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BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2003

Yield cuts expected to incite most policyholders

A recent poll found that more than 50 percent of insurance policyholders are likely to cancel their contracts, change the terms or complain at meetings if insurers cut their promised yields.
BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2003

Regional bank bailout plan gets LDP nod

The Liberal Democratic Party approved a plan Thursday that will give the government greater freedom to inject public funds into troubled regional banks and credit unions.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2003

Sex offenders facing harsher punishment

Justice Ministry is eyeing a drastic Penal Code amendment that would see rapists and other sex offenders punished more severely, ministry officials said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2003

Diplomats died trying to make a difference

WASHINGTON -- I learned of Katsuhiko Oku's death last week; a caller from Baghdad told me that "Katsu" had been shot on a highway together with his younger colleague, fellow Japanese diplomat Masamori Inoue.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2003

NPA to reveal juvenile crime fugitives' data

The National Police Agency plans in the future to release the names, photos and other personal data of juveniles wanted in connection with heinous crimes, agency officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2003

Rape allegation heaps misery on SDP

The Social Democratic Party found itself in further turmoil Thursday as a former state-paid secretary to party lawmaker Tomoko Abe was accused of raping a woman on several occasions last year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 12, 2003

The Oak Door: Steak a claim to heavyweight dining

The first thing you see as you enter The Oak Door is the bar, surrounded on three sides by sleek, glass-fronted wine racks packed with boutique New World wines. The second thing that grabs your eye is the warm, flickering glow emanating from the bank of wood-fired ovens by the kitchen, and the white-clad...
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003

Paramedics' use of defibrillators up

A legal revision allowing speedier defibrillation use has resulted in a 3.36 percentage point rise in the procedure, the outline of an annual Fire and Disaster Management Agency report showed Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003

Yakuza connected to embezzlement of Minami stock

Police on Wednesday raided yakuza offices in Tokyo and Fukuoka to look for evidence that more than half of some 2.8 billion yen worth of client stocks embezzled by the former president of the now defunct Minami Securities Co. had been transferred to the underworld.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 11, 2003

Hard to believe McMillan is really in trouble as coach of Sonics

NEW YORK -- If a writer can't get an easily checkable, exceptionally vital fact correct in a prickly news story markedly rampant with purportedly contentious conversation between a coach and his players and his bosses, why should we accept anything of import as being accurate?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003

ASEAN leaders arrive in Tokyo ahead of landmark two-day summit

Southeast Asian leaders arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday to participate in a two-day summit with Japan that will focus on trade and security.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003

EU attack on press club rebuffed

The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association on Wednesday rebuffed the European Union's calls for the abolition of the press club system, claiming it plays an important role in disseminating news among the public.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 11, 2003

S. Korea holds Japan

YOKOHAMA -- South Korea won the East Asian Football Championship on goals scored after a tame 0-0 draw with Japan at International Stadium Yokohama on Wed-nesday night.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2003

Ministers, party execs agree on local subsidy cuts

Following weeks of turf battles, Cabinet ministers and ruling coalition executives finally reached agreement Wednesday on how the national government will cut its subsidies to local government projects by 1 trillion yen in fiscal 2004.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003

Will planned new law really protect whistle-blowers?

The government outlined a bill Wednesday to protect whistle-blowers in both the public and private sectors but provides no punishment for violators and says the protection must be pursued in lawsuits.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 11, 2003

Writing spider

* Japanese name: Koganegumi * Scientific name:Argiope amoena * Description: Writing spiders, also known as yellow garden spiders, have an egg-shaped abdomen with yellow or orange markings on a black background. The legs have red or yellow sections. While insect bodies are generally comprised of three...
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003

Bribery trial halted for ailing ex-governor, 86

The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday suspended the decade-old bribery trial of former Ibaraki Gov. Fujio Takeuchi, judging he is too ill to continue the proceedings.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2003

Business chiefs welcome SDF dispatch

Business leaders on Wednesday welcomed the decision by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet to dispatch up to 600 noncombat ground troops to Iraq to help with reconstruction work.
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2003

The most risky mission yet

Japan is preparing to send Self-Defense Force troops to Iraq for a period ending one year from Monday. Their dispatch, which is expected to begin early next year, is based on the assumption that they will operate in noncombat areas to help rebuild the war-torn country. According to the plan approved...
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2003

Firms create a prototype for multi-OS

Denso Corp. and Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday they have jointly developed what they believe to be the world's first prototype of a multioperating systems environment that will support both the Windows and Tron OSs.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 11, 2003

Lice of a feather grow together

Look at the history of modern global infections and you'll see a worrying pattern. For example, evidence of SARS, which killed 916 people worldwide this year, was discovered in civets and raccoon dogs sold live at Chinese food markets. Yuen Kwok-yung, head of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong,...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 11, 2003

Guiding U.S. corporations to the greener side

Elizabeth Sturcken could easily have passed for a hotshot IT executive, dressed for the part in a business suit and low heels. Instead, the 37-year-old resident of San Francisco is a major player in the drive for environmental change.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2003

Current account surplus rose 38.9% in October

Japan's current account surplus rose 38.9 percent in October from a year earlier to 1.259 trillion yen, logging its fourth straight monthly rise.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2003

Ministry gets warmer in search for arsenic contamination source

Three locations around an arsenic-contaminated well in Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture, have the highest levels of the poison ever found in the area, the Environment Ministry said Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 11, 2003

South Korean slugger Lee agrees to play for Marines

The Chiba Lotte Marines have agreed to terms with South Korean baseball star Lee Seung Yeop, team officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2003

Ashikaga FG shares do brisk trade despite core unit's nationalization

It ain't over till the fat lady sings. Investors are buying up Ashikaga Financial Group Inc. shares, never mind that regulators nationalized the group's core unit, Ashikaga Bank, after declaring it insolvent.

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