search

 
 
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2004

Mitsubishi group, DaimlerChrysler plan MMC rescue

The Mitsubishi group and DaimlerChrysler AG of Germany are devising a 300 billion yen rescue package for Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 4, 2004

Sasaki inks deal with former club BayStars

The Seattle Mariners all-time saves leader Kazuhiro Sasaki said Tuesday he has signed a contract with the Yokohama BayStars, though details of the deal were undisclosed.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2004

Monetary base up 13.6% in January

Japan's monetary base expanded 13.6 percent in January from a year earlier for the 36th straight monthly rise, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2004

Pioneer to buy NEC's plasma unit

Pioneer Corp. announced Tuesday it will acquire NEC Corp.'s plasma display panel business in a bid to remain a leading player within the increasingly competitive flat-panel TV sector.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2004

Language panel says children need more talk, less TV

Less television and more conversation at home are important first steps in improving children's language proficiency, a council tasked with discussing how to improve young people's command of Japanese said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Feb 4, 2004

The not-so cordial entente

LONDON -- 2004 marks the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale -- the accord between Britain and France of 1904 that marked a new era of friendship, the ending of numerous disputes and, as it turned out, intimate military alliance in two world wars.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2004

Chicken, beef scares seen as good time for ostriches to swoop

The recent mad cow disease case in the United States and the bird flu epidemic sweeping Asia have disrupted food imports to Japan, but some restaurateurs here say it's whetted diners' appetites for the offbeat: ostrich meat.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

Opposition boycotts Upper House

The opposition parties continued Monday their boycott of all Diet debate following the ruling coalition's approval of the Self-Defense Forces dispatch to Iraq, effectively putting House of Councilors deliberations on hold.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

2003 saw 322,000 loan shark victims

Police across the country took action against 556 cases of shady lending practices in 2003 as a record 322,000 people fell prey to loan sharks, according to the National Police Agency.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 3, 2004

Takahashi mulls Olympic qualifier

Naoko Takahashi, winner of the women's marathon at the Sydney Olympics, said Monday she will announce whether she will run in the Nagoya International Women's Marathon on the registration deadline day Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2004

Dispatch debate fails muster

The government's inconsistent statements last week on the security situation in the southern Iraq city of Samawah, the destination of Japanese ground troops, has raised new doubts about a survey report that describes the situation as "relatively stable." This suggests, regrettably, that the government...
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

Hospital settles child-death case

A Tokyo hospital reached an out-of-court settlement Monday with the parents of a 3-month-old boy who died after an artificial respiration circuit created by connecting two medical devices malfunctioned.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

U.S. will assist SDF in Iraq, Armitage pledges to Ishiba

The United States will do its utmost to assist the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq, including providing information to Japan concerning possible terrorist attacks, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba on Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

Prosecutors raid dental unit over political contributions

Tokyo prosecutors on Monday raided the offices of a political group of the Japan Dental Association and searched the home of the group's top executive over the alleged failure to report 20 million yen in political donations in 2001 and 2002.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 3, 2004

Sasaki to rejoin BayStars

Kazuhiro Sasaki, who left the Seattle Mariners with one year remaining on his contract, on Monday decided to make his comeback to the Japanese baseball scene with the Yokohama BayStars of the Central League, for whom he played from 1990 to 1999.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

Hand-held e-book readers to hit market soon

Hand-held e-book readers that allow users to download text from the Internet will hit the market soon.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

U.S.-accused industrial spy nabbed as Japan studies extradition request

The Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office placed a researcher in detention Monday in preparation for an examination into an extradition request filed by the United States, where he has been charged with industrial espionage.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 3, 2004

'Real' last samurai fights for attention

Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe may be raking in big box-office bucks as The Last Samurai, but a rival claimant to the title has emerged in the unlikely form of a sword-wielding British TV producer.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2004

Retail beef prices continue to hit new records

Retail prices of domestic and imported beef continued rising to new records last week amid the import ban on U.S. beef, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Monday.
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2004

Sony gets serious about chip production

Sony Corp. said Monday the Sony group of companies will spend 120 billion yen in fiscal 2004 to manufacture high-end semiconductors at production sites run by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., IBM Corp. and Toshiba Corp.
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2004

Mapmaking firms brace for patent suit

A Tokyo-based computer software company plans to file a patent infringement suit against major mapmaking firms over technologies used to make electronic maps for car navigation systems, a company spokesman said Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

Koizumi to open Yankees' season

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will throw out the ceremonial first pitch when the New York Yankees begin their 2004 season March 30 in the Tokyo Dome, event organizers said Monday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 3, 2004

Tenant rights and health care for foreigners

Tenant rights Two years ago, I rented an apartment through a realtor, and paid lots of money -- two-months deposit, one-month thank you money, and realtor fee -- thinking that after two years, we could renew our contract and somehow use the place longer to compensate for the initial payments we had...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2004

U.S. plans consolidation of Pacific forces

HONOLULU -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is planning a sweeping revision of the command apparatus through which American military forces are controlled in Asia in an effort to make them more responsive to contingencies from the Korean Peninsula to Australia.

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