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EDITORIALS
Sep 9, 2005

Anatomy of a train disaster

The April 25 tragic train crash on the West Japan Railway Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, was the worst rail accident since Japanese National Railways was privatized in April 1987. It killed 106 passengers plus the driver, Ryujiro Takami, 23, and injured 555 others. Many bereaved...
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2005

Meiji Yasuda scandal may undo execs

The president of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. and three other top executives might resign in October to take responsibility for a scandal in which the firm refused to pay insurance claims, sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2005

Firms trot out humanoid robot for risky tasks

Bridge builder Kawada Industries Inc. and two partners unveiled a humanoid robot Thursday designed to take on work at construction sites and other hazardous sites.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2005

BOJ upgrades economy for third consecutive month

The Bank of Japan on Thursday upgraded its assessment of the economy in its September report for the third straight month.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2005

Honda bikes to get air bags

Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it has developed the world's first motorcycle air bag system for commercial use, to be mounted on a production model to be released in the United States.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2005

July core machinery orders off 4.3%

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders declined a seasonally adjusted 4.3 percent in July from the previous month to 1.013 trillion, yen after surging 11.1 percent in June to their highest level in five years, the government said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2005

Earnings projected up

Japan's four major steelmakers said Thursday they are on track to post record earnings for the year through March, citing strong demand from automakers and shipbuilders.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Sep 9, 2005

Hail Vouvray, Aristocrat of the wine world

Just as The Aristocrats is the dirty joke that comedians tell each other after the punters have gone home, Vouvray is the tipple of choice among sommeliers once the ties have come off at the end of the evening.
Sep 9, 2005

Death toll at 21 as Typhoon Nabi clears out

Typhoon Nabi moved north away from the Japanese archipelago on Thursday, with the death toll from the storm rising to 21 after a body believed to be that of a missing man was found at the site of a landslide in Takachiho, Miyazaki Prefecture, in the afternoon. Six people were still listed as missing....
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2005

Hospices cool to cancer patients with HIV: poll

Almost half of the nation's hospices are reluctant to accept terminal-stage cancer patients with HIV, due to lack of experience or facilities to treat them, a survey showed Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 9, 2005

Give Lebanon space to heal

BEIRUT -- The tragic assassination of Rafik Hariri, both former and prospective Lebanon Prime Minister, on St. Valentine's Day (Feb. 14) set in motion a chain of events that gave the world hope in Lebanon's future.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Sep 9, 2005

Fashion turf war gains pace in Harajuku

It's a dog-eat-dog world down in Harajuku, where fickle fashion consumers abandon the old for the new as a matter of course and finding a successful formula for retail business success is often a case of trial and error.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2005

Airline license soughtt

Starflyer Inc. has filed an application for an air transport business license with a plan to operate 12 daily round-trip flights between Tokyo's Haneda airport and a new airport in Kitakyushu, its president said.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2005

China gives Itochu full trading status

Itochu Corp. said Thursday that China has given it approval to operate as a general trading house, which allows it to become the first Japanese trading firm to enter the country.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 8, 2005

Japan breaks jinx in thriller

RIFU, Miyagi Pref. -- Super sub Mitsuo Ogasawara came off the bench to score the winner as Japan came back from 4-2 down to secure a memorable 5-4 win over Honduras before a breathless crowd at Miyagi Stadium on Wednesday evening.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 8, 2005

Swallows knock the stuffing out of Giants

Norichika Aoki led off the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff homer on the first pitch from Hisanori Takahashi and the Yakult Swallows went on to hammer the Yomiuri Giants 14-3 Wednesday night at Jingu Stadium.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2005

18 die, 9 missing, thousands uprooted by typhoon

Typhoon Nabi headed north Wednesday over the Sea of Japan toward Hokkaido after leaving at least 18 dead, nine missing, 113 injured and thousands displaced in Kyushu and parts of western Japan.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2005

Scandal claims key Asahi, industry exec

The Asahi Shimbun's executive adviser said Wednesday he will step down from his post and resign as chairman of the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association to take responsibility for a fabricated report published in the daily.
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2005

Try again with rights bill

The government was to have submitted a human-rights protection bill during the most recent session of the Diet. Various reasons are cited for the bill's failure to reach the Diet floor, including government leaders' obsession with other hot-button issues such as postal-service reform. Still, legislation...
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2005

Bush's response to disaster all too typical

WASHINGTON -- Is George W. Bush a serious person? It's not a question to ask lightly of a decent man who holds the U.S. presidency, an office worthy of respect. But it must be asked.
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2005

'Third World' chaos hits home

HONOLULU -- The devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the United States is proving difficult for Americans to comprehend. Casualties currently number in the scores, but the body count is expected to swell in the days and weeks ahead -- when the survivors can stop merely trying to survive and can...
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2005

Canada signs fair-business pact

Japan and Canada signed an agreement Tuesday to cooperate on preventing anticompetitive business practices between the two countries, the Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2005

Downsizing government sounds great

Downsizing the public sector has been high on the agenda of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government, and both his Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan are promising this campaign season to reduce the number of people on the government payroll.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2005

Urban support seen as key for Horie

ONOMICHI, Hiroshima Pref. -- A small office in front of JR Onomichi Station attracts hundreds of visitors daily as the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election draws near.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes