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BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2005

Key economy gauge was bust in July

A key gauge of the current state of the economy fell below the boom-or-bust threshold of 50 percent in July for the first time in five months, the government said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2005

70% of firms back postal reforms: poll

More than 70 percent of firms believe privatizing Japan Post is a necessary part of state restructuring plans, according to a survey released Wednesday by credit research agency Teikoku Databank.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 8, 2005

Could chimp genome answer Plato's question?

In the 1960s, Toshisada Nishida, of Kyoto University, set up a long-term research project in the Mahale Mountains of Tanzania. His aim was to study our closest relatives in the wild. His work, and that of Jane Goodall, whose field site was some 170 km north, in Gombe, transformed the way we view chimps....
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2005

Jan. 1 to see a 'leap second' added

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology said Wednesday it will add a so-called leap second on Jan. 1 to bring the super accurate atomic clock into sync with the Earth's rotation.
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 7, 2005

Japan opens final auditions for World Cup against Honduras

SENDAI -- The countdown starts here.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Condolences for Katrina victims

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo will open a book of condolence for the victims of Hurricane Katrina that the public will be able to sign for three days beginning Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Palestinians to receive $50 million

Japan will give Palestinians a $49.7 million grant to help improve infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank following the completion of Israel's withdrawal of settlers from the areas, the government said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Flooring firms in price-fixing probe

The Fair Trade Commission searched five floor material makers Tuesday on suspicion of being involved in a price-fixing cartel.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 7, 2005

Saito picks up monthly MVP

Softbank Hawks right-hander Kazumi Saito was named Tuesday the Pacific League MVP for the month of August after winning all five starts to match a Japanese record with a 15-0 start to a season.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Loyalties to party, candidates put to test

Politics are about making decisions, and some of the most difficult ones are those based on where loyalties lie.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Train crash report lays main blame on speeding

An interim report on the deadly April 25 crash of a speeding commuter train on West Japan Railway Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line touches on the driver's apparent erratic behavior but leaves many questions unanswered.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Rakuten to buy ad firm LinkShare

Rakuten Inc. said Tuesday it will acquire major U.S. Internet advertising agency LinkShare Corp. for about $425 million (about 46.5 billion yen), a deal that will enable the Japanese online shopping mall operator to expand into the U.S. market.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Digital satellite TV finally hits target

The number of subscribers to digital broadcasting services via satellite topped 10 million at the end of August, two years later than the targeted date, according to a report released Tuesday by an industry body.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 7, 2005

Salaryman nightmare, otaku dreams

Playwright David Mamet was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his play "Glengarry Glen Ross." Two years before that, however, an earlier, major work, "Edmond," had fared less well with the critics.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Japan to release 7.3 million barrels of oil

Japan will release 7.3 million barrels of reserve oil kept by 66 private-sector refiners over a 30-day period beginning Wednesday in a concerted action by the International Energy Agency to help stabilize the world oil market in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Sales tax hike best solution, and it's urgent: expert

Raising the consumption tax may be considered political suicide.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Toyota boosts precrash safety system

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it has improved its precrash safety system by adding a driver-monitoring function that warns of an imminent collision when the driver is not looking straight ahead.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Plutonium from spent fuel at 43 tons

Japan's stockpile of plutonium extracted and separated from spent nuclear fuel increased to 43.1 tons as of the end of 2004, up 2.5 tons from the previous year, the government reported to the Atomic Energy Commission on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

ASDF F-15s collide, land safely

Two F-15 fighter jets of the Air Self-Defense Force collided over water northwest of Hokkaido on Tuesday morning and made safe emergency landings, ASDF officials said.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

NGO relief team Houston-bound

A team from a nongovernment organization for disaster relief was to leave Wednesday for Houston to help people who survived Hurricane Katrina.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2005

Longer delay seen for postal privatization

Even if the ruling coalition wins the upcoming general election and the postal privatization bills are reintroduced to the Diet and enacted, the government may delay the launch of the actual reforms by up to a year, sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 7, 2005

'Palookaville' gets gallery treatment

I was chatting with old friends in Toronto last week, and our conversation came round to the subject of Japanese manga. I made clear my reservations regarding the popularity of pulp manga in Japan, and bemoaned the fact that many manga artists have even had gallery shows here.
EDITORIALS
Sep 7, 2005

Katrina's grim reminder

Sadly, we are accustomed to the regular occurrence of natural disasters. It seems as if every few months a storm, flood, tsunami or earthquake devastates a country, exacts a frightening toll, and reminds us that we remain susceptible to the forces of the physical world. In the perennial struggle between...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2005

Koizumi's bare-knuckle power play may soon haunt him

Sunday's election for the Lower House stands out as abnormal, but not because of its abruptness. Many surprise elections have been held before. On March 14, 1953, for instance, then Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who was president of the Liberal Party, dissolved the Lower House following the passage...

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo