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JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

Fuso execs forfeit 100 million yen in retirement pay

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. said Thursday that two former senior executives will not receive their retirement allowances and two have returned half of the money they were paid to take responsibility for vehicle defect coverups that caused two fatalities in 2002.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2005

Confidence up among large firms

Business confidence among large companies in Japan improved for the first time in three quarters in the April-June period, spurred by a pickup in personal spending, the government said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2005

Tertiary index climbed 1.8% in April

Japan's service industry activity index jumped 1.8 percent in April from the previous month to mark the first rise in three months, the government said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

Police sweep finds surge in drug use

Police took action against 2,965 people suspected of possessing illegal drugs during its May to June antidrug campaign, up a steep 19.1 percent from the year before, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

Mission to assess Sudan's needs

Japan will dispatch a mission to Sudan on Sunday to gather information on its needs and how $100 million in aid the government promised in April can best be used, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

METI official embezzles 24 million yen for stock, repays it, apologizes, quits

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Thursday that a senior official misappropriated 24 million yen in public funds for personal stock trading.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 24, 2005

A prize catch for travel merchants

First impressions of a Japanese provincial town can be so thoroughly dispiriting as to make you inclined to believe that the developer of the station area set about his task grimly determined to bring a whole new meaning to the concept of drabness. And so it is upon alighting at Omi Hachiman Station...
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

Escaped slave's kin lose redress award in appeal

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday overturned a lower court decision and denied compensation to the family of a deceased Chinese slave laborer who lived as a fugitive for 13 years after escaping from a Hokkaido coal mine near the end of World War II.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2005

METI chief chimes in on U.S. card data theft

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa asked representatives of major credit card companies Thursday to protect customers and tighten information security in the wake of a massive card data theft in the United States, which caused more than 110 million yen in losses in Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

GSDF vehicle windshield damaged in Iraq blast

An explosion took place Thursday morning near four Ground Self-Defense Force vehicles in southern Iraq, damaging one windshield, government officials in Tokyo said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jun 24, 2005

So you want to be a rock 'n' roll star?

Forget karaoke. Why sing along to an "empty orchestra" (which is what karaoke means in Japanese) when you could be the star -- center stage -- fronting your own live band? I am sure that many people who have perfected their "empty" performances must have dreamed of taking it a step further.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

Two research whale burgers to go, please

A Hokkaido fast food joint began offering whale burgers Thursday as antiwhaling nations urged Japan to cut back on its catch at an international whaling conference.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2005

New Sony chief looks to go after money-losing operations

New Sony Corp. CEO Howard Stringer said Thursday that his company will winnow out some unprofitable operations as it tries to turn around its lackluster consumer electronics business.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

Ishihara seen as X-factor in metro race

Four years ago, it was Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who appeared on the posters of Liberal Democratic Party candidates for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2005

Credit card firms stepping up security

The massive security breach last week at a credit card data processing center in the United States is prompting credit card companies in Japan to step up measures to prevent card-related fraud.
JAPAN / A GENERATION CLOCKS OUT
Jun 24, 2005

Companies eager for baby boomers to retire with lots of money and time

The looming retirement of the baby boomer generation has become a national concern as it will cause a drastic decline in the labor force, but some firms are excited about the massive shift.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2005

Secret data on reactor inspections leaked to Internet

Confidential information on nuclear power plant inspections was posted on the Internet recently by a virus in the computer of an employee contracted to do the inspections, Mitsubishi Electric Co. said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2005

EU states also need to deal with Israel

DOHA, Qatar -- Hamas' electoral success since the first round of local elections in Gaza in December has signaled a dramatic shift in the way the movement is perceived both nationally and internationally.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 23, 2005

Murata grand slam sends BayStars past Giants

Shuichi Murata hit a grand slam and Yoshihiro Doi went the distance Wednesday as the Yokohama BayStars trounced the struggling Yomiuri Giants 8-0.
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2005

Putting the Vietnam War to rest

Ten years after the two countries normalized relations, and three decades after the end of the Vietnam War, a leading Vietnamese official is visiting the United States for the first time. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's trip holds out hope that the two countries will put the war behind them. The vocal...
COMMENTARY
Jun 23, 2005

Lively politics worries China

HONG KONG -- Although Taiwan's lat est constitutional reforms preclude any declaration of formal independence for the foreseeable future, they do strengthen Taiwan's democratic development.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 23, 2005

Yellow-browed bunting

* Japanese name: Kimayuhojiro * Scientific name: Emberiza chrysophrys * Description: Buntings are related to finches and sparrows, but the Yellow-browed bunting -- whose Japanese name means "yellow eyebrow white cheek" -- is distinguished from them by its rather large head, brown-streaked upperparts...

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell