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JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Condolences for Katrina victims

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo will open a book of condolence for the victims of Hurricane Katrina that the public will be able to sign for three days beginning Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Palestinians to receive $50 million

Japan will give Palestinians a $49.7 million grant to help improve infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank following the completion of Israel's withdrawal of settlers from the areas, the government said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Flooring firms in price-fixing probe

The Fair Trade Commission searched five floor material makers Tuesday on suspicion of being involved in a price-fixing cartel.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 7, 2005

Saito picks up monthly MVP

Softbank Hawks right-hander Kazumi Saito was named Tuesday the Pacific League MVP for the month of August after winning all five starts to match a Japanese record with a 15-0 start to a season.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Loyalties to party, candidates put to test

Politics are about making decisions, and some of the most difficult ones are those based on where loyalties lie.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Train crash report lays main blame on speeding

An interim report on the deadly April 25 crash of a speeding commuter train on West Japan Railway Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line touches on the driver's apparent erratic behavior but leaves many questions unanswered.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Rakuten to buy ad firm LinkShare

Rakuten Inc. said Tuesday it will acquire major U.S. Internet advertising agency LinkShare Corp. for about $425 million (about 46.5 billion yen), a deal that will enable the Japanese online shopping mall operator to expand into the U.S. market.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Digital satellite TV finally hits target

The number of subscribers to digital broadcasting services via satellite topped 10 million at the end of August, two years later than the targeted date, according to a report released Tuesday by an industry body.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 7, 2005

Salaryman nightmare, otaku dreams

Playwright David Mamet was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his play "Glengarry Glen Ross." Two years before that, however, an earlier, major work, "Edmond," had fared less well with the critics.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Japan to release 7.3 million barrels of oil

Japan will release 7.3 million barrels of reserve oil kept by 66 private-sector refiners over a 30-day period beginning Wednesday in a concerted action by the International Energy Agency to help stabilize the world oil market in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Sales tax hike best solution, and it's urgent: expert

Raising the consumption tax may be considered political suicide.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Toyota boosts precrash safety system

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it has improved its precrash safety system by adding a driver-monitoring function that warns of an imminent collision when the driver is not looking straight ahead.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Plutonium from spent fuel at 43 tons

Japan's stockpile of plutonium extracted and separated from spent nuclear fuel increased to 43.1 tons as of the end of 2004, up 2.5 tons from the previous year, the government reported to the Atomic Energy Commission on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

ASDF F-15s collide, land safely

Two F-15 fighter jets of the Air Self-Defense Force collided over water northwest of Hokkaido on Tuesday morning and made safe emergency landings, ASDF officials said.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

NGO relief team Houston-bound

A team from a nongovernment organization for disaster relief was to leave Wednesday for Houston to help people who survived Hurricane Katrina.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Longer delay seen for postal privatization

Even if the ruling coalition wins the upcoming general election and the postal privatization bills are reintroduced to the Diet and enacted, the government may delay the launch of the actual reforms by up to a year, sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 7, 2005

'Palookaville' gets gallery treatment

I was chatting with old friends in Toronto last week, and our conversation came round to the subject of Japanese manga. I made clear my reservations regarding the popularity of pulp manga in Japan, and bemoaned the fact that many manga artists have even had gallery shows here.
EDITORIALS
Sep 7, 2005

Katrina's grim reminder

Sadly, we are accustomed to the regular occurrence of natural disasters. It seems as if every few months a storm, flood, tsunami or earthquake devastates a country, exacts a frightening toll, and reminds us that we remain susceptible to the forces of the physical world. In the perennial struggle between...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2005

Koizumi's bare-knuckle power play may soon haunt him

Sunday's election for the Lower House stands out as abnormal, but not because of its abruptness. Many surprise elections have been held before. On March 14, 1953, for instance, then Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who was president of the Liberal Party, dissolved the Lower House following the passage...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 6, 2005

CL eyes playoff system for 2007

The members of the Central League executive committee agreed Monday to consider introducing a playoff system for the first time in league history in 2007.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2005

Ishihara turns to Taipei as Beijing exits forum

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara will visit Taiwan on Tuesday to discuss ways to run a forum for major Asian cities, following the recent withdrawal of Beijing from the network, Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials said.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2005

Attack evacuation plans go high-tech

The government plans to develop a computer system that can immediately calculate appropriate public evacuation plans in the event of a nuclear, biological or chemical attack, or an attack on a nuclear or petroleum facility, according to official sources.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2005

Tea ceremony master to the U.N.

The Foreign Ministry on Monday appointed Sen Genshitsu, a prominent tea ceremony master, as goodwill ambassador to the United Nations in a bid to raise Japan's domestic and international profile.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2005

JCP wants united front on postal bills

The Japanese Communist Party plans to call on other parties to join hands to scrap the postal privatization bills that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi aims to resubmit to the Diet after Sunday's general election, JCP chief Kasuo Shii said Monday.

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?