Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2004

School kids becoming more violent

Public elementary school children committed a record 1,777 violent acts in the 2003 academic year, the education ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2004

School kids becoming more violent

Public elementary school children committed a record 1,777 violent acts in the 2003 academic year, the education ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2004

Bureaucrat admits taking JDA bribes

A former member of the Central Social Insurance Medical Council pleaded guilty Friday to accepting bribes from Japan Dental Association executives between 2001 and 2003 in return for providing them favors.
Features
Aug 22, 2004

Keeping it in the club

On Oct. 16 last year, Hans van der Lugt, a correspondent for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, telephoned the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry with a simple inquiry.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2004

Japanese won over by tiny, no-fuss 'pets'

The plastic conversation piece filled with aquamarine-tinted gel is missing a vital ingredient: ants.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2004

Japanese won over by tiny, no-fuss 'pets'

The plastic conversation piece filled with aquamarine-tinted gel is missing a vital ingredient: ants.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2004

Eight indicted over vote-buying charges

Prosecutors indicted Yukihiro Yoshida, a former Diet member from the Liberal Democratic Party, and seven others Tuesday on charges of buying votes with money that came from the Japan Dental Association.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2004

Eight indicted over vote-buying charges

Prosecutors indicted Yukihiro Yoshida, a former Diet member from the Liberal Democratic Party, and seven others Tuesday on charges of buying votes with money that came from the Japan Dental Association.
EDITORIALS
Aug 17, 2004

No need for gloom over economy

Japan's current economy can be likened to a patient nearly recovering from illness: He is allowed to go outside the hospital when weather permits, but he is confined to bed again to rest if he is exposed to cold air and feels poorly.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2004

Millionaires don't live up to glamorous image

People may have notions of millionaires as ostentatious, bejeweled, big-spending clotheshorses, but the reality is that most -- and there are many -- keep a low profile.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2004

Millionaires don't live up to glamorous image

People may have notions of millionaires as ostentatious, bejeweled, big-spending clotheshorses, but the reality is that most -- and there are many -- keep a low profile.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2004

Net sites cater to quest for Russian brides

Attractive Russian women with blonde hair and green eyes smile invitingly from the computer screen.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2004

Dental body execs admit ministry bribes

Three former Japan Dental Association executives pleaded guilty Monday to bribing and entertaining two members of a health ministry advisory panel between 2001 and 2003 to pressure them into helping raise the fees patients pay to dentists.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2004

Employee pension scheme suffers its first deficit

The employee pension scheme unexpectedly registered its first-ever deficit in fiscal 2003, which ended last March, forcing the Social Insurance Agency to tap reserves, the agency said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2004

McDonald's Japan posts 1.12 billion yen net profit

McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) said Tuesday it saw a more than eight-fold increase in net profit to 1.12 billion yen during the January-June period due to a popular new menu and sales promotions.
COMMENTARY
Aug 1, 2004

Mideast role challenges EU

PARIS -- France and Germany no longer make the law in Brussels. In spite of a long fight, they failed to get their Belgian candidate elected to head the European Commission and could only accept the appointment of Jose Durao Barroso, who, as prime minister of Portugal, backed U.S. intervention in Iraq....
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2004

Pension delinquency down -- nominally

The delinquency rate for national pension premium payments fell to 36.6 percent in fiscal 2003 from a record 37.2 percent the previous year, with the number of people required to pay having declined, the Social Insurance Agency said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2004

Automakers get in touch with their feminine side

Automakers used to think cars in pastel colors with floral-patterned seats were key to attracting female buyers.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2004

Tax nonpayment falls for fifth year

The nonpayment of corporate, income and other state taxes declined for the fifth straight year in fiscal 2003 to 2.03 trillion yen, down about 220 billion yen from the previous year, according to a National Tax Agency report released Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 26, 2004

Lifting women's job status

Women's status in male-dominated Japan remains alarmingly low, according to a recent international survey. A U.N. Development Program survey showed that Japan ranked 38th among countries of the world in the gender empowerment index, which measures women's participation in political and economic decision-making....
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 25, 2004

Cashing in on ideas

Thomas Edison's electricity, Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the Wright Brothers' creaky biplane, H.G. Wells' time machine (OK, that last one hasn't happened yet), but through these world-changing discoveries, our daily lives have been made easier. Flick a switch and light banishes the darkness, pick...
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2004

A third of workers are part-timers, temp staff

Part-time and temporary workers comprised 34.6 percent of the nation's workforce in 2003, up 7.1 percentage points from 1999, mainly due to corporate efforts to cut labor costs, according to a labor ministry survey released this week.
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2004

GDP growth forecast revised sharply higher

The Cabinet Office on Wednesday revised upward its official economic growth forecast for fiscal 2004 to 3.5 percent in real terms from the initially projected 1.8 percent, citing strong private-sector demand and exports.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2004

Former LDP lawmaker held over embezzlement

Tokyo prosecutors on Thursday arrested a former lawmaker of the Liberal Democratic Party and served fresh warrants on two former executives of the Japan Dental Association for allegedly embezzling 30 million yen from the industry group.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2004

Winning over Hong Kong

SINGAPORE -- After Hong Kongers somberly commemorated the 15th anniversary of Tiananmen on June 5, they jolted China's central government by organizing, like last year, another massive July 1 demonstration, setting the stage for another big political standoff with Beijing ahead of the September Legislative...
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2004

Dental group donation set to result in charges

Prosecutors are set to establish a case against a former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker and two others on suspicion of embezzlement disguised as a political donation, according to informed sources.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2004

Softbank leak extortionist won't serve time

The Tokyo District Court sentenced a former Softbank BB Corp. employee to a suspended three-year prison term Friday for stealing client data and trying to extort money from the company.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2004

Lack of continuity in English teaching hit

The introduction of English in elementary school classrooms to help improve fluency in later years is bringing to light a problem that has dogged Japanese educators for years -- how to provide continuity in teaching the language so that students can graduate from university with a conversant level.

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?