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Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

Allow SDF to protect embassies overseas: Aisawa

The government should consider revising the Self-Defense Forces Law to allow SDF troops to guard Japanese embassies overseas, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 3, 2003

Matsui: Pitching the difference between MLB, Japan pro ball

Ask New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui the difference between major league baseball and Japanese professional baseball and he will tell you.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2003

Coalition agrees on pension reform

The two ruling parties agreed Tuesday that the level of public pension benefits for a model household should be no less than 50 percent of its average salary before retirement, rejecting the Finance Ministry's call for drastic cuts in both benefits and premiums.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2003

Hitachi units set to forge alliance

Hitachi Information Systems Ltd. said Tuesday it will merge with Hitachi netBusiness Ltd., an Internet data service provider, on April 1.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

Koreans fail to collect condolence cash

The Associated Press Far fewer Koreans or descendants of Koreans conscripted to fight for Japan during World War II are coming forward to claim "condolence money" than the government had expected, leaving billions of yen unclaimed, officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 3, 2003

Take a closer look

Contemporary art sure can be divisive. Every year, the British press fills with angry opinion pieces lambasting the finalists for that nation's Turner Prize. In the United States and elsewhere, citizens' groups regularly mobilize against the controversial in art exhibitions -- be it Robert Mapplethorpe's...
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

New minimum reformatory age eyed

A government panel is seeking a legal change so that delinquents under age 14 can be sent to reformatories, sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 3, 2003

A behind-the-scenes drama of noh

A masterly drama about a master dramatist is playing at the New National Theater in Tokyo through Dec. 21. Bando Mitsugoro, a 47-year-old kabuki actor, takes the title role in "Zeami," a biographical play about the talented writer-actor-director who, in the early 15th century, did more than any other...
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2003

Local tax coffers might benefit from smokers

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki indicated Tuesday that the national government may shift some of its tobacco tax revenues to local authorities to help reform the flow of finances to local governments.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2003

Daiei signs deal on stadium, hotel

Struggling retailer Daiei Inc. announced Tuesday it has agreed to sell a baseball stadium/hotel complex to U.S. investment fund Colony Capital LLC, offloading a chunk of mounting debts as it struggles to stay afloat.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 3, 2003

In between art and life

"Gokann," the umbrella name given to three exhibitions of contemporary Finnish art now showing in Kyoto, is an accommodating term. The Japanese title was chosen for its multiplicity of meanings, all derived from typing in "g-o-k-a-n-n" on a computer then pressing the kanji-convert key. Those varied meanings...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

Takefuji wiretapping scandal unfolds

More than a year after journalist Shunsuke Yamaoka first accused Takefuji Corp. of tapping his home phone, police have finally reached the top echelons of the country's leading consumer loan firm.
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2003

Lots of debate, little action

The problems with Japan's education system are well known -- poor teaching in the universities; class disintegration (gakkyu hokai) in the schools -- to name but a few. So many students, unwilling to put up with the pressures and rigidities of the existing school system, are now dropping out of school...
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

Koizumi again pledges to dispatch troops

Japan will overcome last weekend's slaying of two Foreign Ministry diplomats in northern Iraq and send Self-Defense Forces troops to the country when the time is appropriate, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2003

Companies pursue image boost via programs for disabled

Japanese corporations are steadily expanding their social action programs to support physically disabled people in an apparent bid to look better to foreign investors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

Takefuji boss held for wiretapping journalist

Police on Tuesday arrested Takefuji Corp. Chairman Yasuo Takei for allegedly ordering employees to bug the phone of a journalist who had criticized the consumer loan giant.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2003

Mizuho Corporate Bank set to expand China business

Mizuho Corporate Bank President Hiroshi Saito said Tuesday the company will greatly expand operations to take advantage of the rapid growth of the Chinese economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2003

Digital broadcasts mark fledgling debut

With signs that say "Digital is coming!" hanging in stores packed with new TV models promising dazzling imagery, Tokyo's bustling electronics shopping district in Akihabara is one place in Japan that's gung-ho about digital television broadcasting that began Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2003

Churchill invoked amid tributes to slain diplomats

Foreign Ministry officials paid a tearful tribute Monday to two colleagues who were assassinated Saturday in an ambush in northern Iraq.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2003

Web surfers flock to Iraq diary of late envoy

The final diary entry penned by Katsuhiko Oku, a diplomat who died in an ambush Saturday in Iraq, was posted on the Foreign Ministry's Web site Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 2, 2003

Giants pitcher Kudo to get hefty pay cut

Yomiuri Giants lefty Kimiyasu Kudo, who turned 40 in May, will be given a 20 million yen pay cut, the Central League club said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 2, 2003

Tread carefully in Iraq

Two Japanese diplomats were ambushed and shot dead by gunmen Saturday in the Iraqi village of Mukayshifa while driving to a conference on reconstruction work in Tikrit, north of Baghdad. Mr. Katsuhiko Oku and Mr. Masanori Inoue were reported to have been attacked when they stopped to buy food and drinks...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji