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Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Oct 17, 2003

New Komeito frets over lack of spotlight

Leaders of New Komeito feel a sense of crisis ahead of the Nov. 9 general election for the House of Representatives.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 17, 2003

Tigers poised to pounce

The last time the Hanshin Tigers went to the Japan Series, they had to scratch and claw their way through seven games to win their first championship.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2003

Fast Retailing suffers 25% decrease in profit

Fast Retailing Co., operator of the Uniqlo chain, announced Thursday its group net profit dropped 24.8 percent to 20.93 billion yen for the business year that ended Aug. 31, marking the second straight year of decline.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Oct 17, 2003

Animals without borders in transfrontier parks

It was snowing in Berlin that day in November 1884, but the conference delegates around the horseshoe-shape table in Prince Bismarck's house on the Wilhelmstrasse had little thought for the local weather. Africa had their full attention.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2003

Farmers win round vs. TV Asahi

The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a high court's rejection of a suit filed by Saitama Prefecture farmers seeking damages from TV Asahi Corp. for a report on vegetable dioxin contamination.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2003

Bubbles feed on more than irrationality

GUATEMALA CITY -- Government officials in China and South Korea are confronted with the troubling prospects of a real estate bubble evident in soaring prices in parts of Shanghai and Seoul. After all, it was the bursting of the asset bubbles in Japan that set the stage for a lost decade of sluggish economic...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2003

Sushi-bun: An altar in the temple of fresh fish

Why does sushi have to be so expensive? Granted, a modest meal at your neighborhood sushiya shouldn't involve too great an outlay. And when it comes to the mass-produced offerings that chug around conveyor belts on color-coded plates, you will never want to eat enough of them to seriously dent your...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Mexico's Fox arrives, but FTA in doubt

Mexican President Vicente Fox arrived Wednesday in Tokyo and immediately faced a tough decision: whether to accept a last-minute compromise on pork imports in stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Group wants Tanaka case reviewed

The head of a political group that filed a criminal complaint against former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka requested Wednesday that the prosecutors' decision to drop the case be reviewed. The request was filed with the Tokyo Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Oct 16, 2003

Kan says DPJ wants to win upcoming race 'at any cost'

Opposition parties in Japan, in their efforts to counter government positions, may have gained a reputation as being irresponsible and unrealistic.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Keidanren to hold parties to campaign pledges

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) plans to keep tabs on the pledges made by major political parties and hold them accountable to the promises they make, according to its president, Hiroshi Okuda.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 16, 2003

Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom Down Under

TOWNSVILLE, Australia -- Three days on and Australia is still abuzz with the performance of the Cherry Blossoms.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Hospitals opt to halt care for babies terminally ill

Some 85 percent of hospitals well-versed in treating newborns in Japan acknowledge scaling back or stopping treatment of terminally ill babies to allow them to spend their remaining days in peace with their families, according to doctors at an Osaka hospital.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Japan announces pledge of $1.5 billion to Iraq

Japan will provide Iraq with grants worth $1.5 billion in 2004 to support the country's reconstruction, the government announced Wednesday.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Japan praises China's spaceflight

Government officials, astronomers and other interested parties in Japan welcomed China's success in putting a manned spacecraft into orbit Wednesday, though some fretted over its military and diplomatic implications.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Earthquake gives Tokyo a good jolt

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 hit Tokyo Wednesday afternoon, briefly disrupting train and air services.
EDITORIALS
Oct 16, 2003

New banking hope for small firms

It appears that small-business banking in Japan is about to enter a new era. In May, the Tokyo metropolitan government unveiled a plan to create a new bank to serve smaller businesses. Now, members of the Japan Junior Chamber are pushing a similar plan. In August, they applied for permission from the...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Bus rides to glitzy Tokyo high-rises are wooing the package tour crowd

People on package tours to Tokyo are now being treated to free bus rides to the newest attractions to rise far above old Edo -- a number of massive and gleaming redevelopment projects that have recently opened their doors for business.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2003

Toray raises earnings forecast again

Toray Industries Inc. said Wednesday it has again raised its group earnings forecast for the fiscal first half, having already done so in August.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2003

Government says economy remains on track for recovery

The government said Wednesday the economy remains on a recovery track, but it cautioned against a possible adverse impact from fluctuations in the foreign-exchange and stock markets, as well as turbulence in the global economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003

Ishiba looks to widen SDF's global remit

Japan should use its Self-Defense Forces to contribute to world peace and stability, Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said Wednesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 16, 2003

Tyulenii fur seals are all washed up and in no hurry to go

It felt as if we were an invading force as we set the bows of our black rubber zodiac boat for the shore. Tyulenii Island, a raised tableland of sandstone barely a kilometer long and less than half that wide, was our target. Winds blowing up the Sea of Okhotsk were pushing a rising swell along the unprotected...
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2003

BOJ holds off buying banks' shares

The Bank of Japan said Wednesday its purchases of shares from commercial banks stood at 1.84 trillion yen as of Oct. 10, unchanged from Sept. 30.

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