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EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2005

Can a watchdog watch itself?

The Tokyo Stock Exchange's plan to go public in fiscal 2005 (ending next March 31) seems unlikely to go smoothly as the Financial Services Agency opposes the plan. At issue is a debate over whether the bourse can continue to properly execute its public role as a watchdog over the stock market after going...
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Woman's kin sue Unification Church alleging it caused family breakdown

Parents of a Unification Church member filed a 17 million yen lawsuit Wednesday against the organization, alleging it caused their family to fracture.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Noguchi gets science ministry award

Astronaut Soichi Noguchi was presented with a special award Wednesday by the science ministry for giving the Japanese people "courage, hope and encouragement" by completing his mission on the space shuttle Discovery.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Postal reforms to create giants: Maehara

Newly elected Democratic Party of Japan chief Seiji Maehara locked horns with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for the first time in the Diet on Wednesday, with the opposition leader lashing out at the revived postal privatization bills.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Justices cut own retirement pay

The Supreme Court decided Wednesday to cut retirement allowances for its 15 justices by about two-thirds. It will be the first reduction since 1966.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Six labor bureaus found to have embezzled funds

Officials at six regional labor bureaus, including those in Tokyo, Aomori, Kyoto and Hokkaido, have embezzled more than 70 million yen in public funds, Board of Audit officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Women's suit against Ishihara fails

The Tokyo High Court rejected on Wednesday a lawsuit accusing Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara of disparaging women.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Government shaves civil servants' salaries 0.1%

The government decided Wednesday to cut the annual salary of civil servants by an average of 4,000 yen, or 0.1 percent, in the current fiscal year through next March, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Tokyo High Court rejects Turkish Kurd's appeal for asylum

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by a Kurdish asylum seeker to revoke a Justice Ministry decision to deny him refugee status.
JAPAN / BULLETIN BOARD
Sep 29, 2005

International House plans essay contest to fete reopening

The International House of Japan will hold an essay competition in celebration of its reopening.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2005

MTFG, Merrill Lynch in joint venture

Competition in the private banking business got tougher Wednesday after Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. announced they will set up a joint-venture brokerage targeting wealthy customers.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2005

Resona may sell JCB stake, possibly to DoCoMo

Resona Holdings Inc. may sell the majority of its banking group's stake in Japan's leading credit card company, with mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. among the prospective buyers, sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

English translation of 180 laws in works

A government panel has proposed that about 180 Japanese laws be translated into English by the end of fiscal 2009 to facilitate foreign direct investment.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2005

Toshiba holds door open to unified DVDs

Toshiba Corp. is willing to compromise on creating a unified format for next-generation DVDs if it can be done by yearend, a senior official in charge of format negotiations said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 29, 2005

Communal individuals

World-famous sculptor Antony Gormley has spent the last 25 years "infecting" public spaces with sculptures that transform viewers' imagination and challenge their preconceptions. In "Children's Field," a Gormley-inspired community art project produced by the American School in Japan (ASIJ) and A.R.T....
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2005

Full-time pay drops for seventh year

Annual pay for full-time company employees in 2004 averaged 4,388,000 yen, down 51,000 yen or 1.1 percent from the previous year for the seventh straight year of contraction, according to a survey by the National Tax Agency.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Sep 29, 2005

Raku's hand-held universes and the unseen pots of Kamoda

The phrase "contemplation of the everyday object as a mystical resource" graces the back of a catalog from the 1998 Raku exhibition that toured Europe. I say it over and over in my mind like a mantra, challenging myself to be aware of the things I live with and how they not only satisfy my needs but...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Desertification in China, Mongolia a problem for Japan

The spreading desertification in China and Mongolia is no longer just someone else's concern; it's posing a health risk in this country and affecting Japanese businesses, a senior U.N. official in charge of efforts to curb the problem said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2005

Yahoo taps user tips to update online map

Yahoo Japan Corp., the nation's largest Internet portal site operator, and Nagoya-based Alps Mapping K.K., launched a pilot service Wednesday that asks users to submit information on their neighborhoods to update an Internet map.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2005

Toward a nuclear Japan?

The United States cannot stop nuclear proliferation, even though Japan and others will expect it to keep trying. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) has allowed North Korea and Iran to develop nuclear weapons on the sly. What will Japan conclude from this?
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2005

Softbank, NTT to link IP networks

The nation's two major providers of Internet protocol phone services, Softbank BB Corp. and NTT Communications Corp., announced Wednesday they will let their customers use each other's networks to expand coverage of low-price services beginning in October.

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?