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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Feb 27, 2004

Hanging heavy in the sumo heartland

For Tokyoites, Ryogoku is synonymous with sumo. And, until a few months ago, that was all it meant to me. Ryogoku is two stops east of Akihabara on the JR Sobu line and is also accessible via Asakusabashi-Ryogoku Station on the Oedo subway line.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2004

For Marshall Islands, nuclear legacy lives on

The people of the Marshall Islands, the site of 67 U.S. nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, have their own Bikini stories.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2004

Stalking murders climbed in '03

The number of murder and attempted murder cases involving stalkers rose to 19 in 2003 from seven the year before, the National Police Agency said in a report released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2004

Firms set up Net-based job scheme

Yahoo Japan Corp. said Thursday it has established a joint firm with Recruit Co. to operate a Web site for people seeking employment, especially part-time work.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2004

Courts issue 1,499 restraining orders

Courts issued 1,499 restraining orders in domestic violence cases in 2003, up 27.5 percent from the previous year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2004

Tokyo, Pyongyang discuss new bilateral talks in March

Japan and North Korea are trying to schedule their next round talks on bilateral issues, including the Japanese abducted by the North, in mid-March, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2004

Panel adopts 'portable' telephone number plan

A telecommunications ministry study panel adopted a draft proposal Thursday that the ministry introduce a system to enable mobile phone users to retain their numbers when switching from one service provider to another.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 27, 2004

Marinos striker Kubo honored

Yokohama F. Marinos and Japan striker Tatsuhiko Kubo on Thursday was named 2003 Footballer of the Year in a poll of Japanese soccer writers.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2004

Tsujimoto accepts suspended term

The suspended prison term given to former Social Democratic Party policy chief Kiyomi Tsujimoto for fraud will be finalized Thursday as the former lawmaker has decided not to appeal to a higher court.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2004

Japan cool to U.S. BSE test plan

Japan is not satisfied with the U.S. government's plan to step up tests for mad cow disease because it does not meet Japanese demands for blanket testing of all cattle, a top bureaucrat at the farm ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2004

Retail sales assessment finally revised upward

The government on Thursday revised its assessment of retail sales trends upward for the first time in 21 months, following relatively strong growth in January.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2004

IBM Japan sees profit slide 16.6%

IBM Japan Ltd. said Thursday its group net profit fell 16.6 percent in the business year to Dec. 31 to 79.28 billion yen for the fourth straight annual decline.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 27, 2004

Savor the spirit of ancient Japan

In a far-off age -- long before they were savoring the busy touristic delight of gadding around a dozen European cities in as many days -- the Japanese were a fairly untraveled lot.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2004

Fake cop caught riding Tokyo train, packing toy gun

A 27-year-old man was arrested Thursday for impersonating a Metropolitan Police Department officer, an alleged violation of the Minor Offense Law, after he was caught in a patrolman's uniform earlier this month while riding on a train.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2004

Livedoor to buy stake in brokerage

Internet service provider Livedoor Co. said Thursday it will buy a 51.53 percent stake in Nippon Global Securities Co. through a tender-offer bid.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2004

BOJ board votes to leave monetary policy untouched

The Bank of Japan Policy Board left its monetary policy unchanged Thursday amid strong signs of economic recovery.
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2004

Rightwing's political football

Don't underestimate the depth of genuine public anger in Japan over the abduction issue with North Korea. At the same time don't underestimate the degree to which Japan's powerful rightwing is exploiting the issue to shift Japan even further to hardline foreign policies, a shift typified by the extraordinary...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 27, 2004

Pantani's passing shows how fragile sports stars can be

The recent death of Italian cyclist Marco Pantani, at the age of 34 from an apparent drug overdose, was the final act in a life which had been spiraling out of control for the past 4 1/2 years.
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2004

Watershed for Hong Kong-Beijing ties

HONG KONG -- The relationship between Hong Kong and Beijing is at a critical point, with the central government having cautioned the special administrative region not to rush headlong into democracy while local people fear that their democratic aspirations may be frustrated.
EDITORIALS
Feb 26, 2004

An endorsement from Mr. Annan

With Japan taking an important part in the reconstruction of Iraq, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's five-day visit here, starting last Saturday, could not have come at a better time. His trip has given Japanese government leaders -- including not only Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister...
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2004

Takei released on 300 million yen bail

Yasuo Takei, Takefuji Corp.'s former chairman, who has admitted ordering subordinates to wiretap journalists, was released on 300 million yen bail Wednesday, his lawyers said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2004

Korean Hansen's patients seek redress

A group of 85 former Hansen's disease patients in South Korea filed a request with the Japanese government Wednesday for compensation for being forced into sanitariums when the peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2004

U.N. envoy says free elections in Iraq 'difficult'

Visiting U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday that holding completely free elections in Iraq would be a "daunting exercise."
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2004

Government defends sacking Japan Highway chief

Government lawyers argued Wednesday that the dismissal of Haruho Fujii as president of Japan Highway Corp. was permissible under rules of the semigovernmental highway construction body.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2004

German expert pushes renewable energy

Japan's abundant renewable energy sources have not been sufficiently tapped due to a lack of government initiatives, Hans-Josef Fell, a member of the German parliament and the Green Party's spokesman for research and technology issues, said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2004

Softbank insider copied data for extortion: police

Tokyo police suspect someone on the inside copied Softbank Corp. client data late last year for three people under arrest for alleged extortion, police sources said Wednesday.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 26, 2004

Getting underneath the language of skin

"Obsessed" is probably the right word to describe the Japanese's woman's relationship with her hada (skin). From her earliest years, she is exhorted by her elders to look after her skin -- scrub, cleanse, moisturize -- to achieve that tsuru-tsuru (polished) texture and shittori (moist) feel. If a young...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 26, 2004

Pond turtle

* Japanese name: Ishigame * Scientific name:Mauremys japonica * Description:Also known as the stone turtle, the pond turtle is semiaquatic and a strong swimmer. It has a yellowish-brown carapace (shell) and an olive-brown head. Females are bigger than males, growing up to 21 cm long (carapace length),...

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