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BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2006

Softbank rings up profit thanks to Vodafone deal

Softbank Corp. said Tuesday that group sales surged 91.1 percent year on year to 494.2 billion yen in the first quarter of 2006, with nearly half its revenue coming from new mobile phone subsidiary Vodafone K.K.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2006

Low-paying jobs holding down birthrate: report

The steady increase in low-wage, part-time workers and those in temporary jobs is contributing to the low birthrate as people become reluctant to marry because of financial insecurity, according to a government report on the labor market released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2006

Report waffles on deflation's demise

The government equivocated Tuesday in its August economic report on whether deflation has ended, although for the second month in a row it did not mention the "D" word.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2006

Konaka snubs tender offer by Aoki for its Futata stake

Konaka Co., Japan's fourth-largest menswear chain, said Tuesday it will not sell its stake in Futata Co. to Aoki Holdings Inc., No. 2 in the industry, which is trying to take over the smaller firm.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 8, 2006

Oh returns to hospital in precautionary step

Softbank Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh, who recently had surgery to remove his stomach, returned to the hospital Sunday after getting food caught in his throat the night before.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 8, 2006

Striker Tamada injures ankle

Japan World Cup striker Keiji Tamada will be sidelined for two to three weeks with a sprained left ankle, Nagoya Grampus Eight said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2006

Sole clinical ethicist always has full plate

speaks with hospital staff at his Kissa Rinri (Ethics Cafe) at Miyazakihigashi National Hospital in late June. TOMOKO OTAKE PHOTO
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 8, 2006

Abe, Ban to hold brief talks before Hashimoto's funeral

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said he will meet South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon for "brief talks" Wednesday morning in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2006

LDP team plans bills to return money to victims of fraudsters

A working team of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will sponsor legislation aimed at releasing fraud victims' money from criminals' bank accounts, sources close to team members said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2006

Big, fat American shopper to the rescue

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts -- It is appalling that the world has decided to blame the United States for the crushing end to five years of global trade talks last month (the so-called Doha Round).
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2006

Japan receives first batch of U.S. beef

The first shipment of U.S. beef since Japan reimposed a ban in January over fears of mad cow disease arrived Monday at Narita airport.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Aug 8, 2006

Style wise

A new Adelaide Until Aug. 1, Adelaide was a small but exclusive boutique tucked away on an Aoyama back street. Now, it's a bigger -- and ever so slightly less exclusive -- boutique just off stellar shopping strip Omotesando.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2006

KDDI phones hit by e-mail glitch

Two mobile phone models sold by KDDI Corp. automatically switch off after sending or receiving certain e-mail characters, the major phone carrier said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 8, 2006

Japan media focus blurred on big issues

All the pain of the tragedy that has befallen their family is etched in the crumpled faces of Shigeru and Sakie Yokota.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2006

Key index stayed robust in June but future easing seen

The key gauge of the current state of the economy stayed above the boom-or-bust threshold of 50 percent in June for the third straight month, the government said Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 8, 2006

Abe close to sewing up LDP majority

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe is close to gaining majority support among Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, putting him in a strong position to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as LDP president and prime minister.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2006

Ex-Kimura exec denies falsifying financial data

Akira Shinozuka, former head of the Tokyo branch of Kimura Construction Co. and a key figure in the building safety scandal centered on disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha, pleaded not guilty Monday to falsifying financial documents in 2004 to win public construction contracts.
EDITORIALS
Aug 8, 2006

Fear of the water

Now is vacation time for schoolchildren. But news of a swimming pool accident in the city of Fujimino, Saitama Prefecture, has cast a pall of fear over the holidays for children and parents. An investigation of the July 31 death of a 7-year-old girl in the city's swimming pool has shed light on the habitual...
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2006

No full production seen in disputed gas field

China has yet to begin full-fledged production in the Chunxiao gas field in the East China Sea, where Japan and China are at odds over resource exploration rights, the Foreign Ministry's top bureaucrat said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 8, 2006

What is the most serious issue facing Japan?

Katy Abud Teacher, 44 Teachers in elementary schools and junior high schools don't teach children life values. They only teach what's outlined in the curriculum and don't know how to answer children who ask "Why is something like this or that?"

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo