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BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2004

Large companies to lift capital spending by 7%

Large Japanese companies plan to boost capital spending by 6.9 percent in fiscal 2004 from the previous year, the first investment expansion in four years, the Development Bank of Japan said in a report released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2004

Youth exchange in fraud probe

Police on Wednesday searched the offices of a youth exchange association headed by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on suspicions that it fraudulently received 250 million yen in government subsidies.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2004

Denial-of-service cyber attacks jam government Web sites

The computer servers of eight ministries and organizations of the Japanese government, including the Prime Minister's Official Residence and the Defense Agency, were hit by cyber attacks on two occasions between Sunday and Tuesday.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 5, 2004

Japanese in need of a break from summer break

Here's the real reason why the Japanese summer vacation is so short (for many, it's a matter of four or five days): the natsuyasumi (summer break) is essentially full of stress and if it were any longer, people up and down Japan would likely pop veins en masse.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Aug 5, 2004

Woodland beauty there for all to sense

Just about the time when the wild wood irises burst into glorious purple around early July up here in Nagano Prefecture, high in the treetops there is a dancing, fluttering ballet of countless white-winged creatures.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2004

Tomy recalls Pokemon stuffed toys

Toy maker Tomy Co. said Wednesday it will recall about 626,000 Pokemon stuffed toys because they might contain needles.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2004

Japan insists China protect soccer team

Japan has asked China on three occasions to urge authorities to take steps to ensure the safety of Japanese soccer team members and fans at the ongoing Asian Cup soccer tournament, Masatoshi Abe, senior vice foreign minister, said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2004

Rice crop forecast to increase in '04

Japan's rice crop this year is expected to increase for the first time in four years and achieve the second-largest harvest per unit area, Rice Databank said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2004

Half JT's tobacco growers face ax

Japan Tobacco Inc. said Wednesday it will ask some domestic tobacco growers to stop cultivating tobacco beginning next year due to falling cigarette consumption in Japan.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2004

Population growth hits record low

Japan saw record low population growth in the 12 months to March 31 as the aging of society and declining birthrate continued, the government reported Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2004

DPJ bill to kill pension reform meets its expected Diet fate

The House of Representatives welfare committee on Wednesday voted down an opposition-sponsored bill designed to repeal pension reform legislation enacted in June.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2004

MMC logs further quarterly loss

Scandal-laden Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Wednesday its group net loss expanded to 54.7 billion yen in the April-June quarter from a loss of 51.1 billion yen a year earlier.
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Aug 5, 2004

"The Silver Spoon of Solomon Snow," "Granny Torrelli Makes Soup"

"The Silver Spoon of Solomon Snow," Kaye Umansky, Puffin Books; 2004; 224 pp. "Picture it." With that short command to her readers, author Kaye Umansky opens her latest novel and dispatches you on a real joyride of an adventure. In short, here's what you're in for -- a comic tale of: Solomon "Solly"...
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2004

LDP aide suspended for taking cash payout

A government-paid secretary to a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker was suspended from work Wednesday after it was learned he received some 3.4 million yen from a Japanese-language school operator convicted of helping Chinese citizens immigrate illegally.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2004

JAL to chase individual domestic travelers

Japan Airlines Corp. will step up efforts to woo individual domestic travelers to better compete with rival All Nippon Airways Co., JAL President Toshiyuki Shinmachi said in a recent interview.
COMMENTARY
Aug 5, 2004

Sincerity is not good enough

LONDON -- A London weekly headed a recent issue with photos of U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair and with the caption "Sincere Deceivers?" Perhaps they were sincere in their belief that Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was a threat to U.S. and British national interests,...
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2004

Passenger ID system to help fight terrorists

Japan plans to introduce an advanced passenger-information system in fiscal 2005 to enhance security measures against terrorists and criminals, government sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN / BULLETIN BOARD
Aug 5, 2004

Sailing regatta for foreign, Japanese kids set for Sept. 5

The Japan Junior Yacht Club Union will hold its 14th International Goodwill Junior Yacht Regatta on Sept. 5 at Wakasa Yacht Kunren Center in Wakasa Kaihin Park in Koto Ward, Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 4, 2004

Telling some truth in black & white

Dirty Pretty Things Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Stephen Frears Running time: 97 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] I'm not one of those cranky post-Marxist social critics who believe that the movies, particularly the American brand, subtly...
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2004

To conduct 'proactive diplomacy'

The Foreign Ministry revamped its organization, effective Aug. 1, to conduct "proactive and strategic diplomacy." The makeover is welcome, but redrawing the organization chart is in itself no guarantee of success. What is needed is concerted and determined efforts to produce tangible results. Otherwise,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 4, 2004

Parental advisory: hormonal overdose highly probable

La Bande du Drugstore Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Francois Armanet Running time: 94 minutes Language: French Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Love is never having to say I love you, goes the tone of "La Bande du Drugstore," a love story in which the couple meet...
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2004

Koizumi may visit Russian-held isles

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has asked officials of his administration and ruling bloc lawmakers to consider organizing a trip for him to one of the Russian-held islands claimed by Japan around the end of this year, government sources said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 4, 2004

Top officials meet over World Cup

A top major league baseball official met Tuesday with Japanese and South Korean commissioners to discuss their concerns about the proposed World Cup.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2004

Japan to host naval drill to thwart WMD traffic at sea

Japan will host an international drill off Tokyo Bay in October aimed at thwarting the movement of weapons of mass destruction on the high seas, the Defense Agency said Tuesday.

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?