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JAPAN
Jul 5, 2006

UV-absorbing chemical faces ban

Japan will ban the manufacture and import of a widely used ultraviolet ray absorber because it has been found to accumulate in the body and is toxic to the liver, officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2006

Dominican Republic emigrants to get apology

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will express regret to emigrants to the Dominican Republic in the 1950s and the government will pay about 1,300 people several million yen for the hardships they suffered under the program that sent them there, government officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2006

Kajima faces taxes on contract rebates

Kajima Corp. and other companies paid a combined 900 million yen in rebates to construction firms linked to a former executive of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. for contracts to build a pharmaceutical plant in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, according to a tax audit obtained Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2006

Co-op recalls body-fat scale that can't measure anything

A consumer cooperative union has begun recalling an instant body-fat scale imported from China because the instrument was found to have no fat-measuring functions, union officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2006

GSDF not affected by reported Samawah blasts: Nukaga

Troops from the Ground Self-Defense Force preparing to pull out of the southern Iraq city of Samawah were not affected by explosions reported in the city, Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2006

The Hashimoto legacy

Fortune did not smile on Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto when he sought the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, and the premiership, for a second time in April 2001. He was badly defeated by Mr. Junichiro Koizumi. But Mr. Hashimoto, prime minister from January 1996 to July 1998, who died over the weekend...
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2006

Schindler: People stuck in lifts 320 times in '04

Schindler Elevator K.K., the domestic subsidiary of the Swiss-based global elevator and escalator maker, said Tuesday that people in Japan were trapped inside its elevators 320 times in 2004.
SUMO
Jul 5, 2006

The competition finally arrives

In 1958, then yokozuna Wakanohana, uncle of the Wakanohana and Takanohana brothers of the 90s won the first July tournament in the modern era with a 13-2 record.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 5, 2006

Mao to take on Meissner in GP opener

Mao Asada, the 15-year-old skating sensation who won last year's Grand Prix Final but was too young to compete in the Turin Olympics, will begin her Grand Prix campaign this season along with older sister Mai, and Miki Ando, at Skate America in October, according to an entry list posted on the Web site...
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2006

Explanations only deepen suspicion

A South Korean man believed to have been kidnapped by North Korea 28 years ago was allowed to meet his mother and sister last week at Mount Kumgang in North Korea. Mr. Kim Young Nam (also known as Kim Chol Jun) is thought to be the man who married Ms. Megumi Yokota of Niigata, who was kidnapped by North...
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2006

Cabinet split over interest rates

Cabinet ministers appeared split Tuesday over the direction of the Bank of Japan's monetary stance, with the central bank coming closer to ending its "zero-interest-rate" policy next week.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2006

LDP wants 140 trillion yen selloff of government assets

The Liberal Democratic Party's General Council has agreed the government should sell off about 140 trillion yen in assets by the end of fiscal 2015 as a part of its fiscal reform program, party officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2006

Big life insurers apologize to policyholders

Major life insurance companies, reeling from a series of misdeeds, held their annual meetings of policyholders' representatives Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2006

Western geopolitics suffering from an infantile disorder

PRAGUE -- Recent statements from some American leaders and North Atlantic Treaty Organization representatives give the impression that not only Islamic and other radicals, but also quite civilized figures, are losing their grasp of reality and have begun acting irrationally. The world is becoming an...
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2006

Nissan, Renault are ready to launch alliance talks with GM

Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA have approved opening talks with U.S. auto giant General Motors Corp. on a possible alliance, according to the Japanese and French automakers.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jul 5, 2006

Fond memories will bloom forever

When I was a young lad in South Wales I used to collect, press and catalog wild flowers. Then I reached the age of 12 and went to an all-boys school in England, where my seniors soon taught me that flowers were for sissies. So I kept this love to myself.
BASKETBALL
Jul 4, 2006

Broncos introduce new coach

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. -- The bj-league's Saitama Broncos announced Kenji Yamane as their new head coach on Monday.
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 4, 2006

Italians hoping for regulation finish

DORTMUND, Germany -- The Italians must have their fingers crossed it doesn't come down to penalties.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 4, 2006

Hanshin places five on All-Star roster

Hanshin Tigers middle reliever Kyuji Fujikawa and five others from the Central League club were named for the upcoming All-Star series as the final results of fan balloting were announced Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2006

Yakuza held over intimidation attack

An underworld figure has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing the son of nonfiction writer Atsushi Mizoguchi in Tokyo in January because of an article he wrote on a crime syndicate, police said Monday.
SOCCER
Jul 4, 2006

Shocker: Nakata says he will retire

Japanese international midfielder and national superstar Hidetoshi Nakata said Monday he will retire from professional soccer after a decade on the pitch in Japan, Italy and England, a stunner from one of the most popular Boys in Blue.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2006

Ozawa, Kan, Hatoyama arrive in China for Hu meet

Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan, went to China on Monday for a six-day stay which party officials said would include a meeting with President Hu Jintao.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2006

Japan seeks UNSC action if Iran snubs incentives

Japan plans to call for the U.N. Security Council to discuss imposing sanctions on Iran if Tehran does not promptly respond to the incentives package presented by six countries for resolving the nation's nuclear standoff, according to Japanese government sources.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2006

Isle tensions flare up again

Tensions between Tokyo and Seoul flared again Monday when South Korea began maritime research in waters around islets under its control that are also claimed by Japan.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’