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JAPAN
Mar 4, 2003

Postal agency lifts lid on account scam

The Postal Services Agency has discovered about 49,000 illegal accounts for its postal insurance policy that provides tax-free capital gains if the money is applied to the purchase of a home or for use as a pension, agency sources said Monday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 4, 2003

Homesickness, toll-free numbers and money orders

Greetings Greetings from London, England, where my fellow Assyrians are making me feel at home with their sweet hospitality, wonderful food, but also making me homesick for Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2003

Tax revenue down for 17th month

National tax revenue fell in January from a year earlier for the 17th consecutive month amid the prolonged economic slump, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2003

Softbank in Yahoo Japan selloff

In an effort to bankroll its broadband business, Softbank Corp. announced Monday it will offload around 17 percent of its group stake in Yahoo Japan Corp.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2003

Display firm fancies dollhouses

KYOTO -- Dollhouses have a long history in the West, but in Japan they are mainly the work of hobbyists.
COMMUNITY
Mar 4, 2003

Japan gets keen on green for Paddy's Day party

The great, the good and the goths of trendy Harajuku are in for a shock on March 16, when the chic shopping district will be taken over by Tokyo's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2003

Price set for Asahi glass bottle unit

Asahi Breweries Ltd. will sell its wholly owned glass bottle manufacturer to Ishizuka Glass Co. for 100 million yen on April 1, the two companies said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 4, 2003

Sealing the deal on public meetings

You might have heard recently about Tama-chan, a cute sea lion frequenting Yokohama rivers. He became so popular that the city threw him an unprecedented fish: an honorary Certificate of Residency ("juminhyo").
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2003

Air traffic havoc hits second day

Troubles related to an air-traffic malfunction in Japan continued into their second day Sunday, with 10 flights canceled and dozens of others delayed for up to two hours, airline and airport officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2003

Japan should back U.S. regardless of U.N.: Aso

Taro Aso, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, indicated Sunday that Japan should support the United States -- even in the absence a new U.N. Security Council resolution -- should it lead an attack on Iraq.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2003

Price of backing U.S. against Iraq

A pall of gloom hangs over the world economy as a war looms with Iraq. If war does come, world oil prices will go higher, crimping growth and investment worldwide. That much is fairly clear. What is not clear is just how much the price of petroleum will rise and how hard the global economy will be hit....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2003

Castro meets with Koizumi, offers help with North Korea

Visiting Cuban President Fidel Castro told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Sunday that he is willing to play a role in resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, government officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2003

Safety measures for drug got sidetracked

A pharmaceutical firm's tardiness in taking safety precautions with a drug linked to more than 120 deaths may have been due to concerns that such moves could have hampered the drug's approval overseas, it was learned Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2003

Rising challenges to American power

SINGAPORE -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent visits to Japan, South Korea and China were a key test of U.S. diplomacy in Northeast Asia. His renewed focus on the region comes amid growing anxiety in Tokyo and Seoul over Pyongyang's nuclear brinkmanship and increasing resistance on the part...
COMMENTARY
Mar 3, 2003

Rules of a premodern Japan

The Liberal Democratic Party has ruled Japan since 1955 -- except for a period of less than a year from August 1993. The name LDP may suggest modern Western ideologies of liberty and democracy, but it is doubtful that the party has been the guardian of these principles.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 3, 2003

Unorthodox likely to be deprived of death wish

So now we know. After much speculation, leaking and hearsay, the next governor of the Bank of Japan has been named. Toshihiko Fukui it is, to the surprise and dismay of many it seems, judging by immediate media reactions here and elsewhere.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2003

Gathering concludes that nuclear power is essential to Japan

OSAKA -- The central government and the prefectures of Fukui, Aomori, and Osaka reaffirmed Sunday that nuclear power remains a vital part of the best possible energy mix for Japan.
EDITORIALS
Mar 2, 2003

Never upon a time

An American social ecologist last month published the results of tests that proved, she said, how easy it is to implant false memories in people. Dr. Elizabeth Loftus of the University of California at Irvine reported that in one experiment, subjects were shown advertisements featuring pictures of the...
MORE SPORTS
Mar 2, 2003

Sugiyama says Japanese male players need to do more to improve

Ranked 28th in the world, Ai Sugiyama is Japan's highest-ranked, female tennis player. During a recent visit to Tokyo for the Toray Pan Pacific Open, she sat down with The Japan Times to give her views on Japanese tennis, the developing power game in the sport and to issue some advice and criticism to...
MORE SPORTS
Mar 2, 2003

Champ Hamaguchi to tour Europe

Kyoko Hamaguchi, a world champion wrestler in the women's 72-kg division, and five other Japanese will travel to Europe next month to take part in international tournaments, wrestling sources said Friday.

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