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BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 1, 2004

Knicks hiring of Thomas doesn't necessarily spell danger for Chaney

NEW YORK -- In view of Scott Layden's still smoldering dismissal, why would any clear thinker vaguely concerned with credibility hypothesize Knicks coach Don Chaney is in immediate danger of being fired?
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

Constitution seen being sidestepped as Japan weighs new defense policies

On Dec. 19, the day the National Security Council met to approve the purchase of a U.S.-developed missile defense system, the government announced it will update the country's basic defense program by the end of 2004.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

Ministry profilers to give short-termers hard look

The Justice Ministry will toughen its immigration procedures by using past data to profile people who would be likely to stay on illegally in Japan, according to ministry officials.
COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2004

Fantasy of the final solution

LONDON -- WMD: a new acronym for a new century and what a terrible augury of the century. If weapons of mass destruction are ever used for their intended purpose -- to annihilate mankind -- this century will be mankind's last. Perhaps the flippancy of the new century's young adults should after all be...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2004

Founder of Don Quijote empire revels in breaking all the rules

It's a jungle in there: Tacky, handwritten cardboard signs bearing dubious slogans vie for space with garish rolls of toilet paper, sex toys and Louis Vuitton handbags.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 31, 2003

For the record

It's a Long Way Down Award:
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2003

Fight against SARS begins at home

The New Year holiday is a season for travel. It is at this time, when many people and goods are moving across national borders, that an outbreak of infectious disease becomes more likely. This winter's first case of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) was confirmed in Taiwan on Dec. 17. This was...
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2003

Koizumi's key 2004 worries: U.S. economy, yen, pensions

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is facing a number of challenges as he struggles to put the fledgling economic recovery on a more solid footing in 2004.
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2003

The year politics turned a corner

Looking back on Japanese politics in 2003, two events stand out from all others: One is November's general election, which brought the two-party system a step closer to reality. The other is the government's decision earlier this month to send Self-Defense Force troops to Iraq on a humanitarian mission....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2003

Prefectures' satellite shops let Tokyoites tour Japan for lunch

Prefectural governments are offering busy Tokyoites a chance to experience their local products and cuisine -- if only for an hour or so -- and hope to encourage tourism in the process.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2003

NEC staff to get 550,000 yen for baby

NEC Corp. said Friday it will give workers one-time allowances of 550,000 yen for newborn children starting next July.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2003

Consumer prices declined for a fifth year in 2003

Japan's consumer prices fell for the fifth straight year in 2003, led by declines in prices for housing, laptop computers and durable home appliances, the government said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2003

Mr. Gadhafi's change of heart

Mercurial Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has pulled off another coup. Last week's announcement that Libya would give up all its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD) has turned the former pariah into an international statesman. Surprising though the move may have seemed, it was the result...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2003

A chance for Europe to stand on its own

LONDON -- Disneyland, the Kennedy Space Center and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were all on the agenda during the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's visit to Orlando, Florida, this month. Missing were members of the U.S. Congress. They weren't in Istanbul 12 months ago -- apparently because of problems with their...
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2003

Video-based drug sales get qualified ministry OK

A health ministry panel has compiled a draft report conditionally removing the ban on overnight videophone-based sales of over-the-counter drugs by retailers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 26, 2003

Slip into slo-mo Shiga-style

OMIHACHIMAN, Shiga Pref. -- Tired of group-tour hell? Does a four-cities-in-five-days' trip to Europe, or being herded like hyperactive cattle through the temples of Kyoto make you wish you could take a vacation from your vacation?
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2003

Ashikaga Financial seeks protection from creditors

Ashikaga Financial Group Inc., the holding company of recently nationalized Ashikaga Bank, said Thursday it has filed for court protection from its creditors with the Tokyo District Court under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 25, 2003

Be good to your rice and your rice will be good

"Aaaaah. Nihonjin dana . . . (Ahh, isn't this what being Japanese is all about?)"
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDEN PATHS
Dec 25, 2003

A romantic gem in Tokyo's heart

Japanese gardens were designed for poetry, music and romance; think of all those lovers in "The Tale of Genji" trailing through dew-drenched gardens to trysts with ladies of their dreams.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2003

Local governments to lose subsidies worth 1 trillion yen

The national government will cut about 1.030 trillion yen in subsidies to local governments in fiscal 2004, while ceding them around 655.8 billion yen in funds they will be able to use at their discretion, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2003

Banks to receive green light to enter securities business

Banks are set to be allowed into the securities business following a recommendation Wednesday by a government panel that banks and other financial institutions be given the ability to act as sales agents for brokerage houses.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 25, 2003

Anchor worm

* Japanese name: Ikarimushi * Scientific name: Lernaea cyprinacea * Description: The anchor worm is a small parasite (1-1.5 cm long) that lives in the muscles of freshwater fishes. The female anchor worm has a tubular body divided into a cephalothorax, thoracic region and abdomen. However, you're unlikely...
COMMENTARY
Dec 24, 2003

Ball now in China's court on Taiwan independence

HONG KONG -- With the Taiwan presidential election less than three months away, the behavior of the incumbent, President Chen Shui-bian, and that of the opposition Kuomintang candidate, Lien Chan, shows just how much things have changed in the last decade.
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2003

The SDF 'is not going to war'

Japan's Self-Defense Forces are making final preparations for helping humanitarian and reconstruction work in Iraq. An advance party of air force personnel is expected to leave this week under an order issued last week by Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba. An air transport unit probably...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 23, 2003

Train trips, veggies and stitch-ups

Moonsky star trip Further to last week's information on where to buy tickets for the Trans-Siberian railway, Colette in Yokohama describes the trip she took in 1993 as, "one of the most amazing experiences of my life." She organized her journey through Moonsky Star, a travel agent based in Beijing that...
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2003

Ministry vows immediate steps to improve correctional system

The Justice Ministry announced Monday it will act immediately to improve the correctional system and prison conditions, including taking steps to reduce inmates' mandatory work hours, allow outsiders to visit prisons and revamp all padded cells.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat