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COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jan 23, 2003

Affirmative action challenged

WASHINGTON -- As so many Republicans turned from the embarrassment caused by Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi and began to give the appearance of really caring about racial harmony and equity, the leader of the party, President George W. Bush, took several actions that threaten to cast new darkness on...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 23, 2003

Wilkens hanging on as Raptors coach but for how long?

TORONTO -- Twice enshrined Lenny Wilkens probably has no idea how close he came to being deported from Toronto less than two weeks ago. Yet, surely the Hall of Fame player and coach, the NBA's all-time winningest (1278) and runnerup losingest (10 behind Bill Fitch at 1106) coach, knows his history-making...
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2003

Softbank BB to absorb four units

Internet investor Softbank Corp. said Wednesday its broadband business unit, Softbank BB Corp., will absorb four of its telecommunications service subsidiaries March 10 to streamline the Softbank group's operations.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2003

New privacy bill unshackles media

A new version of a privacy-protection bill features an exemption clause for news media and professional writers and may thus ease concerns about restrictions on press freedom, according to a draft obtained Wednesday by Kyodo News.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2003

Bill lets revitalization body forgive debt

The government's planned industrial revitalization body would be able to get national financial institutions to forgive debts when salvaging heavily indebted companies, according to a bill unveiled Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2003

Yahoo takes on fraudulent auctioneers

Yahoo Japan Corp. started posting on its Web site Wednesday the family names and bank account numbers of people who have repeatedly engaged in fraudulent and other illicit transactions on its auction sites.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2003

Ministry panel may review crisis-management system

A Foreign Ministry advisory panel on ministry reforms agreed Wednesday to think about reviewing its crisis-management system, according to the head of the panel.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 23, 2003

Chips with everything makes for a hi-tech mess

If you think that your computer, being such a modern, hi-tech device, is -- or surely must be -- environmentally friendly, then think again.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2003

Diet leagues serving vested interests

There are 727 lawmakers in the Diet, with 480 in the House of Representatives and 247 in the House of Councilors. Yet the number of Diet groups -- not political parties -- is said to be more than 1,000 and growing.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2003

Resona to issue new shares if adequacy ratio falls

OSAKA -- Resona Holdings Inc., which includes Daiwa Bank and Asahi Bank, will boost its capital by issuing new shares if its capital adequacy ratio falls as a result of increased loan-loss charges, President Yasuhisa Katsuta said in a recent interview.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2003

Suzuki names new president, launches hybrid

Suzuki Motor Corp. made a number of announcements Wednesday, naming its new president, unveiling fiscal 2003 sales projections and launching what it says is the world's first commercially available hybrid minivehicle.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDEN PATHS
Jan 23, 2003

The bare essentials

This column is the first in a series of articles to take us strolling along some garden paths. Hopefully, along the way, we will come across some good ideas for our own patch of greenery, whether that is a garden, containers on a balcony, or just a few potted plants on the kitchen window.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2003

Genome research council launched

A council tasked with promoting genome research in the Tokyo area was launched Wednesday, seeking to make the capital an international center for genome-based life sciences.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2003

Japanese re-enters country after escaping North Korea

The adult child of a Japanese woman who accompanied her Korean husband to North Korea decades ago under a repatriation program secretly entered Japan last summer with the help of the Japanese government, sources said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2003

Forge national consensus on taxes

One year ago the government published a five-year budget projection showing how it expected to make ends meet in fiscal 2002-06. Now, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, chaired by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has revised the plan -- downward. The basic picture is that the budget deficit...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2003

Landmark ruling in day-care case

The former president of a nationwide chain of day-care centers was sentenced Wednesday to a suspended one-year prison term for professional negligence resulting in the death of a 4-month-old boy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 23, 2003

Casting light on the aurora

"The sight filled the northern sky; the immensity of it was scarcely conceivable. As if from Heaven itself, great curtains of delicate light hung and trembled. Pale green and rose-pink, and as transparent as the most fragile fabric, and at the bottom edge a profound and fiery crimson like the fires of...
COMMENTARY
Jan 23, 2003

Restructure job stress levels

LONDON -- Stress seems to be the most common reason for absence from work. Stress at work is not a new phenomenon, but in the past it was often called something else, such as exhaustion. In the worst cases, it led to what was termed a nervous breakdown. Some of the tougher or macho bosses regarded such...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2003

Police believe Korean gang to blame for killing

The Metropolitan Police Department suspects that a gang of Koreans may be responsible for the killing of a company president during a house robbery in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward early Tuesday, according to investigative sources.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 23, 2003

Who are these people?

From where does all this good music spring? Through the good offices of the caring, quality-conscious trading community, which goes to great pains to ensure, in a manner likened to eugenics, that the "seeding" of the musical gene pool is as pure and defect-free as possible before the recording is prepared...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 23, 2003

Imaoka finally signs with Hanshin

Hanshin Tigers infielder Makoto Imaoka agreed to a 78.5 million yen pay raise and a 120 million yen annual salary for the upcoming season, officials of the Central League club said Tuesday.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 23, 2003

Nintendo lights up Game Boy Advance

There is no mistaking it anymore, Nintendo does better in the United States than in Japan. Nintendo sold more than twice as many Nintendo 64 game console in the United States than in Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2003

Ex-wrestler loses assault suit appeal

The Tokyo High Court dismissed an appeal by former professional wrestler Akira Maeda on Wednesday and ordered him to pay damages for assaulting the owner of a rival combat-sport promotion company.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’