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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2004

High oil prices yet to pose threat: ADB

High oil prices pose a risk to Japan's recovery only if they remain high for a long time, the vice president of finance and administration at the Asian Development Bank said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2004

Simmons to offer upmarket sofas

Furniture importer Simmons Co. announced Wednesday that the firm will start selling sofas and reclining chairs made by two Northern European furniture makers in August.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2004

Gasoline prices hit highest levels since April 1997

Retail gasoline prices in Japan rose to their highest levels this week since April 1997 as oil distributors passed on recent increases in wholesale prices triggered by higher crude prices, an industry group said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2004

Economy grew 1.5% in January-March period

The economy grew a real 1.5 percent in the January-March period from the previous quarter, revised upward from the initially reported 1.4 percent, due to a rise in private inventories to deal with growing demand, the government said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2004

Nintendo eyes revolution in game sector

Nintendo Co., which dominates the portable video-game machine market, said Wednesday it is developing a new home game console in an apparent attempt to catch up with rival Sony Corp.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 10, 2004

Snout butterfly

* Japanese name: Tengucho * Scientific name: Libythea celtis * Description: This butterfly with a wingspan of 19-29 mm is easily recognized: The upper sides of the wings are brown with large bright-orange and smaller white patches. The back edges of the forewing are deeply toothed. The Japanese name...
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2004

Sumitomo close to tieup accord with Promise

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. is close to reaching an agreement with moneylender Promise Co. to form a capital and business alliance, sources close to the deal said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2004

China woos influence with softer style

HONG KONG -- Publicly, American officials such as Secretary of State Colin Powell are saying that relations with China are the best they have ever been. Privately, however, policymakers are not shy about admitting that the two countries are engaged in a diplomatic contest in many arenas, most notably...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 10, 2004

Kicking up a storm over climate change

For those who cannot decide whether to see "The Day After Tomorrow," I sympathize. This recent Hollywood thriller that offers an apocalyptic portrayal of global climate change has me at odds with myself. I am torn between the desire to wallow in mindless hyperbole, and the fear of seeing an audience...
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2004

Japan, China reveal mail target

Japan Post and China's State Postal Bureau have agreed to aim to double mail services between the two countries in the next three years, Japan Post said Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 10, 2004

Campo hits out at disco-dancing robots, penny-pinching unions

It's probably fair to say that David Campese is not exactly at the top of the International Rugby Board's Christmas card list. Or for that matter the Australia Rugby Union's.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 10, 2004

Hormone therapy for menopause?

The age of menopause doesn't seem to have changed much in the last few thousand years. Records from ancient Egypt and Greece indicate that menstruation ended when a woman was around 50 years old. Before that we don't really know, as a woman was unlikely to live much longer than 50.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2004

Educator hopes to revive sister school in Scotland

"The function of a child is to live his own life — not the life that his anxious parents think he should live, nor life according to the purpose of the educator who thinks he knows best," wrote British educator A.S. Neill.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2004

Australians sense vulnerability

SYDNEY -- How safe is sleepy Australia from terror within? Very unsafe, it seems, from the belated jailing of the first person convicted under Canberra's new antiterror laws. Moreover, if it takes four years after Australian police were warned about him to catch this convert to Islam and would-be bomber,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 9, 2004

A camp experience to remember

The summer Todd Graff turned 14, his parents saw an ad in The New York Times about a summer camp called Stage Door Manor. Unlike other camps, this one taught the kids to act and perform in musicals, and since Graff had always loved to sing, his parents (both musicians) encouraged him with enthusiasm....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 9, 2004

'Sugoi' Seguignol showing his stuff in rare second chance

Rarely does a foreign player get a second chance at Japanese baseball. If a gaikokujin does not do well and is let go by a Central or Pacific League team, it is not likely he will be picked up by another club in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2004

Increasing signs of an oil crunch

Rising oil prices are casting a dark shadow over the world economy. Last week's decision to increase output by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries -- a largely nominal move to ratify the increase already in place -- has apparently failed to calm the jitters in world oil markets, where prices...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 9, 2004

I was a teenage thespian freak

Camp Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Todd Graff Running time: 111 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Being a teenager is difficult, but when you're a teenager aspiring to be a music star, that difficulty gets multiplied by 10. So goes...
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2004

MMC to receive 295 billion yen capital injection

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will receive a capital injection of 295 billion yen from Mitsubishi Group firms and China Motor Corp. later this month, 15 billion yen more than was initially planned.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2004

Washington is now free to give up on its East Asian allies

The United States recently announced that it will soon send to Iraq one of the two brigades of the Second Infantry Division (2ID) currently stationed in South Korea. There was virtually no consultation with Seoul, and the Pentagon is making no promises that these troops will ever go back. Now unconfirmed...
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2004

Cosmo reveals extent of data leak

Cosmo Oil Co. said Tuesday it is highly likely that personal data on 923,000 of its 2.2 million registered credit card users as of March have been leaked.
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2004

Much on the line this month for Europe

LONDON — June is proving to be a traumatic month for Europeans and a busy one for their leaders.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 9, 2004

Where still waters run deep

Hejar Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Handan Ipekci Running time: 120 minutes Language: Turkish, Kurdish Opens June 12 at Tokyo-to Shashin Bijitsukan in Ebisu [See Japan Times movie listings] Turkish director Handan Ipekci's "Hejar" is a small, quiet film, about a small, quiet...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 9, 2004

Kawakami, Tatsunami scoop awards

Kenshin Kawakami and Kazuyoshi Tatsunami, who both play for the Chunichi Dragons, on Tuesday won the Central League monthly MVP awards as the top-performing pitcher and position player in the month of May.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 9, 2004

Honey, honey, ah, sugar, sugar

Cutie Honey Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Hideaki Anno Running time: 93 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Doesn't everybody need a break once in a while? The answer is evidently yes for Hideaki Anno, best known abroad for his meditative...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 9, 2004

An Ebizo XI is born

The Kabukiza in Ginza has been drawing crowds of Kabuki lovers to its special performances in May and June to celebrate the birth of Ichikawa Ebizo XI. The "newborn" is, in fact, 26 years old -- the tall, handsome tachiyaku (male lead) Ichikawa Shinnosuke, son of Ichikawa Danjuro XII (who last year starred...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jun 9, 2004

In the footsteps of a genius grandfather

The perks and pressures of being the child of someone famous can be enormous -- doubly so if following in the family footsteps. In Japan, with its grand artistic traditions, this is not an uncommon phenomenon. The results, though, range across a broad spectrum, from glory (not always deserved -- think...

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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?