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JAPAN
May 25, 2004

Koizumi's Pyongyang trip: Was it politically motivated?

Many high-ranking officials of the Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister's Official Residence had urged caution, saying the idea was too risky and too early.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 25, 2004

Viewers upset over digital TV taping restrictions

Measures implemented by NHK and private TV broadcasting companies to control the copying of digital television programs have drawn a flood of complaints from TV users, with some saying they have been deprived of certain editing freedoms.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2004

Shinsei to settle 'fraudulent' sale of resort property

Shinsei Bank said Monday it has agreed to pay 21.8 billion yen in damages to a failed resort developer to settle a legal dispute over sales of the developer's properties by the bank's predecessor.
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

North Korea aid depends on abductee probe

Japan will not restart normalization negotiations with North Korea unless Pyongyang fulfills its promise to reinvestigate the cases of 10 missing Japanese nationals, the government's top spokesman said Monday.
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

Fewer firms inclined to donate to political parties: poll

More than one in four major companies have no plans to make political party donations this year, a Kyodo News survey has reported.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 25, 2004

Was Prime Minister Koizumi's trip to North Korea an opportunistic move?

Michio Tajima Accountant, 32 I'm not totally satisfied with what he's done. The pension scandal could be one of the reasons he decided to go, but even so, it's a good thing that he went.
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

70% positive on Koizumi trip: poll

Nearly 70 percent of respondents to a latest Kyodo News poll gave a positive assessment of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's one-day visit to North Korea on Saturday, but as many as 83.9 percent said they think the abduction issue remains unresolved.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 25, 2004

Resona racks up 1.66 trillion yen net loss

Resona Holdings Inc. on Monday reported a group net loss of 1.66 trillion yen for the year that ended March 31, with the bailed-out banking group having spent some 1.41 trillion yen on bad-loan writeoffs.
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

Government, naval base workers fail to settle suit over lung disease

The Japanese government and 22 former workers at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, failed to agree Monday on a court-recommended settlement of a damages suit filed by the ex-workers, who claim they developed lung disease due to poor health safety measures.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

Crown Prince returns from trip; reckoning with agency awaits

Crown Prince Naruhito returned home Monday after a 12-day European tour and might publicly explain what he meant by earlier remarks that his wife's personality had been "denied."
BUSINESS
May 25, 2004

Drugmakers ink merger accord

Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. and Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. said Monday they have signed a definitive agreement to merge April 1, 2005, to create the nation's second-largest drugmaker in terms of group sales.
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

Harassment issue untouched

News of the successes and failures in the reunification of the families of five Japanese who were repatriated after being abducted to North Korea have been plastered across the front pages of Japanese newspapers in the wake of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang on Saturday.
COMMENTARY
May 25, 2004

Iraq and the end of history

U.S. President George W. Bush says often that the American aim in Iraq is to promote something called "democracy." But what is this democracy?
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

Koizumi's Pyongyang trip: Was it politically motivated?

Many high-ranking officials of the Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister's Official Residence had urged caution, saying the idea was too risky and too early.
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

Banking giants log black ink as stocks rise, bad loans fall

All but one of the nation's four major banking groups returned to the black in fiscal 2003, according to their financial reports released Monday.
JAPAN
May 25, 2004

Wrangling over new Kobe airport rumbles on

OSAKA -- Tension over the future of airports in the Kansai region boiled over recently, with politicians and business leaders in Kobe and Osaka engaging in public skirmishes with the central government and with each other.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 25, 2004

The mane attraction

In 1979, Japan was in the Dark Ages. Dark that is, in terms of hair. No one dyed their hair any other color but black and when they reached for lighter tints, were considered a bit on the bizarre side.
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
May 25, 2004

LDP factions commanding less loyalty

The Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction, led by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, held its annual fundraising party April 21 at a Tokyo hotel and generated the majority of its annual revenues -- all in one night.
EDITORIALS
May 24, 2004

A qualified success for Mr. Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has completed his second trip to Pyongyang. Unlike with his first visit, there were no surprises this time. He returned home with the families of four abductees, a promise to arrange a reunion between a fifth abductee and her three family members in Beijing, and pledges...
BASEBALL / MLB
May 24, 2004

Tigers claw back

OSAKA -- At Koshien Stadium, Norihiro Akahoshi connected for a "sayonara" triple off Junichi Kawahara with two out and runners on the corners in the 10th inning to lift the Hanshin Tigers over the Yomiuri Giants 5-4 after Makoto Imaoka hit a game-tying double in the ninth to force an extra inning.
MORE SPORTS
May 24, 2004

MJ opens Tokyo's 'Jordan Court'

NBA great Michael Jordan now has a basketball court named after him in the center of Tokyo.
MORE SPORTS
May 24, 2004

Daiwa el Cielo wins Oaks in big upset

The 65th running of the filly classic Oaks was the stage for a huge upset Sunday as Daiwa el Cielo handed the overwhelming favorite Dance in the Mood her first loss.
JAPAN
May 24, 2004

Jenkins wanted a guarantee from U.S.

Charles Robert Jenkins, the alleged U.S. Army deserter and husband of a repatriated abductee, told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi he wants a clear guarantee from the United States that he won't be court-martialed if he comes to Japan, government sources said Sunday.

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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?