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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 26, 2003

Writer behind the writer

As a reporter in Tokyo in the late '60s, what was your professional interest in Yukio Mishima?
Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Oct 25, 2003

NCP has grand policy designs but LDP poll support falls shy

The New Conservative Party says the core policy issues in the Nov. 9 general election are boosting national security, revising the Constitution and reviving the economy, but its own tallest order will be getting its few members voted in.
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2003

Group discusses regional economies

The government on Friday held the first meeting of a special task force charged with revitalizing regional economies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2003

Redesigned 1,000 yen bills roll off presses

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki announced Friday the start of printing of redesigned 1,000 yen bills, which will go into circulation in July.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2003

Antinuke regime crumbling

Speaking on the opening day of the U.N. General Assembly's disarmament committee on Oct. 6, Ambassador Sergio Querioz Duarte of Brazil noted that "to attain a nuclear-weapon-free world, it is vital to prevent nuclear proliferation, and at the same time, it is imperative to promote nuclear disarmament."...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 23, 2003

Freshwater pearl mussel

* Japanese name: Kawashinjukai * Scientific name:Margaritifera laevis * Description: Mussels are bivalves: mollusks that have their body contained between two shells. Young freshwater pearl mussels often have yellowish-brown shells, which become green-tinged and darker as they mature. This animal grows...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2003

Outside watchdog needed to monitor prisons: U.N. expert

An independent entity comprising nongovernmental organizations and experts is needed to monitor human rights conditions in prisons, according to Dr. Ole Rasmussen of the United Nations Committee Against Torture.
COMMENTARY
Oct 20, 2003

Pension plans on life-support

LONDON -- A flood of articles in the European media recently has warned about the growing problem of paying pensions as the populations of European countries age and birthrates decline. For Japan, this problem looks especially acute.
COMMUNITY
Oct 19, 2003

Labor pains

On a recent Saturday, some 80 delegates from the National Union of General Workers, Tokyo South, trudged through cold rain to gather at a conference hall near Mount Fuji for their annual meeting. Greetings were kept brief and to the point. After all, with the sour economy putting such pressure on unions,...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 19, 2003

Tigers players hope to win one for the skipper

I knew I was on my way to a special Japan Series Saturday when several people on my jam-packed Japan Airlines flight were wearing Hanshin Tigers jerseys. There was one Hiyama 24, a couple of Imaoka 7s and several Igawa 29s.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2003

Gifu gives Big Apple taste of local legend

If you mention the name Furuta Oribe, most Japanese will probably give you a blank stare.
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2003

Naigai to reduce workforce by 7%

Apparel maker Naigai Co. said Friday it will cut 50 jobs, or about 7 percent of its workforce, through early retirement by the end of this year as part of a new three-year restructuring program.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2003

Japan eyes World Heritage listing for Shiretoko Peninsula

The Environment Ministry decided Thursday to recommend the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage List of 2004.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2003

Cops targeted loan sharks in September crackdown

Authorities across the nation handled 125 cases of loan-sharking in September, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2003

Emperor faces further cancer concerns: doctor

Recent blood tests suggest there is a "slight" possibility that Emperor Akihito may still have some cancerous tissue, despite having undergone prostate cancer surgery in January, his chief health official said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2003

Bankruptcies decline as firms go on life support

The number of corporate bankruptcies fell 14.2 percent on a year-on-year basis to 8,183 cases in the six months through September, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2003

Nasiriya, Samawa cities eyed for troop dispatch

Japan is considering deploying troops to two cities in southern Iraq with relatively stable security as part of its assistance in the reconstruction effort, government sources said Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 12, 2003

Andean attractions

When you're tired from trekking around Quito's Old Town, there are plenty of distractions to be found just a short drive from the Ecuadorean capital. Here are five of the best:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 12, 2003

His finger on the pulse of life on Earth

The Philip Glass Ensemble has been performing the music to the film "Koyaanisqatsi," live with screenings of the film, since the year after the film's release in 1982. This was later complemented by the performance of music from the film's 1987 followup "Powaqqatsi." So far, these cinema concerts have...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 11, 2003

Dogs in Japan bow-wow before masters

Stray cats can be seen all over Japan: under parked cars, in alleyways, or in the parks being fed rice by "o-baa-chans." But you never see stray dogs. Why not? Is it the fault of Viagra? Cats are getting it but not dogs?
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

War-displaced struggle to live in Japan

After serving as president of a public athletics college in China for decades, Bunji Tanaka resettled in Japan in 1988 at age 47 and found work at a liquor wholesale warehouse in Yokohama.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2003

Antiterrorism law extension OK'd

A House of Councilors committee endorsed a bill Thursday for extending a special law to allow the continued deployment of Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to the Indian Ocean until 2005 to support the U.S.-led antiterrorism operations.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 9, 2003

Aggregating anemone

* Japanese name: Yoroiisoginchaku * Scientific name:Anthopleura japonica * Description: Anemones are marine invertebrates, cylindrical animals with rings of tentacles on the upper surface. They are related to jellyfish and corals. Aggregating anemones grow up to 3 cm in diameter and can have a brilliant...
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2003

LDP oldsters to be odd men out come poll time?

The seniority-based ethos in the Liberal Democratic Party is under threat, with the party leaders putting an upper age limit on the selection of some candidates for the next House of Representatives election.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2003

Ishiba: Iraq dispatch not due to U.S.

Japan is not dispatching the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq because it was requested to do so by the United States, but because Japan's interests are involved, Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2003

Lead units of SDF to be sent to Iraq as early as December

Japan will dispatch an advance unit of Ground Self-Defense Force troops to Iraq as early as December under a special law to support the rehabilitation of the country, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 5, 2003

Role of victims in court needs careful monitoring

In the past, the press was often accused of bearing down too hard on victims of crimes and their families. In the most extreme cases, the media would camp outside the homes of victims who didn't want to talk to them (the family of the Kobe boy who was beheaded by another boy in 1995) or imply that a...

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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