search

 
 
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2004

Nikko Beans, Monex announce plan to merge

Online brokerages Monex Inc. and Nikko Beans Inc. said Friday they will merge their operations in August to secure an edge in individual securities investment.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

Sato scandal casts spotlight on nepotism

Lawmakers are imposing restrictions on the long-standing practice of hiring spouses and family members as publicly paid secretaries in response to a recent scandal among their ranks.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

Residential fire death toll topped 1,000 in '03

2003 saw 1,070 people killed in residential fires, up 78 from a year earlier and topping 1,000 for the first time since 1986, according to a report by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

Surgeons involved in fatal malpractice cases suspended

The health ministry on Thursday temporarily suspended three surgeons involved in a fatal malpractice case at a Tokyo hospital in 2002 and another at a hospital in Saitama Prefecture in 2000 from practicing medicine, effective April 1.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

Child abuse explosion destroys myth Japanese are 'different'

The boy's tormentors began brutally, burning him with cigarettes and whipping him with a fishing rod. Then, police say, they committed the unimaginable: They locked the boy in a room and tried to starve him to death. Compounding the horror, one of the attackers was the boy's father.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 19, 2004

Japan grabs Athens berth

Yoshito Okubo scored twice as Japan's Under-23s secured a place at this summer's Athens Olympics with a comfortable 3-0 win over 10-man United Arab Emirates in the final round of Asian Zone Group B qualifying matches on Thursday evening.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

Japanese packing bags for spring vacations

Japanese are headed for the beach.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

Mobster denies involvement in massive loan-sharking network

A former mob boss said Thursday his organization was not involved in a massive loan-sharking scam suspected of funneling billions into the pockets of the nation's largest crime syndicate.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2004

MTFG set to raise stake in Acom to over 15%

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. will spend more than 100 billion yen next month to raise its stake in consumer financing firm Acom Co. to over 15 percent from the current 2.2 percent, MTFG officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2004

Dollar falls as meddling by Tokyo ebbs

The dollar hit a one-month low of 106.72 yen Thursday in Tokyo on speculation that Japan may be easing its policy of massive market interventions.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2004

BOJ's JGB balance exceeds 100 trillion yen

The balance of Japanese government bonds held by the Bank of Japan has topped 100 trillion yen for the first time, BOJ officials said Thursday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 19, 2004

Failure to include Takahashi on team for Athens a joke

I guess if you live long enough, you will see everything.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 19, 2004

Kiyohara cracks two homers

Veteran Kazuhiro Kiyohara belted a pair of homers Thursday to power the Yomiuri Giants to a 9-3 win over the Seibu Lions in baseball preseason action.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Mar 19, 2004

Firms expecting market for digital SLR cameras to explode

Confined to professionals and top-end amateurs thus far, the market for digital single-lens reflex cameras is expected to explode this year with the release of more affordable models.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2004

Future of Taiwan at stake in elections

NEW YORK -- No less than the future of Taiwan is at stake in the presidential election Saturday. If President Chen Shui-bian is re-elected, Taiwan's move toward becoming an independent state will accelerate and the Taiwan-China impasse will harden. If the Lien Chan/James Soong ticket wins, China will...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2004

Roh's fate hangs on political pulse

SEOUL -- The always contentious South Korean political scene was shattered last week with the impeachment of the sitting president, Roh Moo Hyun, with both Korea watchers and Koreans themselves who take their young democracy very seriously caught off guard.
COMMENTARY
Mar 19, 2004

Phantom fears of inflation

LONDON -- Could inflation return as the curse of global economic progress? After years of relative price stability -- and in some countries, such as Japan, price decline and deflation -- could the old threat rise, like Dracula, from the grave where most people assumed it was safely interred, and drain...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 19, 2004

Blossom, blossom, briefly everywhere

Yes, the sakura has for ages been the favorite of our people and the emblem of our character. . . . But, its nativity is not its sole claim to our affection. The refinement and grace of its beauty appeal to our aesthetic sense as no other flower can. Inazo Nitobe (1862-1933), from "Bushido" (1900)
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

Tanaka's daughter seeks fines for publisher

The daughter of Diet lawmaker Makiko Tanaka has sought a court order forcing a publisher to pay fines of 30 million yen for every day that a weekly magazine featuring an article about her private life remains on store shelves, it was learned Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 19, 2004

Stefano: Faustro conjures up magical Veneto cucina

You don't have to go far in Tokyo to track down good Italian food. Virtually every neighborhood boasts its own ristoranti and trattorie these days, many of them with impeccable standards. The problem is, though, the places with the best cucina tend to be overhyped and overpriced, overweening or simply...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

'Fink-on-a-foreigner' Web site hit as xenophobic, faces review

The Justice Ministry will review a controversial Immigration Bureau Web site where people can anonymously report suspicious foreigners who might be illegal aliens.
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2004

A victory for terrorists in Spain

Terrorists won an important victory last week in Spain. A series of bombs exploded in trains and rail stations in Madrid, killing some 200 people and injuring nearly 1,500 others. Al-Qaeda has taken credit for the savage attacks, saying Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's support for the war against terror...

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