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JAPAN
Sep 2, 2001

44 die in fire, blast at Tokyo nightspot

A powerful fire and explosion ripped through a mah-jongg parlor and an adult entertainment club in the Kabukicho entertainment district of Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward early Saturday, killing at least 44 people and injuring three others, authorities said.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 2, 2001

Standing out in the crowd: the joys of tachinomiya

Tachinomiya hold a special position among drinking establishments. There is something about standing while drinking that puts a whole new spin on the sake experience. What such places lack in serenity they more than make up for in value and fun.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2001

Britain probes Blackman case 'con artist'

British police are investigating the man who claimed to be offering a 77 million yen reward in last year's search for hostess Lucie Blackman on suspicion of fraud.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2001

Islanders' concerns over cash grow

More than half of the people evacuated from Miyake Island following the eruption of Mount Oyama a year ago are experiencing economic difficulties, according to a recent survey by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2001

14,700 Hitachi staff to be cut in IT slump

Hitachi Ltd. said Friday that it will abolish 14,700 jobs, or 4.5 percent of its 324,000-strong group workforce, by the end of March to help turn around declining earnings amid the slump in the information technology sector.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2001

Sanyo revises downward its first-half forecast

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. said Friday it has revised downward its group earnings forecast for the first half of the business year, projecting sales of 1.04 trillion yen, down 1.9 percent from previous expectations.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2001

Takenaka firm on tight bond policy for fiscal '02

Heizo Takenaka, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, continued to push fiscal stringency Thursday, calling Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's proposal to cap government bond issues below 30 trillion yen "extremely reasonable."
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2001

Ministry expects lower tax revenues

Vice Finance Minister Toshiro Muto said Thursday tax revenues for the current fiscal year may be lower than the government's 50.73 trillion yen estimate due to the deteriorating economy.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2001

Budget requests set to hit 85.7 trillion yen

Fiscal 2002 budget requests from government ministries and agencies will total 85.7 trillion yen, up 3.7 percent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2001

Use of counterfeit passports to enter Japan on the rise

The number of arrests for entering Japan on fake passports rose sharply in the first half of the year, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2001

Action on online broker shows market trend

Tokyo stocks remain trapped in a deepening slump, mirroring negative investor sentiment.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2001

Industrial output drops for fifth month in a row

Industrial production slackened further in July with its key index dropping 2.8 percent from June, marking the fifth consecutive month-on-month decline, the trade ministry said in a preliminary report Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2001

Public works budget favors urban projects

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry on Wednesday announced a budget request of 7.918 trillion yen for fiscal 2002.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2001

Nikkei plummets below 11,000 mark

The key Nikkei stock average closed on Wednesday below the psychologically important 11,000 line for the first time in nearly 17 years as Japanese investors became worried by signs of a further delay in a U.S. economic recovery.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 30, 2001

Ichiro prefers to let his bat do the talking

He may be the ultimate Mariner, but when it comes to dealing with the media, baseball superstar Ichiro Suzuki can act more like a clam.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

New diplomat probe not needed: Tanaka

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka tried Tuesday to clarify earlier comments by saying she did not mean to suggest she had instructed the ministry's senior bureaucrats to reinvestigate allegations that a diplomat who served in Australia several years ago misused public funds.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 29, 2001

Free tickets for Tokyo Dome

Get your free tickets for Yankees Day Sept. 16.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 29, 2001

American culture now just part of the furniture

Following decades of hot pursuit, Japan feels it no longer needs to catch up with the U.S. Fifth in a series Staff writer Who would have believed 50 years ago that the hatred spawned during World War II could dissipate to the extent that former enemies now reminisce about shared cultural experiences,...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Koizumi targets rising joblessness

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday told his Cabinet ministers to take additional steps to deal with rising unemployment.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2001

Pressure on reforms likely as bleeding starts

The nation's unemployment rate, which hit an all-time high of 5 percent in July, may present the greatest threat to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reforms, begging the question, "Is reform worth the pain?"
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2001

Trends in life learning for senior citizens

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- So much talk about globalization issues nowadays overshadows a couple of other equally important current developments: the longer life span of individuals and their wish to lead a meaningful period of time as silver-haired "senior citizens."
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

State to finance NGOs' participation in conflict-prevention activities abroad

In a bid to raise its low profile in international peacekeeping efforts, Japan is embarking on a significant financial-assistance program for domestic nongovernmental organizations participating in overseas conflict-prevention activities.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Omron cuts back group profit forecasts for fiscal 2001

Omron Corp., a maker of automated control equipment, said Monday it has cut earnings forecasts for fiscal 2001, trimming group net profit by 42.3 percent for the full year and by 66.7 percent for the first half from earlier projections in May.
BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
Aug 28, 2001

Market may yet escape U.S. slowdown

Tokyo stocks are threatening to take the key Nikkei average into a range between 10,000 and 11,000.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

1% contraction predicted

Private economic research institutes and financial institutions expect Japan's economy in the April-June period to show a contraction of around 1 percent in real terms from the previous quarter, marking the first shrinkage in three quarters, according to forecasts released by Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

Toshiba to slash 20,000 jobs worldwide amid IT slump

Toshiba Corp. will slash 20,000 jobs from its group workforce of 190,000 to cope with deteriorating earnings in its semiconductor business amid the worldwide slump in the information technology sector, company officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

Digital copyright protection test set

Two bodies promoting digital commerce and copyright protection will start large-scale testing in December of a "digital watermark" system to prevent piracy, officials with the bodies said Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

205.8 billion yen job safety net planned

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will seek 205.8 billion yen in budget requests for fiscal 2002 to help build a safety net for people expected to lose their jobs under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms, ministry officials said Saturday.
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Aug 26, 2001

Looking for beauty and utility in other people's garbage

SETTSU, Osaka Pref. -- Not a few people would agree that modern art is garbage.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 26, 2001

An autumn windfall of hogaku concerts

Autumn marks the beginning of the busy fall concert season. Following are a few recommended hogaku concerts in Tokyo in the upcoming weeks:

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?