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BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2004

Yamato seeks to halt Japan Post-Lawson delivery tieup

Yamato Transport Co. said Tuesday it has sought a court injunction to halt Japan Post's parcel-handling tieup with convenience store operator Lawson Inc.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2004

Daikyo first big debtor of UFJ to get IRCJ help

The Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan said Tuesday it will help rehabilitate Daikyo Inc.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2004

KDDI phones to function as e-money

KDDI Corp. said Tuesday it will start selling mobile phones by fall 2005 that can function as electronic money.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 29, 2004

Takenaka vows to get LDP members on board for Japan Post privatization

Heizo Takenaka, just named to the brand-new post of minister of postal reform, said Tuesday he will "keep talking" to Liberal Democratic Party politicians until he wins their support for privatization.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 29, 2004

An Eastern art show to rival Venice

On May 18, 1980, the city of Gwangju, South Korea, hit the headlines with an explosion of civilian dissent against the military junta that had seized power the day before. The junta's brutal crackdown culminated in the Gwangju Massacre of hundreds of students and civilians. The uprising would spark South...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2004

Boys be ambitious

Journalists approach Shutoku Mukai warily. As the leading personality of cult group Number Girl, Mukai cultivated an aura of negative charisma. Onstage, he was all contorted painful energy, round geeky glasses slipping down his nose as he spat out lyrics and drew harsh, ranting chords from his guitar....
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2004

The little indie labels that could

In the old days, a band might self-release a record or two. Their hope, however, was to catch the ear of some major-label A&R director and land a coveted contract with Sony, Toshiba EMI or one of Japan's other music behemoths.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2004

Offer Pyongyang transparency challenge

HONOLULU -- "It's all South Korea's fault!" In a refreshing change from its natural tendency to blame Washington for all the world's troubles, Pyongyang has recently announced that it cannot proceed with the six-party talks over its clandestine nuclear-weapons programs since "the foundation for talks...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 29, 2004

Rhapsody to the bohemian lifestyle

More than a century has passed since the first performance Puccini's "La Boheme" in 1896, yet it remains one of the most widely performed operas in the world. That may be because the opera, a dramatization of the French writer, Henry Murger's 1849 novel "Scenes of the Bohemian Life" , seems to celebrate...
EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2004

The road to 'sports citizenship'

The good news about Japanese professional baseball last week was that the players averted a second weekend strike following a last-minute agreement with management. A week earlier, an unprecedented walkout had been staged in protest against a merger deal between the Kintetsu Baffaloes and the Orix BlueWave...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 29, 2004

Death or glory? Not another jingoistic story

The Alamo Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: John Lee Hancock Running time: 137 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The battle of the Alamo, like Bunker Hill or the Battle of the Bulge, remains one of America's most sacred martial myths, which...
OLYMPICS
Sep 28, 2004

Tachibana-Takeda pair retire

Synchronized swimmers Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda, silver medalists in both the duet and team events at the last two Olympic Games, officially announced their retirement from the sport on Monday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 28, 2004

Fighters earn playoff spot after NPB nixes makeup games

Japanese professional baseball officials decided Monday not to play any makeup games for the 12 games canceled by the players' strike staged on Sept. 18-19.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2004

Nikko Principal eyes call-center firm

Investment firm Nikko Principal Investments Japan Ltd. said Monday it will launch a takeover bid for the outstanding common stock of Tokyo-based Bellsystem24 Inc. beginning Tuesday to make the call-center operator a wholly owned subsidiary.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2004

Subsidies boost use of ETC system

More drivers have begun to use the electronic toll-collection system since the introduction of subsidies, cheaper devices and plans to cut tollway fees for users.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2004

Large firms still feel confident

Business confidence among large companies remained positive for the second consecutive quarter in the July-September term, the government said Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2004

Resona, Bangkok Bank forge tieup

Resona Holdings Inc. has agreed to forge a lending alliance with Bangkok Bank focusing on Japanese companies operating in Thailand, company officials said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2004

Reform-oriented shuffle

Just as he indicated he would do before Monday's Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi filled major party-executive posts and Cabinet posts with politicians loyal to his postal-reform policy. Prior to the naming of the new Cabinet lineup, Mr. Koizumi appointed Mr. Tsutomu Takebe, a former...
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2004

Fukui insists economy OK

The economy is doing well, although it is still in an adjustment phase toward self-sustaining growth, Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui said Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2004

Daikyo hoping for 176.5 billion yen in aid

Struggling condominium builder Daikyo Inc. is seeking 176.5 billion yen worth of financial assistance from its creditors, according to the final draft of its rehabilitation plan obtained Monday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 28, 2004

New talent, cheap fares and STDs

Talent scouting Jan believes she has a great voice and wonders how to find representation in Japan. "Are there any agencies that take on foreigners?"
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2004

New band eyed for cell phone service

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry plans to allocate to commercial mobile phone operators some of the frequencies currently used for public services, ministry sources said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 28, 2004

No sense of proportionality

I was intrigued by two recent U.S. antiwar movies -- Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911," and "The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara," directed by Errol Morris. The former denounces U.S. President George W. Bush's justification for the Iraq War; the latter is based on an interview...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 28, 2004

To hell and back again

For a woman who barely cheated death earlier this year and who has since spent months recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Nahoko Takato looks in remarkably fine fettle.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 28, 2004

Is Japan's military involvement in Iraq hurting its global image?

Marc Bunch Tax consultant, 31 No, I don't think that it has been because I don't think Japan's involvement has been so significant. Domestically it's big news, but internationally, Japan is not too associated with the U.S. compared with the U.K. or Australia.
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Sep 28, 2004

Japanese mega-stores blazing trails in a brave, new publishing world

The Japanese bookstore world used to be one of "If you put it out, it will sell." But that comfortable age is over. Seven straight years of declining book sales have killed off some 1,500 bookstores.
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2004

A greater burden for higher earners

The government's Tax Commission is discussing the fiscal 2005 revision of the tax system. The focus this time is on the decrease or abolition of the fixed reduction for individual income and resident taxes, which was introduced in 1999 as an economic-stimulus measure. Rather than draw the line there,...

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?