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BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2005

Square Enix ready to acquire Taito

In the latest move amid industrywide reorganization, Square Enix Co., the maker of the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy video games, announced Monday it will acquire smaller rival Taito Corp. for 67 billion yen.
JAPAN / POLL SHOWDOWN
Aug 23, 2005

Rebels who don't quit LDP face penalties

All of the Liberal Democratic Party members who voted against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills in the House of Representatives should leave the party when running in the Sept. 11 general election, LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe said Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2005

Global beer production rises 4.4%

Worldwide production of beer totaled some 154.75 million kiloliters in 2004, up 4.4 percent over the previous year for the 20th consecutive yearly rise, with China retaining its position as the biggest brewing nation for the third year in a row, Kirin Brewery Co. said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2005

Low level of asbestos exposure proved fatal

Blue asbestos fibers identical to that lining the walls of a stationery shop were found in the lungs of its former manager, who died of an asbestos-linked illness after working there for more than 30 years, it was learned Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2005

What's next? 'Warm Biz'

Japan will kick off the "Warm Biz" campaign Oct. 1, an autumn-winter version of the "Cool Biz" campaign held this summer, to promote energy conservation by encouraging business people to wear extra layers of clothing and help reduce the use of heaters, the Environment Ministry announced Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2005

Pokka to go private via exec buyout

Soft drink maker Pokka Corp. said Monday it plans to turn itself into an unlisted company through a management buyout so it can implement longer-term strategies for raising its corporate value.
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Aug 23, 2005

DVD gives lesser players chance to shake up camcorder market

A major shift in recording media from tape to disc is taking place in the camcorder market, with manufacturers rapidly expanding their DVD-compatible model lineups.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2005

Wu, Sasae to discuss North Korea

Wu Dawei, China's chief delegate to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions, will discuss the issue with chief Japanese delegate Kenichiro Sasae on Wednesday in Tokyo, Foreign Ministry officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2005

NTT tests fiber-optic link with U.S. for fetal therapy

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. succeeded in a test use of its 2.4-gigabit-per-second fiber-optic line for long-distance fetal diagnosis and therapy by linking medical specialists in Tokyo and San Francisco, according to NTT officials.
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2005

LDP again at the crossroads

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi views the forthcoming general election, set for Sept. 11, as a national referendum on his top-priority plan to privatize the postal system. "I would like to ask the people whether they are for or against postal privatization," he told a nationally televised press conference,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 23, 2005

Old clothes and capsule delight

Waste not, want not Elizabeth in Kyoto Prefecture is leaving Japan in a month's time, having spent two years here.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 23, 2005

Press freedom

Earlier this year, journalists from the Okinawa Times and the Ryukyu Shimpo were stunned to learn that they would not be allowed to cover the return of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit from Iraq.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 23, 2005

What will you do if or when the 'big one' hits?

Paul Jones Golfer, 33 Run! With the work I do, I'm not usually near any buildings. I just tend to look up, always worried about what's going to come down on me. I'd still be trying to run somewhere.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2005

Beef hits highest price since '03

The retail price of beef is at its highest level since the first case of mad cow disease in the United States was discovered in December 2003, the farm ministry said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2005

Chiba man couldn't settle for just piece of pi

Akira Haraguchi says he was never a genius in school. But at 59, the Chiba man recited pi -- the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter -- from memory to 83,431 decimal places.
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
Aug 22, 2005

No U.S. realignment this year

Tokyo has given up on concluding talks with the United States over military realignment by the end of this year, citing expected delays stemming from the upcoming general election, according to government sources.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2005

Taiwan skimping on defense readiness

HONOLULU -- The political leaders of Taiwan, both government and opposition, are in serious danger of misreading or ignoring the increasingly stiff warning signals coming from Washington.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2005

Asian chance after Annan

The term of Kofi Annan as U.N. secretary general (SG) expires Dec. 31, 2006. Countries and individuals have begun to position themselves to succeed him. If Asians are to have a credible chance of filling what should rightfully be their turn at the job, their discussions and negotiations in the next six...
COMMENTARY
Aug 22, 2005

Unhealthy fixation on 'miracle' growth

HONG KONG -- In the late 1970s, after China had emerged from the frenzy of the Cultural Revolution and it was again politically correct to talk about development, economists and officials focused on two principal economic indices: GVIO and GVAO, or gross value of industrial output and gross value of...
COMMENTARY
Aug 22, 2005

Victor's logic in hindsight

Every August Japan is filled with prayers for the 3.1 million Japanese who died in the Pacific War and feelings of resentment against the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This August, which marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, Japanese media have done intensive reporting to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2005

LDP rebels launch another new party

Koki Kobayashi and three other rebels from the Liberal Democratic Party formed a new party Sunday, with Yasuo Tanaka, the outspoken governor of Nagano Prefecture, taking the top position.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2005

Quake rattles Niigata; at least two people hurt

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 hit Niigata Prefecture on Sunday, injuring at least two people, officials said.

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?