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BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2006

DoCoMo tests activity-tracking service

NTT DoCoMo Inc. began a test-run Wednesday of a new system that monitors cell phone customers' activities in certain areas and analyzes the patterns to ascertain their needs and send relevant information to their handsets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 14, 2006

"Geisai #10"

Tokyo Big Site East Hall 4 Sept. 17, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2006

Current account surplus rises 7.1%

Japan's current account surplus rose 7.1 percent in July from a year earlier to 1.81 trillion yen, reversing a 7.2 percent dip the previous month, due to brisk exports and a steady increase in the income account, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
SUMO
Sep 13, 2006

Asashoryu, five others tied for basho lead

Yokozuna Asashoryu claimed another victim to remain undefeated Tuesday, disposing of Aminishiki to win his third straight bout at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Access to resident info to be limited starting Nov. 1

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a decision to limit access to local governments' resident registry books to organizations and individuals acting in the public interest, ending the current practice of providing such access to anyone.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Birth of a male has raised profile of 'second princess'

Princess Kiko can do no wrong these days.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Next prime minister must find a NEET solution

, 20, takes part in a government-sponsored job training program in Fussa, Tokyo, in early August. KYODO PHOTO
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Vice minister's Taiwan trip was private: Abe

China on Tuesday urged Japan to stick to its one-China policy recognizing Beijing as the country's sole government, after Tokyo confirmed that a vice fisheries minister had visited Taiwan in August. The Chinese foreign ministry said no official exchanges with Taiwan should be held.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2006

If 9/11 hadn't happened, where would the world be?

LONDON -- Five years since 9/11, and we are still being told that the world has changed forever. But the attack on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, was a low-probability event that could just as easily not have happened. The often careless and sometimes incompetent hijackers might have been caught...
EDITORIALS
Sep 13, 2006

Rebels return to haunt LDP

An aftereffect of the legislative battle over postal service privatization a year ago now vexes the Liberal Democratic Party leadership. It is how to treat Diet members who rebelled against the party by voting against the privatization bills.
EDITORIALS
Sep 13, 2006

MSDF must run a tighter ship

On the evening of Sept. 5, the Vulcan 20 mm machine gun on a Maritime Self-Defense Force high-speed missile boat was accidentally fired at the Ominato base in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture. At least one of the 10 rounds hit a tree a mere 12 meters from a house. Only through sheer good luck were injuries or...
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Ozawa remains DPJ leader

Ichiro Ozawa was in effect named Tuesday to a second term as the Democratic Party of Japan president after no other candidates came forward to challenge him for the post.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 13, 2006

Elephant hawkmoth

* Japanese name: Beni-suzume * Scientific name: Deilephila elpenor lewisii * Description: Large, remarkably handsome insects with a wingspan of 62-72 mm, adult elephant hawkmoths are a velvety, olive-brown in color with a gorgeous pink flush to the wings and the sides of the abdomen. They also have...
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

8.3 billion yen shot in the arm eyed for drugmakers

The government plans to give the nation's anemic pharmaceuticals industry a shot in the arm next year by boosting support by 80 percent so companies can better compete on a global scale, officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 13, 2006

Own goal clouds progress

Tomorrow sees the start of a three-day meeting in the Eternal City that concerns one of the most promising and controversial scientific research areas of our time: stem cells. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to transform into any cell and tissue type in the body, and thus have the potential to...
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Beer shipments get summer boost

Shipments of beer, "happoshu" low-malt beer and nonmalt, beerlike drinks by the nation's top five brewers edged up in August as hot summer weather ended two months of decline, industry figures showed Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 13, 2006

Bush creating a more dangerous world

LONDON -- Directly after the horror of 9/11 there was a moment when America held the good will of almost the entire world in the palm of its hand.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Hokuetsu, Nippon Paper agree to hold tieup talks

Hokuetsu Paper Mills Ltd. and Nippon Paper Group Inc. said Tuesday they have agreed to begin discussing a business tieup that would include mutual supply of printing paper under each other's brands.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Newborn prince is named Hisahito

Prince Akishino has named his new son Prince Hisahito, the Imperial Household Agency announced Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Wholesale prices jumped 3.4% in August

Wholesale prices increased 3.4 percent in August from a year earlier, matching the 25-year high seen in July, as higher crude oil prices pushed up the price of petroleum products and chemicals, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Fibrous plants are helping cars go green on the outside

You might think bamboo, corn and kenaf -- a plant similar to jute -- would make poor materials for building modern cars, but you would be wrong. These plants are helping make auto parts that are green in more ways than one.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.