Olympics: Japan fails to medal, comes 4th in team pursuit
February 16, 2006Japan was hit with the same misfortune that gave it a lucky break a day earlier when its speed skaters missed out on a podium spot with a fourth-place finish in the women's team pursuit on Thursday. Looking to dispel a foul mood that has befallen the Japanese delegation by winning the country's first medal in Turin, Japan lost to Russia in the race to determine the bronze medal in the 2,400-meter race at the Oval Lingotto.
Olympics: Russian biathlete tests positive for doping
February 16, 2006Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva was stripped of the silver medal she won in the 15-kilometer event and thrown out of the Turin Olympics on Thursday after failing a doping test. Earlier, Pyleva was suspended by the International Olympic Committee and did not participate in the 7.5-km sprint Thursday, in which she was also tipped to win a medal.
Olympics: Japan 6th in Nordic combined team event
February 16, 2006Japan was unable to make up any significant ground in the cross-country race and finished in sixth place in the Nordic combined team event at the Winter Olympics on Thursday. Japan, fifth upon the completion of the rescheduled second round of jumps in the ski jumping section earlier in the day, briefly moved into third during the race but Yosuke Hatakeyama ran out of steam over the final leg in Pragelato.
Olympics: Japan fails to medal, comes 4th in team pursuit
February 16, 2006Japan was hit with the same misfortune that gave it a lucky break a day earlier when its speed skaters missed out on a podium spot with a fourth-place finish in the women's team pursuit on Thursday. Looking to dispel a foul mood that has befallen the Japanese delegation by winning the country's first medal in Turin, Japan lost to Russia in the race to determine the bronze medal in the 2,400-meter race at the Oval Lingotto.
Olympics: Russian biathlete tests positive for doping
February 16, 2006Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva was suspended on Thursday for failing a drugs test after winning the silver medal in the 15-kilometer event at the Winter Olympics. Pyleva was suspended by the International Olympic Committee and did not participate in the biathlon 7.5-kilomete sprint on Thursday, in which she was also tipped to win a medal.
Olympics: Olympic opposition a different class, says Narita
February 16, 2006Domu Narita admitted Japan's snowboarders still have a long way to go before they can hope to seriously challenge the world's top riders after returning home empty-handed from the Winter Olympics on Thursday. Narita and Kazuhiro Kokubo had been tipped as possible medal contenders in Turin but all four of Japan's men bombed on the Bardonecchia pipe and failed to make it past the qualifiers.
Prince Tomohito's surgery for throat cancer postponed
February 16, 2006An operation for throat cancer that Prince Tomohito of Mikasa was scheduled to undergo on Monday has been postponed, as more detailed examinations are necessary, the Imperial Household Agency said Thursday. The 60-year-old prince, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, will stay at a National Cancer Center hospital in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, where doctors will set a new date for the surgery after the examinations.
3 ex-American football players indicted over gang rape
February 16, 2006Prosecutors on Thursday indicted three Kyoto University students who formerly belonged to its American football club on charges that they gang raped a female university student in December. The prosecutors said Ryo Ikeguchi, 23, Jumpei Shirai, 22, and Masahiro Kido, 22, gang raped the 19-year-old woman in the early hours of Dec. 23 at Kido's apartment in Kyoto after getting her drunk at a party that started the previous night with two other women also attending.
Olympics: Japan drops 3rd loss in women's curling in Turin
February 16, 2006Japan's hopes of pulling off a podium finish took another dent Thursday after a 9-5 loss to Denmark in the preliminary round of the Turin Olympic women's curling tournament. Japan blew a 4-1 advantage in the fifth end when the Danes picked up three points and then allowed them to take the lead for good in the sixth after skip Ayumi Onodera threw long with her last stone to give up two points that made it 6-4.
Nobel laureate Maathai calls for use of 'furoshiki' wrapping cloth
February 16, 2006Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, urged Japan and other countries on Thursday to promote environmental conservation, with everyone taking a small action, such as using ''furoshiki'' Japanese wrapping cloth. ''We don't have to do big things but we can do small things that make a difference,'' she said in a speech in Tokyo.
Rakuten posts record-high group revenues, net profit in 2005
February 16, 2006Rakuten Inc. said Thursday its group operating revenues and net profit both hit record highs in 2005 as the Internet and financial services firm has expanded its businesses, led by the robust online shopping mall division. In the earnings report for the 12 months through December, Japan's largest Internet mall operator's consolidated operating revenues nearly tripled from a year before to 129.78 billion yen, with group net profit at 19.45 billion yen, a turnaround from a 14.27 billion yen loss the previous year.