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JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Top court rules against moneylender

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that commercial moneylender Lopro Corp. effectively charged too much interest on loans that its affiliate charged fees to guarantee.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2003

Tepco to launch wireless network

Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to launch in the Tokyo metropolitan area later this year, a fiber-optic communications service using high-speed wireless access, company officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Cemetery for war dead has identity crisis

Summer for many Japanese is a time that conjures up bitter memories of the nation's Aug. 15, 1945, defeat in the war -- a conflict that claimed millions of lives and left a number of cities devastated.
COMMENTARY
Jul 19, 2003

No assault on U.S. morality

WASHINGTON -- For more than a year American politics has focused on war in Iraq. But the Supreme Court's decision voiding state antisodomy laws has inflamed the culture war in America. Conservative religious groups prophesy a moral apocalypse; Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is calling for a federal...
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2003

Honda looks to shape brighter future by remodeling the past

Honda Motor Co. hopes to recover from a slump in domestic car sales by launching redesigned models of popular vehicles, according to Honda President Takeo Fukui.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2003

Mori looks out for foreign children

Mori Building Co. has announced it will open a kindergarten for 180 international school children in January adjacent to the Roppongi Hills complex in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2003

'Competitive' NTT fees promised

Telecommunications minister Toranosuke Katayama said Friday his ministry will maintain a policy of ensuring that the interconnection fees Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. charges other carriers for access to its lines will remain competitive.
COMMENTARY
Jul 19, 2003

Hong Kong's democratic hopes vs. authoritarian fears

HONG KONG -- July 1, 2003 -- when at least 500,000 Hong Kongers marched in nonviolent protest -- will live long in memory, provided that Hong Kong remains an oasis of freedom set in China's authoritarian sea. But it was also a day that will almost certainly be expunged from the Chinese collective memory...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 19, 2003

Cosmo fashion takes over the classroom

Some of the biggest changes in Japan over the years have taken place in the world of academia. Over 10 years, for example, my university classroom has changed from reserved, plain-dressed girls who used to hide behind their bangs to a group of miniskirted, sexy, breasty teens who wiggle and jiggle their...
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

12 cultural envoys to pitch Japan abroad

The Cultural Affairs Agency has recently appointed 12 people as cultural ambassadors who will live abroad to help spread Japanese culture and art, including films and "rakugo" comic storytelling, agency officials said.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Eel package labels face inspection

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry will start inspecting packaged eels nationwide next Tuesday to verify their point of origin.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 19, 2003

The lesson: don't lift weights with precious hands

Snatching a quick bite of sushi in Shinagawa Station one Friday evening in late June, a young man slips in beside me and after a quick glance to either side, hisses conspiratorially, "Tell me what to do . . ."
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Diet approves bill to let lawmakers practice law

The Diet passed a bill Friday that allows current and former lawmakers to practice law, even without undergoing normal legal training, if they pass the bar exam and have served in the legislature for at least five years.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Disabled allowed to vote by proxy

Physically disabled people who cannot write by themselves will be allowed to let a proxy fill in their mail-in ballots under a law passed Friday by the Diet.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2003

Loose talk in chat room costs operator

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered the operator of an Internet chat room to pay a total of 4 million yen to a cosmetics firm and its head because content on one of its message boards defamed them.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 18, 2003

New bilingual paper ready to launch

SportZone, an English-Japanese bilingual weekly sports newspaper, will make its debut on Friday, July 18.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2003

Town hopes wind bells ring in some new vitality

The tinkling of some 3,000 glass wind bells in a small mountain town in Aichi Prefecture is not just a sign of summer but a sound of hope for community revitalization.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2003

Missing girls, dead man found in condo

Four girls missing since the weekend were found unharmed Thursday at a condominium in Tokyo's Akasaka district, police said.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2003

Lower House approves holiday bill

The House of Representatives endorsed a bill Thursday to change the name of Greenery Day, a national holiday that currently falls on April 29, to Showa Day.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 18, 2003

Matsui at midseason: Top scout likes what he sees

With the second half of the major league season set to get underway on Friday, I thought now would be a good time to get an expert's opinion on the progress of the New York Yankees rookie outfielder Hideki Matsui.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2003

Discontent runs deep in Hong Kong

LONDON -- The way in which the administration in Hong Kong was forced to pull back from its proposed antisubversion legislation has rightly been hailed as a rare example of popular feeling making its impact on the unelected government of the former British colony. But it raises more fundamental questions...
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2003

Tax scandal hits posts ministry affiliate group

An association affiliated with the posts ministry hid about 420 million yen in income over two years, sources said Thursday.

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