup...
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2004

Apathy said rife among jobless in 15-34 age bracket

Some 520,000 unemployed people between the ages of 15 and 34 were not trying to find work or receive higher educational training during 2003, up 8.3 percent from a year earlier.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 10, 2004

Pats looking Super with Dillon

The NFL is set to kick off the 2004 season with a rematch of last season's AFC Championship Game -- the Indianapolis Colts at the New England Patriots -- on Thursday night. The defending Super Bowl champion Patriots, who are shooting for their third NFL title in four years, are the team to beat. The...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 2, 2004

Dragons hoping Ochoa's lucky No. 4 can bring them success

The Chunichi Dragons have won the Central League pennant four times in the past 30 years, and each time the club had a strong foreign player who wore the uniform No. 4 and contributed greatly to the team's championship seasons.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2004

Hitachi, Matsushita, Toshiba to set up 70 billion yen LCD venture in January

Hitachi Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toshiba Corp. will set up a 70 billion yen joint venture in January to manufacture liquid crystal display panels for flat TVs, the firms said Tuesday.

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?