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EDITORIALS
Jul 20, 2003

Driving Jesus crazy

Sooner or later, there had to be a backlash against the largely American phenomenon of preempting political debate by injecting "Jesus" into whatever social or political argument happened to dominate the hour. The fad started several years ago and quickly found favor among a surprisingly broad swath...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 20, 2003

Taking readers to the edge

RUNNERS IN THE MARGINS: Poems by Akira Tatehata, translated by Hiroaki Sato. Vermont: P.S A Press, 2003, 103 pp., $12.95 (paper) The poet Akira Tatehata has a wide-ranging imagination as rich, and yet as controlled, as the brush of the most delicate artist. His poems are sometimes playful, sometimes...
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

Doi denies she will quit over scandal

Social Democratic Party leader Takako Doi denied speculation Saturday that she will resign to take responsibility for the arrest of former party lawmaker Kiyomi Tsujimoto, who is being questioned over the misuse of the salaries of her state-paid secretaries.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Japan Highway on the road to ruin; 617.477 billion yen in debt: document

A set of secret documents allegedly compiled by Japan Highway Public Corp. suggest that the semigovernmental corporation is in a state of capital deficit.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

U.S. to give back idle Yokohama land

Japan and the United States agreed in principle Friday to the return of idle land at four sites in Yokohama currently overseen by U.S. forces, Foreign Ministry officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

English class flexes the ear muscles

Many people in Japan blame the education system for their inability to communicate well in English, even though they have studied the language for years in school.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Government won't fight worker comp for suicide

The labor ministry said Friday it will not appeal a high court ruling that effectively provided worker compensation to the wife of a Toyota Motor Corp. employee who committed suicide in 1988 as a result of overwork.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

METI pushes more robust framework on greenhouse gases

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released an interim report Friday on global warming, calling for a new framework that covers the majority of ozone-depleting greenhouse gas emissions.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 19, 2003

Kawaguchi hopes to make 49ers roster

Former Japan linebacker Masafumi Kawaguchi confidently vowed to make the San Francisco 49ers final roster and become the first Japanese player in the NFL as the 30-year-old Ritsumeikan University alumni heads to the Niners' training camp.
EDITORIALS
Jul 19, 2003

'Kenpo' deficit widens

Japan's health insurance system for private-sector employees (Kenpo) is sinking deeper into deficit. It is estimated that eight of 10 health insurance associations booked losses in fiscal 2002. At this rate, an increase in insurance premiums seems inevitable.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 19, 2003

Matsuzaka, Takahashi on Nagashima's wish list

Seibu Lions right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yomiuri Giants outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi were among 33 professional players recommended Thursday for the Japanese national baseball team for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Sapporo this fall.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Suicidal kidnapper collected nude photos

Police have confiscated photographs of naked women and a list of women's names from a Tokyo condo in which a 29-year-old man had allegedly confined four elementary schoolgirls, investigative sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2003

Execs call for political manifestos

KARUIZAWA, Nagano Pref. -- Business executives called Friday on the nation's political parties to show voters their manifestos so that they can compete on the basis of concrete policy goals in the next general election.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 19, 2003

Yuki Horibe

COCOS ISLANDS -- When Yuki Horibe was planning a university break in order to gain some overseas experience, she looked at a world map. She said: "I wanted a small, tropical island. I wanted to learn English. I wanted diving. I found Christmas Island, and thought, 'Every day is Christmas. That should...
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2003

Insurance policyholders warned to wise up, do their homework

In a bid to prevent frailty in the life insurance sector from potentially exploding into the political and banking scenes, the House of Councilors on Friday enacted legislation allowing troubled life insurers to lower their promised payouts to policyholders.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 19, 2003

Tigers prey on Carp

Shinjiro Hiyama led off the eighth inning with a solo roundtripper for the go-ahead run as the red-hot Hanshin Tigers comfortably picked up from where they left off before the All-Star break, beating the Hiroshima Carp 4-3 at Koshien Stadium on Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Tsujimoto arrested over fraud

Tokyo police on Friday arrested former Diet member Kiyomi Tsujimoto on suspicion of committing fraud by skimming government salaries for her policy secretaries.
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...

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40