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BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2004

Toshiba develops miniature fuel cell

Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it has developed a prototype of the world's smallest direct methanol fuel cell that can power hand-held devices such as digital audio players and wireless headsets for mobile phones.
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2004

Manufacturers foresee big capital spending rise

A strong business outlook has translated into a 19.8 percent year-on-year rise in fiscal 2004 spending forecasts for manufacturers, according to a government survey released Thursday.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 25, 2004

Trying to pacify Kobe has caused chaos

NEW YORK -- In my concocted dictionary an enabler is someone who waters the weeds.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 25, 2004

The heartbeat of Aomori

Remoteness is not without its attractions, especially in crowded Japan. And on the main island of Honshu, you would be hard pressed to find a place of human habitation further from the baying crowds than Aomori Prefecture. Curled like a pincer around Honshu's northern tip, Aomori, the capital, is a characterless...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIGHT SPY NEWS
Jun 25, 2004

Reasons to be happy

From last month, The Pink Cow in Shibuya has been entertaining the late-night crowd by staying open till 5 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights. As extra incentive to rope more mad cows into the corral, they're offering special Happy Hour prices with Sapporo Kuro draft beer, all basic mixed drinks...
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2004

Store sales slide for third month

Supermarket and department store sales fell in May from a year earlier on a same-store basis for the third straight month mainly due to bad weather, according to industry data released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2004

MMC secures 165 billion yen corporate aid

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Thursday it has received 165 billion yen in financial aid from 12 companies.
OLYMPICS
Jun 24, 2004

Japan's Olympians to play Venezuela, Australia

Japan's Under-23s will tune up for this summer's Athens Olympics with home friendlies against Australia and Venezuela next month, the Japan Football Association said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2004

Parties stake out their positions

Campaigning for the July 11 Upper House election, set to start Thursday, has already been under way for all practical purposes, as key members of the ruling and opposition parties hit the hustings across the country. On Monday, at a joint debate session at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, party...
OLYMPICS
Jun 24, 2004

Women spikers plan marvelous warm-up

The Japanese women's volleyball team will play V. League side JT Marvelous next week in a warm-up match ahead of this summer's Athens Olympics, the Japan Volleyball Association said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2004

DoCoMo overseas expansion plan shifts to tieups

NTT DoCoMo Inc. will pursue technological tieups rather than capital investments to expand its mobile phone business overseas, according to the firm's president.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2004

Nakagawa confirms existence of China gas project complex

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa on Wednesday confirmed that a complex tied to a natural gas project being carried out by a Chinese consortium has been built near Japan's exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea, government sources said.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 24, 2004

Girls to the fore in planning 'eye-for-an-eye' revenge

If there is an extraterrestrial college student orbiting Earth or floating invisibly among us while writing a thesis on human behavior, then current events have provided some good examples of one basic human trait: retaliation.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 24, 2004

Japanese cormorant

* Japanese name: Umiu * Scientific name:Phalacrocorax capillatus * Description: Cormorants are striking, almost reptilian looking seabirds with long necks and bills. They are often seen standing on rocks with their wings held out to dry, their black feathers like the cloak of a witch or scarecrow. This...
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2004

South Korea, Japan agree to promote yen bonds

Japan and South Korea have agreed to work together toward the issuance of cross-border collateralized bonds denominated in yen to help South Korean small and midsize companies raise funds, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2004

Baker optimistic on lifting beef ban

U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker expressed optimism Wednesday that Japan's ban on U.S. beef imports may end soon.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2004

China OKs Daiwa Securities gambit

Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. said Wednesday it has been given the green light by the China Securities Regulatory Commission to establish a joint securities house in Shanghai with local brokerage Shanghai Securities Co.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 24, 2004

By the way, how do I look with this raw fish?

There's sushi, and then there's SUSHI. There's the kind you eat in a noisy, friendly atmosphere with all the prices written out in big black characters and taped to the walls. If you feel the act of reading and choosing is too much, just ask for any one of the various sushi setto (sets), depicted in...
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2004

35.5% rise notched in trade surplus

The trade surplus grew 35.5 percent in May from a year earlier to 934.2 billion yen, as overseas consumers, particularly those in Asia, snatched up Japanese cars, scientific equipment and digital gadgets, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2004

Nissan eyes high dividends in fiscal 2007

Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it will more than double its dividend payment for the fiscal year ending in March 2008.
COMMENTARY
Jun 24, 2004

Constitution faces hard sell

LONDON -- So the great battle of the new European Constitution is over -- at least for the moment. The leaders of 25 member-states of the European Union have agreed and signed up to a massive document, entitled a Constitution, which for the first time gives the EU a legal personality and an authority...
OLYMPICS
Jun 24, 2004

Japan names provisional baseball squad

Japanese baseball officials announced Wednesday a provisional 24-man squad for this summer's Athens Olympics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 23, 2004

Naughty and nice, sugar and spice

Shimotsuma Monogatari Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Tetsuya Nakashima Running time: 103 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Youth fashion in Japan used to march in lockstep from trend to trend, led by magazines with names like pandas...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 23, 2004

Many questions remain over merger of Buffaloes, BlueWave

July 7 is the date for the big meeting in Japanese baseball. Owners of the 12 Central and Pacific League teams are to get together to decide what will happen with regard to the proposed merger of two PL clubs, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave.
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2004

Effects of zero-interest rates

More than a decade has passed since the Bank of Japan brought benchmark interest rates to almost zero. Now that Japan's economy is showing signs of steady recovery, it stands to reason that this extraordinary policy of quantitative monetary easing should come to an end. Yet, reversing a policy that has...

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?