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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 29, 2004

Takahashi faces uphill struggle in race for gold

As the Summer Olympic Games in Athens approach, the media have begun to speculate on Japan's medal chances. Such speculation tends to become more desperate with each passing Olympics because the number of medals Japan brings home has steadily dropped since 1964 while the size of the media itself has...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 29, 2004

Nihon TV's "Super TV" explores festivals and more

Japan has many regional festivals, and some are very strange. Within the set of strange festivals there is a subset of events called hadaka matsuri, which means "naked festivals." At these revelries men strip down to fundoshi (loincloths) and do weird things.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 29, 2004

A past becoming urban myth

JAPANESE CAPITALS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Place, Power and Memory in Kyoto and Tokyo, edited by Nicolas Fieve and Paul Waley. London: Routledge/Curzon, 2003, 418 pp., 75 plates, £65.00 (cloth). Japanese cities are unusual. Compared to those in Europe or even the United States, there are few physical...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 29, 2004

Pooch paradise

A dog's life in Japan can be about as close to canine heaven on earth as it gets.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 29, 2004

Iraqi residents of Japan to visit Samawah to support SDF

Sarmad Ali, a college student from Iraq who lives in Japan, is planning to visit the southern Iraqi city of Samawah in early March to help locals communicate with Japanese troops stationed there with a phrase book he published in Japan last year.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 29, 2004

Romania takes high road in AIDS fight

NEW YORK -- The Romanian government's serious commitment to improve access to treatment, increase outreach activities, build an effective partnership with the private sector and improve health infrastructure has led to dramatic progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Penalty is what those victimized by Aum's crimes wanted

People victimized by Aum Shinrikyo's crimes voiced relief Friday that cult founder Shoko Asahara would pay for the deaths of 27 people with his own life.
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2004

Give 'irregular' workers a fair shake

Continued corporate restructuring in Japan has taken a heavy toll on regular workers. One result of this is a sharp increase in the number of "irregular" workers, such as part-timers and temporaries. Now they number about 15 million, representing a third of the labor force; in the case of women, one...
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

TV Asahi back on track with LDP

The Liberal Democratic Party has lifted its boycott of TV Asahi and will allow party executives to appear on the broadcaster's programs.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Breakdown of district court ruling on Aum guru Asahara

Tokyo subway gas attack
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Ammo provision added to U.S. logistic support pact

Tokyo and Washington signed an amendment Friday to a bilateral agreement governing reciprocal provision of logistics support, supplies and services between the Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. forces stationed in Japan.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Cult reiterates its apology

Members of Aum Shinrikyo apologized Friday to the people victimized by the heinous crimes committed by senior cultists on the orders of the guru, Shoko Asahara, who was sentenced to death earlier in the day.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Six charged in abduction of Mainichi's president

Six men were charged Friday with abducting and confining the president of the major daily Mainichi Shimbun for about two hours in January, police said.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Just 10 won asylum bids last year

The government granted refugee status to 10 asylum-seekers last year, the lowest number in the past six years, while rejecting the applications of 298 foreigners, the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau announced Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2004

Asahara is sentenced to hang

Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara was sentenced to death Friday for ordering a series of crimes carried out by his disciples, including the March 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2004

Softbank offers 500 yen to Yahoo! BB users, confirms data leak on millions

Softbank Corp. said Friday it has confirmed that information on some 4.52 million users of its Yahoo! BB high-speed Internet service had been stolen from its data base.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2004

February intervention 3.34 trillion yen

Japan used 3.34 trillion yen in February to intervene in the currency market to keep the yen from rising against the dollar, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2004

Microsoft to drop questionable provision

Microsoft Corp. will remove a patent-related provision in licensing contracts with personal computer makers, the U.S. software giant's Japanese unit said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2004

Production at highest point in 37 months

Japan's industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 3.4 percent in January from the previous month to its highest level in 37 months, due partly to steady demand for digital home appliances, the government said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 28, 2004

Hitting the nail on the head

"The nail that sticks up gets hammered down!"
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2004

Housing starts up 7.3% in January

Housing starts in Japan rose 7.3 percent in January from a year earlier to 88,797 units, up for the second consecutive month, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2004

January sees jobless rate inch back up to 5%

The nation's unemployment rate hit 5 percent in January after falling to its lowest level in two years the month before, but the government said Friday it was a temporary setback in a bigger move toward recovery.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2004

Household spending up in January

Spending by Japan's wage-earning households in January rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier in real terms for the steepest increase in 16 months.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 28, 2004

Tough games for Japan

Kyodo News Japan will play friendlies against Argentina, England and the Czech Republic -- three teams belonging to the latest top 10 list released by FIFA -- this season, according to the 2004 schedule announced by the JFA on Friday.

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