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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2004

Australia plugs its beef at Tokyo tasting party

Australia courted Japanese meat-eaters at a beef-tasting party Wednesday, offering to increase exports to Japan by 80 percent to replace the American supply after Tokyo banned U.S. beef over fears of mad cow disease.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2004

Oddly, Japan keeps tariffs intact as it gropes for beef

Japan's suspension of U.S. beef imports has created a strange contradiction: As the government searches for alternate sources of beef, it imposes tariffs that help keep overseas beef out.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2004

Currency intervention raises eyebrows

Japan's repeated attempts to check the dollar's fall against the yen by intervening in the currency market is raising concerns among some economists.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2004

Japan to offer compromise on ITER fusion project, but only up to a point

Technology minister Takeo Kawamura said Wednesday that Japan is ready to compromise in the battle to host an international nuclear fusion project -- but said it will stick to its position that the reactor itself should be based in Japan.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2004

Wholesalers' sales up 0.1%

Wholesaler sales edged up 0.1 percent in 2003 from the previous year to 452.14 trillion yen, marking the first rise in three years, the government said Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 29, 2004

Japan's longliners devastate world squid stocks

It was early spring 1968, I had received a Fulbright Foundation educational grant to produce a 16mm movie about Japanese fisheries. The grant provided for the latest "state-of-the-art" Canon 16mm movie camera (there were no video cameras in those days), and with it I had successfully completed and edited...
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2004

Restructuring spells profit decline for Sony

Sony Corp. reported Wednesday a 26 percent decline in net profit for the October-December period due to restructuring expenses.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jan 29, 2004

Japan is learning to love (and loving to learn) Chinese

Every day, it seems, more and more Japanese want to communicate -- in Chinese. One million Japanese, says Web magazine ChinaGate, are learning Mandarin and other Chinese dialects. At Japanese universities and schools, Mandarin has overtaken French and German to become the most popular language after...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2004

Koizumi slip delays Diet debate on Iraq

A session of a special House of Representatives committee on the dispatch of ground troops to Iraq was canceled Wednesday following a slipup by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi regarding the security situation in southern Iraq.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 29, 2004

Scott's sacking by Nets was no shock

NEW YORK -- For a while there, I thought the Nets' latest farce would never end.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2004

New Skymark chief vows upgrades

The new president of Skymark Airlines Co. said Wednesday he will reinforce the discount carrier's infrastructure.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2004

Defense policy put to test

With Monday's government order to dispatch the main contingent of ground troops to Iraq, the Self-Defense Forces is ready for full deployment in the conflict-torn country. The troops will be sent in stages, starting with a group of engineers, to Samawah in southern Iraq. With air and navy units also...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2004

Stablemaster payout overturned

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday overturned a lower court ruling ordering the master of the Tatsunami sumo stable in Tokyo to pay his father-in-law 175 million yen for the inheritance of the stablemaster title.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2004

JAS plans to resume normal operations Feb. 8

Flight operations at Japan Air System, disrupted since Jan. 19 by cancellations because of engine defects in its MD-81 and MD-87 jetliners, will return to normal Feb. 8, the carrier said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2004

IRCJ to rescue meter maker, Osaka-based real estate firms

The Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan said Wednesday it will bail out a troubled Tokyo-based maker of water and gas meters and two Osaka-based real estate firms.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 29, 2004

Zip and zap -- Sonic's back

"Sonic Heroes," a very entertaining new arcade adventure from Sega for GameCube, Xbox and PlayStation 2, has four background stories -- and not one of them make sense.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2004

Court slaps 10.7 billion yen tax bill on publisher

Publisher Obunsha Holding Co. should pay 10.7 billion yen in taxes for profits it made in 1995 by selling TV Asahi shares through a Dutch subsidiary, the Tokyo High Court ruled Wednesday, overturning a lower court nullification of the levy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2004

Good win in the gambling genre

The Good Thief Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Neil Jordan Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Opens Jan. 31 [See Japan Times movie listings] Gambler flicks can be a pretty predictable lot, and it's all too easy to adhere to formula and end up with an entirely forgettable...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2004

A lesson on how to waste one's life

Pinero Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Leon Ichaso Running time: 103 minutes Language: English Opens Jan. 31 [See Japan Times movie listings] One pitfall of artist biopics is the genre's tendency to select those artists whose lives were of the wrecked and splashy variety. It's extremely...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2004

On a not-so-sentimental journey to 1947

Born in Osaka in 1958, Junji Sakamoto has set many of his 13 feature films, including his award-winning 1989 debut "Dotsuitarunen," in his native Kansai. He arrived for our interview at the Takanawa Prince Hotel looking dapper in a retro-style suit that he later told me had been worn by an actor friend...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2004

Child abuse breeds excuses, finger-pointing

School officials only reported the "possibility of abuse" and failed to take further action, the local child consultation center did not take the alert seriously and believed the case was one of truancy, while neighbors tuned out what they suspected was happening.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2004

Kyodo moves reporters over terror threat in Iraq

The government has obtained information that lodgings used by Japanese wire agency Kyodo News in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah could be targeted by terrorists or insurgents, sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2004

Man paralyzed by cop wins redress

The Tokyo District Court ordered the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Tuesday to pay 6.3 million yen in damages to a Chinese man who was wrongfully shot by a police officer in January 2002 and partially paralyzed.

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