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BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2004

Seiko to fix 250,000 printers for free

Seiko Epson Corp. said Wednesday it will provide free repair services for 250,000 laser printers in 13 models to prevent them from short-circuiting or giving users electric shocks.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Sep 16, 2004

Reading-out-loud renaissance falls upon deaf ears

I'm a fan of "Doraemon," the long-running children's television show about a blue robot cat from the future, who lives with an average family on the outskirts of Tokyo. The Japanese is relatively easy to understand, and I love Doraemon's magic pocket, from which he pulls amazing tools like the dokodemo...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 16, 2004

Womanlike, manlike -- beware what you ask for

Elsewhere in the world, social distinctions between men and women erode on a daily basis, but in Japan, they still endure. Women are expected to be "onna-rashii (womanly)," men must go by "otoko-rashii (manly)" codes of conduct, and to hell with political correctness. And you know something? We actually...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Sep 16, 2004

The changes that come what may

The arrival of just one dramatic, even devastating, typhoon, storming to the center of the seasonal stage like a massively overblown diva with a case of bad timing, is enough to signal autumn is on its way. This year the global signs of the season change have been untempered in the extreme. Hurricanes...
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2004

Group pitches rail system in Southeast Asia

A consortium of 16 Japanese railway-related companies has begun marketing a package of trains, an operating system and other necessary facilities for building railways in Southeast Asia, consortium officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2004

KDDI, Japan Telecom to undercut NTT

Gearing up for a price war in the country's fixed-line phone market, KDDI Corp. and Japan Telecom Co. both said Wednesday they would introduce a basic monthly fee cheaper than that of industry behemoth NTT Corp., along with a single long-distance rate.
COMMENTARY
Sep 16, 2004

Pyongyang deal still possible

SEOUL -- "The odds of any progress regarding the North Korean nuclear issue appear slim to nonexistent between now and the U.S. November presidential elections." This is the conventional wisdom, as publicly proclaimed by South Korean officials. I have also heard this view echoed in Washington and Beijing...
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2004

Yamato to invest in Taiwan firm

Yamato Transport Co. signed an investment deal Wednesday with Taiwan's President Transport Corp., Yamato said.
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2004

Personal financial assets up in June

The balance of personal financial assets stood at 1.425 quadrillion yen at the end of June, up 3 percent from a year earlier, as a rise in stock prices increased appraisal gains on securities holdings, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 15, 2004

Furuta deserves standing ovation

Yakult Swallows catcher Atsuya Furuta, in my opinion, deserves a round of applause; in fact, a standing ovation, for the job he has done as head of the Nippon Professional Baseball Players Association. I believe he has tirelessly served the players here during the crisis that has gripped Japanese baseball...
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2004

Division casts shadow over DPJ

The Democratic Party of Japan has formed a new executive team and a new shadow Cabinet, but one man of great influence is conspicuously absent: Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, the former acting president. His refusal to take up any post, apparently reflecting an ongoing dispute with the party president, Mr. Katsuya...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004

Some secrets of success

There were many things I wanted to ask Andrey Zvyagintsev about the unspoken secrets his film "The Return" is full of. But then again, if he wanted us to know all the answers, he would have put them in there in the first place. So rather than ruin it for you, I got the 40-year-old actor-turned-director...
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2004

MTFG, UFJ to eliminate 200 branches

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. and UFJ Holdings Inc. will eliminate a combined 200 domestic branch stores providing banking, brokerage and trust banking services as part of a management integration plan, Mitsubishi Tokyo officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2004

SESC targets Citibank over bond misdeeds

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission said Tuesday it has urged the Financial Services Agency to take punitive administrative action against the Tokyo branch of Citibank over violations of Japanese security law.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004

Here's to a classic 'comeback'

The Return Rating: * * * * 1/2(out of 5) Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev Running time: 111 minutes Language: Russian with Japanese subtitles Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Perhaps the most dispiriting aspect of the global corporate culture that's spread like mold over...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004

You can't beat an old master

Coffee Jiko Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Hou Hsiao- hsien Running time: 103 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Yasujiro Ozu's trademark style -- the low camera angles, the straight cuts, the actors talking at the camera in medium closeup...
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2004

New complex opens near Tokyo Station

Marunouchi Oazo, a multipurpose commercial complex just north of JR Tokyo Station, opened Tuesday and is expected to be the new face of the neighborhood.
OLYMPICS
Sep 15, 2004

JOC receives Murofushi's gold

The Japanese Olympic Committee said Tuesday it has received the Olympic gold medal which belongs to Koji Murofushi, who was awarded the men's hammer throw title after Hungary's Adrian Annus was stripped of his gold for a doping offense.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2004

Inside out and round and round the Yamanote

Johnnie Walker's A.R.T. gallery (Art Residency Tokyo), which opened last October, extends his philanthropic mission to promote cultural exchange between foreign and Japanese artists. Offering a window into Tokyo for many young hopefuls as well as a meeting point for the more established, the gallery...
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2004

Testing still separates Japan, U.S. on beef battle

The Food Safety Commission's apparent change of heart over the testing regimen for mad cow disease suggests Japan may be closer to resuming beef imports from the United States, though the two sides remain apart.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2004

Canon, Toshiba to sell flat-panel TVs

Canon Inc. and Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday they will start selling large-screen flat-panel TVs next year that boast better images and consume less power than plasma display panels and liquid crystal displays.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2004

SMFG's bid for UFJ likely thwarted

An agreement struck Friday between UFJ Holdings Inc. and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. has dealt another serious blow to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s chances of taking over UFJ.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 15, 2004

In the company of wolves

The worst (read best) rock 'n' roll animals never grow up. They act like idiots and we let them get away with it because they make great music. In rock 'n' roll it's always better to burn out than fade away into "maturity" -- i.e. making tame and crappy music.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2004

Latest mad cow case spotlights nationwide spread

The health minister said Tuesday the discovery of Japan's 12th case of mad cow disease in Kyushu testifies to the nationwide spread of the illness.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 15, 2004

Tale of a wrestler, his mother, stepbrother and also his wife

Audiences at the Tokyo National Theater are being treated to two full-length Bunraku masterpieces being staged in its smaller auditorium this month.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 15, 2004

All about your mothers and their daughters

In the 20th century, women's social, economic and political standing in many parts of the world improved immeasurably. From winning the right to vote to the social transformations flowing from the postwar period and the Women's Liberation movement, none of this was achieved without struggle.

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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?