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JAPAN
Oct 12, 2003

Adequate emergency care could have saved 40 percent of patients' lives

About 40 percent of the people who died at emergency medical centers across Japan could have been saved if they had received adequate emergency care, according to a recent study by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 12, 2003

Paradise maintained

In 1959, to mark the centenary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species," the Ecuadorean government declared the Galapagos a National Park. In 1979, UNESCO proclaimed the archipelago a World Heritage Site.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 12, 2003

Telling 'The Tale of Genji' through its forgotten poetry

A STRING OF FLOWERS, UNTIED: Love Poems from The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Jane Reichhold and Hatsue Kawamura. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2003, 238 pp., $18.95 (paper). Threaded throughout the 1000-page length of the "Genji Monogatari" (The Tale of Genji) are some 800 poems....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 12, 2003

His finger on the pulse of life on Earth

The Philip Glass Ensemble has been performing the music to the film "Koyaanisqatsi," live with screenings of the film, since the year after the film's release in 1982. This was later complemented by the performance of music from the film's 1987 followup "Powaqqatsi." So far, these cinema concerts have...
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

Resona to post 1.76 trillion yen loss on writeoffs

Resona Holdings Inc. said Friday it will post a first-half net loss of 1.76 trillion yen, a stark reversal from originally projected net profits of 22 billion yen.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

Mishap-rife JR East faces scrutiny

The transport ministry will conduct an inspection of East Japan Railway Co. this month following a recent chain of incidents that disrupted services on lines in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

Lower House dissolved

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the House of Representatives on Friday and set Nov. 9 as the date of a general election.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 11, 2003

Igawa snares 20th win as Tigers reel in Carp

Hanshin lefty Kei Igawa fanned eight over six innings for his 20th win while Tomoaki Kanemoto went 3-for-4 at the plate as the Tigers ended their season with a 11-3 victory over the Hiroshima Carp at Koshien Stadium for their club best 87th win.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

Netizens like DPJ over LDP by surprisingly big margin

The Democratic Party of Japan took a surprising and large lead in support ratings over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party by 61 percent to 19 percent in an Internet survey immediately after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the Lower House on Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

LDP policy guideline lacks specifics

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday released a 17-page booklet of its policies for the upcoming general election that lacks specifics in at least two key areas.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

U.S. kid joins Japan laser propulsion effort

A 14-year-old South Carolina boy has joined researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology to develop laser propulsion, a technology dubbed the clean engine of the future.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 11, 2003

Ai-chan to join ITTF tournament

Ai Fukuhara is among those who will take part in the pro tournaments sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation next month, officials of the Japan Table Tennis Association (JTTA) said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 11, 2003

Antiterror debate deserved better

The Upper House of the Diet on Friday passed a key bill extending by another two years the special antiterrorism law. The debate proceeded without a hitch by skirting an essential discussion. The central question -- what roles Japan should play in the international fight against terror -- was not thoroughly...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 11, 2003

Kyokutenho wants to become citizen

Mongolian makuuchi division rank-and-filer Kyokutenho is set to apply for Japanese citizenship, sumo sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2003

Guidant fined for hiding income

failed to declare about 4.4 billion yen in income in the four years to 1998 in Japan and has been ordered to pay 1.9 billion yen in unpaid taxes and punitive surcharges, industry sources said Friday. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau determined that GNBV, a subsidy of U.S.-based Guidant Corp., the world's...
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2003

Clothing boutiques become a promising arena for shoe sales

At a boutique in the trendy Harajuku district of Tokyo, a young woman picked out a black pleated miniskirt and went into a fitting room to try it on. Soon after, a saleswoman brought her a pair of long white boots.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 11, 2003

Dogs in Japan bow-wow before masters

Stray cats can be seen all over Japan: under parked cars, in alleyways, or in the parks being fed rice by "o-baa-chans." But you never see stray dogs. Why not? Is it the fault of Viagra? Cats are getting it but not dogs?
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2003

BOJ further loosens easy monetary stance

In a furious attempt to keep interest rates down while simultaneously acknowledging signs of economic growth, the Bank of Japan said Friday it will increase the maximum amount of money it means to pump into banks.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 11, 2003

Peter Miller

Peter Miller's becoming an original photogravure print artist was, he says, a gradual development. "It didn't come to me in a flash. I taught myself through trial and error, mostly error," he said. "There is no limit to it, and I am still learning. I etch and print the plates myself, as the entire process...
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

47 lawmakers decide to call it quits

With the dissolution Friday of the House of Representatives in the leadup to a general election in early November, 47 Lower House members have announced their intention to retire from politics.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2003

Beer drinkers splurged in September

Combined shipments of beer and low-malt "happoshu" in September rose 2.5 percent from a year earlier for the first year-on-year gain in five months, according to data released Friday by Japan's five top brewers.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2003

Bank lending falls by 5%

The average daily balance of Japanese bank lending fell 5 percent in September from a year earlier for the 69th consecutive month of decline, the Bank of Japan said Friday in a preliminary report.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2003

A ruse so clever it destroyed its creator

HONOLULU -- U.S. Sen. John Rockefeller came out of a hearing in Washington on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, to ask an intriguing, if rhetorical, question: "Did we misread it, or did they mislead us?"

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