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JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Rules eased for Brazilian students

The education ministry on Monday eased the rules on Japanese university entrance exams for graduates of 19 Brazilian schools in Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Pay pension premiums or else, agency warns

The Social Insurance Agency will mail letters Tuesday to some 500 people, demanding they pay their national pension premiums or face measures such as the confiscation of their bank deposits, agency officials said.
EDITORIALS
Jan 20, 2004

A place for 'judicial positivism'

In a representative democracy, the value of one vote is supposed to be more or less equal. In the 2001 Upper House election, however, one vote in rural districts carried much greater weight than it did in urban districts; in an extreme case, one ballot in Tottori Prefecture was worth 5.06 ballots in...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Protest halts work on homeless shelter

KAWASAKI -- A protest rally by local residents forced the postponement Monday of the start of construction of a publicly run shelter for homeless people.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Koizumi seeks support for dispatch

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called on the nation to support his decision to send Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq as he kicked off the 150-day ordinary Diet session Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Lower House OKs Arai's resignation

The House of Representatives accepted Masanori Arai's resignation as a Diet member Monday, following his indictment on vote-buying charges.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Pyongyang arms threat, abductions still lead Kawaguchi's list

Japan will continue urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear arms program in a verifiable and irreversible manner, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Monday.
SUMO
Jan 20, 2004

Asashoryu wins ninth straight

Grand champion Asashoryu won his ninth straight bout Monday to maintain the sole undefeated record at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, while ozeki Tochiazuma fell to maegashira Takamisakari.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Online symposium to address peace

The Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and The Japan Times will open the Fourth e-Symposium on Conflict Prevention on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Hot-air balloonists plan Pacific crossing

Two Japanese hot-air balloonists are preparing to cross the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Canada or the U.S. West Coast this week.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Highway privatization panelists face off

Monday's start of the ordinary Diet session renews Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's scrum with vested-interest Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and bureaucrats as he pushes through a watered-down plan to privatize four heavily indebted expressway firms.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Crime down -- but serious offenses up

The national crime rate was down for the first time in eight years in 2003, with criminal cases falling 2.2 percent from the record 2,853,739 recorded the year before, the National Police Agency said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Med-school scam artist gets 11 years

The Tokyo High Court on Monday upheld a lower court ruling that a former official of a test-coaching school serve 11 years in prison for defrauding parents out of 517 million yen by pretending to offer backdoor admission deals to medical schools.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2004

Universities seek credit ratings as sign of quality

A small but growing number of universities are obtaining credit ratings from agencies such as Standard & Poor's Corp. as competition intensifies amid a decline in students.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2004

Japan, Mexico plan free-trade talks

Japan and Mexico will hold a two-day meeting in Tokyo aimed at getting stalled free-trade negotiations back on track, negotiation sources said Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 20, 2004

Indy Japan 300 set for April

Indy Japan 300, the third race in the Indy Car Series in the 2004 Indy Racing League season, will be held for three days beginning April 15, event organizers said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Blackhawks eyed for dispatch

The Defense Agency is considering dispatching UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters of the Ground Self-Defense Force to Iraq, agency sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2004

Schoolgirls' used panties may be banned from sale

Visitors to Tokyo sex shops may soon find it difficult to buy schoolgirls' used underwear.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2004

Farm ministry wary of more BSE cases in U.S.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry issued a report Monday stating there are no assurances that more cases of mad cow disease won't be discovered in the United States.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2004

Government says economy 'recovering steadily'

The government Monday upgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in two months.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 20, 2004

Kiyohara to train with farm team

Yomiuri Giants slugger Kazuhiro Kiyohara is not among the 34 players who will begin spring training in Guam next month, officials of the Central League club said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2004

Number of failed firms falls for first time in four years

The number of corporate bankruptcies fell by 14.6 percent in 2003 from the previous year to 16,624, down for the first time in four years, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 20, 2004

Having any trouble in your crosscultural relationship?

Masako Iwamoto Translator, 29
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 20, 2004

Planning for your financial future in Japan

I am looking for some pension and retirement information in Japan. Even though I am only 34, I am thinking about the financial situation in the future. I am Swiss, but have spent the past few years abroad, so I have to count on foreign retirement support.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 20, 2004

Don't mention the L-word

There you go again. That trick of saying "I love you!" just before hanging up the phone.

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