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BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2003

Orient eyes capital boost through share issuance

Struggling consumer credit firm Orient Corp. said Friday it will issue 150 billion yen in preferred shares to be purchased by Mizuho Corporate Bank to boost its depleted capital base.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 15, 2003

The queen of England at a hostess bar

Every Tuesday evening, I teach a private "English lesson" to a doctor. The lesson takes place at a hostess bar, or a "snack" as the Japanese call it. This doctor has about 10 snacks he goes to regularly, and I know most of them. In one lesson, we will hit one or two of them.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2003

Panama's combat lessons apply to Iraq

WASHINGTON -- Unless Iraq's military capitulates quickly, the most difficult phase of a war to overthrow President Saddam Hussein will likely be the battle for Baghdad. American military triumphs since 1990 have taken place in the open desert of Arabia, the airspace over the Balkans and the barren plains...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 15, 2003

Renato Brandao

"Theater is and has always been the most important force in my life," said Renato Brandao. "It has a life-transforming, mystical power. It says that you can improve yourself, you can enlarge your horizons, you don't have to be bound by today's limits. I felt victimized when I was young, and it gave me...
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2003

30% of inmate deaths unnatural

A total of 80 postmortem exams have been conducted over the past decade on prison inmates who died of unknown causes, Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2003

DPJ, SDP hope Higuchi runs in Tokyo race

The Democratic Party of Japan and the Social Democratic Party said Friday they hope social critic Keiko Higuchi will run in the upcoming Tokyo gubernatorial race against outspoken incumbent Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
COMMUNITY
Mar 15, 2003

Historian seeks clear U.N. mandate for peace

German-born Klaus Schlichtman is a peace historian. An academic who found his way late in life -- a "seeker" in every sense of the word.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2003

Department store sales keep sliding

Sales at department stores in Tokyo slid 2.5 percent in February on a year-on-year basis to 138.71 billion yen for the 15th consecutive month of decline, an industry body said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2003

Refugees' families no longer welcome

Refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos will no longer be permitted to bring their family members to Japan after March 31, 2004, the government decided at Friday's Cabinet meeting.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 15, 2003

Air Shakur dies after accident

Air Shakur, winner of the Satsuki-sho and the Kikka-sho in 2000, died Thursday evening due to complications from a broken leg, the Japan Racing Association said Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2003

Spy robot to guard homes

Fujitsu Ltd. and a subsidiary on Friday will start marketing a household sentry robot that telephones residents in the event of a break-in.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2003

Firms plug their toys' ability to lick stress

It seems as though everyday life is getting more and more stressful, and toy manufacturers are coming up with new products they say can soothe mind and body of young and old alike.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2003

Government silent on Pyongyang missile reports

Government officials refused to comment Thursday on reports that Pyongyang may be preparing to launch a Nodong ballistic missile, which can strike almost anywhere in Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2003

Government's jobless loan program flops

A special loan program catering for unemployed people has attracted just 3,700 borrowers since its launch in September 2001, falling well short of the 100,000 initially projected, welfare ministry officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2003

Asahara maintains his silence

Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara has refused to speak throughout much of his seven-year trial on charges related to the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway system, so it came as little surprise when he remained tight-lipped at Thursday's session at the Tokyo District Court.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2003

Tanaka cool on North Korea sanctions

Deputy Foreign Minister Hitoshi Tanaka voiced reluctance Thursday to imposing immediate economic sanctions on North Korea, stressing the need to resolve disputes with Pyongyang via dialogue.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2003

Deprived, ignored and scorned, North Korea driven into a corner

CAMBRIDGE, England -- For several years now North Korea has been carrying out a process of economic reform and opening up. Sound familiar? That is what the Chinese did 25 years ago when they, too, realized that their economic system was out-of-date and unable to meet the aspirations of its people.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2003

Accenture unit in China gambit

Accenture Corp., the Japanese unit of U.S. consulting firm Accenture Ltd., said Thursday it has established a unit in Dalian, China, to provide Japanese, Chinese and South Korean companies with outsourcing services.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2003

Government to create Cabinet-BOJ council

The government will soon form a council consisting of the Bank of Japan governor and Cabinet ministers to devise measures to stave off a financial crisis, the government's top spokesman said Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2003

Japan Tobacco strikes back with smoking salons

With the stock market hitting 20-year lows and the economic outlook getting worse, Japan's smokers have even more excuses to light up. Yet, in a country which has long been tolerant of tobacco use, a growing antismoking trend has made life for addicts more difficult.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2003

Ito-Yokado in small-scale hiring spree

Ito-Yokado Co. is on something of a mini hiring spree.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2003

Japanese-Americans discuss post-9/11 hate, ignorance, bias

Japanese-Americans have made major contributions to U.S. society -- even in the face of racism and misguided government policy -- so it is fitting that when Arab-Americans and Muslims were targeted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Japanese-Americans stood by them.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2003

CGPI slips year on year, rises month on month

The corporate goods price index fell 0.9 percent in February from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan said in a preliminary report Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2003

Projectiles fired at base in Yokota

Two projectiles were fired at the U.S. Air Force Yokota base in western Tokyo late Wednesday night in what police believe was an attack by extremists opposing a possible war on Iraq.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 14, 2003

F.A. must stop overruling officials on discipline

LONDON -- As the governing body of the sport in England, the Football Association is supposed to protect the game, promote fair play and, to quote from its web site "ensure that football gets the match officials it deserves."

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.