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CULTURE / Books
Sep 8, 2002

Is life but a walk in the park?

The latest winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for promising new writers of literary fiction, Shu'ichi Yoshida (born 1968), is being lauded for his light touch in portraying the loneliness and isolation of urban life today. At the Akutagawa Prize press conference, Yoshida said that he wanted to...
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2002

Demand slump bludgeons earnings forecast of Nippon Steel

The nation's biggest steelmaker, Nippon Steel Corp., said Friday it has revised downward its group earnings projections for the fiscal first half due to a prolonged slump in domestic demand.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Sep 6, 2002

Diet library to boost Web access

SEIKA, Kyoto Pref. -- The Internet age is offering libraries a chance to shed the image of musty rooms lined with overflowing shelves and endless reference materials.
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 6, 2002

Zico wants full squad for friendly

Europe-based Japanese players will get a call-up to play Jamaica in an international friendly next month, Zico's debut match as Japan coach, the Brazilian coach said Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / LEGACIES OF 9/11
Sep 6, 2002

Overreliance on U.S. market a gamble

When the United States was hit by terrorist attacks nearly a year ago, the economic fallout was predicted to be a nightmare.
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2002

Toyota top income earner for third consecutive year

Toyota Motor Corp. remained Japan's top taxable income earner in fiscal 2001, dominating the nation's top 50 businesses for the third year in a row, according to a list released Thursday by the National Tax Agency.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2002

Tepco in-house probe reveals division chiefs' coverup role

An internal probe by Tokyo Electric Power Co. has determined that division chiefs ordered at least three coverups of structural problems at Tepco nuclear plants, company sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2002

Pyongyang summit may see normalization talks accord

Japan and North Korea will probably agree to resume normalization talks when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on Sept. 17, government sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2002

'Secret' MSDF manual missing from destroyer

A classified Maritime Self-Defense Force radio communications manual has disappeared from a destroyer based in Hiroshima Prefecture, officials said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2002

Lofty words with little impact

CAMBRIDGE, England -- As I write, the world's leaders, well most of them -- U.S. President George W. Bush is too busy clearing his desk after a month's holiday -- are lining up to make their speeches at the Johannesburg global conference on sustainable development.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2002

Mitsui unveils new president

Mitsui & Co. decided Tuesday to promote Shoei Utsuda, senior executive managing officer, to company president, company officials said.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2002

Firms look to cash in on energy-efficient appliances

OSAKA -- Manufacturers of home appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators are making them more energy-efficient, and some products save more than 80 percent on power costs compared with 10 years ago, according to industry officials.
Japan Times
JAPAN / LEGACIES OF 9/11
Sep 4, 2002

Iraq issue casts shadow on post-9/11 solidarity

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, two things crossed the mind of Shotaro Yachi of the Foreign Ministry: Japan must join the international community in condemning the acts, and must do everything possible to help the anticipated U.S. military response.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2002

Mitsubishi Estate rebuilds historic commercial building

Mitsubishi Estate Co. completed reconstruction work Tuesday on a historic commercial building in Tokyo's Marunouchi district.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 4, 2002

Fighters welcome foreign fans to Dome

The Pacific League's Nippon Ham Fighters will hold their first Arizona Diamondbacks Night promotion on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Tokyo Dome and, as was the case with Yankees Day for the past 20 years, the Fighters ballclub is inviting 3,000 foreign fans as guests to this fun international event. The...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2002

Let there be light in the urban darkness

Naoya Hatakeyama's stunning photographs use finely tuned modern techniques to discover harmonious beauty in places where we often perceive only competing layers of chaos. They filter our all-too-familiar environment, revealing its underlying complexity and, in the process, leading us to question the...
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2002

Woman denies masterminding boy's abduction

A Chinese woman accused of masterminding the June kidnapping of a 6-year-old Chinese boy in Tokyo denied in court Monday that she planned the abduction and claimed she only helped the other four accused in the crime.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2002

Zero-interest account plan poised to solve nothing

Banks don't want it. Most depositors don't need it. Many politicians oppose it. A compromise plan financial regulators are preparing is supposed to appease critics, help save the nation's weakest banks, and protect one of the key reform pledges of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. It may accomplish none...
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2002

Toyota and Nissan forge hybrid tieup

Toyota Motor Corp. will provide Nissan Motor Co. with technology aimed at developing eco-friendly hybrid cars over a period of more than 10 years, the automakers said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2002

Earthquake drills go off without a hitch

Almost two million people throughout the country took part in disaster-preparedness drills based on various earthquake scenarios on Sunday.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2002

Hepatitis C victims may file lawsuit against state, firm

A group of about 20 people who contracted the hepatitis C virus via tainted blood products is considering filing a lawsuit against the state and now-defunct drugmaker Green Cross Corp., sources close to the group said Sunday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2002

Children try their hand at making 'kyogashi' sweets

KYOTO -- To mark the end of the summer holidays, some 100 people, including many schoolchildren, tried their hand Saturday at making "kyogashi" Japanese confectionery at the Kyoto Confectionery Museum.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 1, 2002

How much do you really need to know?

The choice of yeast in sake brewing exerts marvelous leverage on the aroma and style of the final product. And, while creativity and diversity lead to better sake over time, things can indeed get out of hand. Today, there are so many different yeasts -- and ways of combining them -- that it almost ceases...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 1, 2002

Tokyo's blueprints of th past - and the future

Tokyo is an ugly city. Sure, it may not suffer from the smog of Mexico City, be blighted by Johannesburg-style shantytowns or possess Houston's plate-glass vacuity. Nonetheless, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, World War II bombing and subsequent construction booms have combined to obliterate the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 1, 2002

'Seven Samurai' 101

SEVEN SAMURAI: The Ultimate Film Guides Series, by Roy Stafford. London: Longman/York Press/Pearson Education, 2001, 91 pp., 6.99 pounds (paper) "Would you be willing to do what is right, regardless of the consequences? To see good triumph over evil and use your strength and heroism to protect the lives...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2002

A new strategy for 'forgotten' Chernobyl

Almost half a world away, in a remote corner of Ukraine, a routine safety experiment at a nuclear power station went terribly wrong in 1986, resulting in what in human history became universally recognizable by a single word: Chernobyl. Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be repeated, and it is up to...
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Foreign kids to get help with classroom Japanese

The education ministry has summarized methods for teaching Japanese to foreign students attending local elementary schools, according to ministry officials.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Alleged abductees' kin hopeful, skeptical

Families of those believed to have been abducted to North Korea welcomed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's plan to visit the Stalinist state next month as an opportunity to make some headway on the thorny issue.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?