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JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Founder of McDonald's in Japan is dead at 78

Den Fujita, a charismatic businessman who established the McDonald's fast-food chain's Japan presence as well as the country's Toys "R" Us debut, has died of heart failure, a company official said Monday. He was 78.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 27, 2004

Does comic relief hurt kids?

'Cuteness, eroticism, and violence are the essence of Japanese pop culture," says Ichiya Nakamura, executive director of the Stanford Japan Center and ex-government policy maker.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 27, 2004

Car checks and new passport rules

Vehicle inspection Do you know of anyone who could give me information on the laws and procedure regarding car inspections? I need to obtain Japanese inspection and a registration number plate for a recently imported car.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2004

Mitsubishi Fuso exec grilled over false report

Investigative authorities have questioned Takashi Usami, former chairman of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp., over an alleged false report issued in connection with a fatal accident caused by a defective vehicle in 2002, informed sources said Sunday.
OLYMPICS
Apr 26, 2004

Hagiwara to call it a day

Tomoko Hagiwara, who owns three national records in women's individual events and one in relay, has decided to draw the curtain on her swimming career after failing to qualify for the Olympics through the National Championships which ended Sunday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2004

Officials agree on global observation framework

Senior officials from more than 40 countries agreed Sunday in Tokyo on the framework of a 10-year plan to integrate global observation systems in order to address environmental threats such as climate change and natural disasters.
JAPAN / TALKING SHOP
Apr 26, 2004

Diagrams help equity investment pro when words get jumbled

Where there is a diagram, there is a way.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2004

North Korea blast prompts Japan aid pledge

The government decided Sunday to provide emergency aid to North Korea following last week's massive train yard explosion.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 26, 2004

Shiotani squeezes BlueWave past Marines

Kazuhiko Shiotani drove in the winning run Sunday with a squeeze bunt as the Orix BlueWave scored three runs in the top of the ninth for a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Chiba Lotte Marines.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2004

No place for partisanship

With national elections around the corner, partisan politics is blocking progress on pension reform. Although debate has resumed in the Lower House Welfare and Labor Committee, the two largest parties, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, are spending more...
COMMENTARY
Apr 26, 2004

Democracy, Filipino style

MANILA -- Before I moved to Manila two years ago, a Filipino parliamentarian told me about election-related violence in his country. At that time I could hardly believe my ears. Now I have come to understand that ballot snatching, intimidation of voters and even assassinations are a sad reality in many...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 26, 2004

Commercialization of science comes at a cost

NEW YORK -- The 18th-century American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin declined to claim a patent on the stove he invented. His reason was simple: If whatever he devised made people a little more comfortable during the winter, he'd be content.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2004

'Quagmire' label doesn't apply to Iraq

Those who predict "quagmire" in Iraq see a parallel with the Vietnam War. That is misleading. America is going to stay the course in Iraq.
COMMENTARY
Apr 26, 2004

A laudable Yasukuni ruling

In a landmark ruling April 7, the Fukuoka District Court ruled that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, the memorial to Japan's war dead, contravened the constitutional principle of keeping state and religion separate. The court, however, dismissed the plaintiffs' demand for...
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2004

LDP poised to win three Lower House by-elections

The Liberal Democratic Party looked certain to win all three House of Representatives by-elections held Sunday, according to Kyodo News exit polls and analysis.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 26, 2004

Antimonopoly Law must be reformed to fit 21st century

The Fair Trade Commission is contemplating making a revision to the Antimonopoly Law in hopes of being able to submit a bill to the Diet, which is now in session. However, the contents of the revision are still up in the air.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2004

'A long fuse has been lighted'

With the earlier-than-usual arrival of warm weather, the influenza season in Japan is almost over, and the number of patients reported to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is down 40 percent from last year. However, the danger of the bird flu virus mutating and a new type of influenza breaking...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 25, 2004

Indians call up Tadano

Japanese pitcher Kazuhito Tadano was called up by the Cleveland Indians, local media reported on Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2004

90,000 cancer cases laid to smoking

Smoking causes an estimated 80,000 Japanese men and 8,000 Japanese women each year to develop cancer, according to a health ministry report, indicating the huge impact of smoking on public health.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2004

Drivers recount Iraq hostage-taking to terror squad

Terrorism experts dispatched by Tokyo to deal with the Japanese hostage crisis in Iraq obtained full witness accounts from two taxi drivers regarding the abduction of three Japanese civilians on April 11, the fourth day after their captivity was reported, police sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2004

Half of women here feel they're fat, poll

Nearly half of the female respondents to a Cabinet Office survey released Saturday believe they are overweight, up 6.1 percentage points from the previous survey taken in October 2000.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 25, 2004

Tamura, BayStars swamp Carp

Hitoshi Tamura homered and drove in three runs on Saturday to lead the Yokohama BayStars to a 10-2 drubbing of the Central League-leading Hiroshima Carp.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 25, 2004

Bob Dylan: "Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall"

The striking thing about the latest addition to the "Bootleg Series" is the realization that four years into his career Bob Dylan was still a callow youth. The concert took place Halloween night, 1964, a year after the Kennedy assassination, nine months after The Beatles conquered America, but a year...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 25, 2004

Frank Gibney's league of Japanese gentlemen

FIVE GENTLEMEN OF JAPAN: The Portrait of a Nation's Character, by Frank Gibney. D'Asia Vu Reprint Library, Eastbridge, 2002, 356 pp., $24.95 (paper). Fifty years ago, a young American writer named Frank Gibney, fresh out of the U.S. Navy where he had been a Japanese-speaking intelligence officer, published...

Longform

The volunteer lifesavers of Nishihama Surf Lifesaving Club never know what's in store at the start of their day.
It's no simple day at the beach for Japan's volunteer lifesavers