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BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2002

New plastic optical fiber promises cut in connection costs

Fuji Photo Film Co. said Tuesday it has developed a plastic optical fiber that allows households to set up networks for broadband communications more cheaply than with conventional fiber-optic cables.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 11, 2002

As fresh as a girl -- age 82, and male

This month the Kabukiza is staging two masterworks by Shinshichi Kawatake III (1842-1901), a disciple of the renowned 19th-century kabuki playwright Kawatake Mokuami. Not only are these two fine dramas treats in themselves, but one offers the chance to see the legendary onnagata (female role specialist)...
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2002

Cops release woman, arrest man over theft of bank book and 'hanko'

OSAKA -- Osaka Prefectural Police have released a 55-year-old woman after wrongly arresting her earlier this month on suspicion of stealing a bank book and "hanko" seal, it was learned Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 10, 2002

Increase eyed in supply of pulpwood chips

Major Japanese trading houses are moving to increase the output of pulpwood chips abroad as their attempts to stabilize supply through forestation projects overseas have begun to bear fruit.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2002

Group sent swindled cash abroad: police

A Tokyo-based investment group suspected of swindling its investors has sent 3 billion yen to the Philippines and Indonesia since 1998 to finance businesses there, according to sources close to the group and documents recently obtained by Kyodo News.
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2002

Bye-bye, Betamax

A t the tail end of August, a brief obituary ran in business pages around the world: The Betamax VCR format was dead. Sony had just announced that it would stop manufacturing its Betamax video-recording machines by year's end and concentrate instead on DVD and other new technologies.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 8, 2002

A woman's life behind the wheel

Taxi driver Yoko Yamaoka finished working at 5 this morning. Tomorrow she will get up at 5 in the morning and start the day's shift at 8. She usually works on a rotation of three days on and two days off.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 8, 2002

Across continents by cab

For most people, all it takes to get from Tokyo to London these days is an air ticket and a 12-hour flight. But for taxi drivers Takemasa Irie and his son, Takeshige, the journey was much longer and far more grueling, and jet lag was nowhere on their long list of concerns. They were going to drive all...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Sep 7, 2002

Inax Gallery enables mundane items to assume new, artistic dimensions

Free your mind and take a look around. Inax Gallery reminds visitors that everything that exists in this world -- even something that would be unlikely to ordinarily attract attention -- has an interesting story to tell.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2002

Postal panel compiles final report

An advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday compiled a final report featuring three plans for the future privatization of the nation's postal services.
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
Sep 7, 2002

Officials at Tepco HQ 'not aware' of coverups

After concluding its inspections of facilities operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency suggested Friday that top Tepco officials were not involved in a systematic coverup of structural problems at the firm's nuclear plants.
COMMENTARY
Sep 7, 2002

Scandal's dangerous fallout

The nuclear-plant faults that Tokyo Electric Power Co. tried for years to cover up may not have been serious in themselves, but the effects of the coverups on Japan's nuclear debate will be catastrophic.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 7, 2002

Koji Nakamura

SHROPSHIRE, England -- Koji Nakamura says his life has taken many twists and turns.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2002

Sumatra Island residents file dam lawsuit

Nearly 3,900 residents of Indonesia's Sumatra Island on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Tokyo, each seeking 5 million yen for damages caused by a dam Japan funded with official development assistance.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / FOR KIDS
Sep 6, 2002

The bittersweet business of chocolate

Rich, creamy chocolate . . . Can you resist it? If you can, you're one in a million. Most people's appetite for chocolate seems to know no bounds. Consumers can already choose from thousands of chocolate products, and yet new variants -- such as organic chocolate bars and chocolate-flavored soya milk...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Sep 5, 2002

Unions build political power

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W. Bush spent Labor Day just like he did last year. He attended a union picnic in Pennsylvania. The difference is that last year he was courting the steelworkers. This year it was the carpenters. He and his advisers seem intent on improving his showing among union...
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2002

Sony vows to back mobile joint venture

Sony Corp. will continue supporting its high-profile mobile-phone joint venture with Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, its president said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / LEGACIES OF 9/11
Sep 5, 2002

Post-9/11 aid push highlights Japan ODA conundrum

In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the world's major donor economies have increased their aid budgets in an effort to address a perceived link between terrorism and poverty.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2002

Tokyo stocks continue descent

Share prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange took another severe beating Wednesday, with the Nikkei Stock Average briefly dipping below the crucial 9,000 mark to hit a fresh 19-year low.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2002

Japan Asia invests in Okinawa firm

The holding company of Japan Asia Securities Co. said Wednesday it will acquire 51 percent of the outstanding shares in Okinawa Securities Co., based in Naha, to make the firm a group member.
COMMUNITY
Sep 5, 2002

A day of taking tea and tonkatsu with a spirited local guide

Accustomed as I am to a stoic mug of Brooke Bond in the morning, I admit having been less than overjoyed at the prospect of visiting the Yue He Cha herbal tea house in Kyodo, a bustling little town on the Odakyu Line.
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

Takenaka to attend meet in Italy

Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Heizo Takenaka will visit Italy from Wednesday to Sunday to attend an international conference on world political and economic issues, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2002

Tax Commission looks to cut exemptions

The government's Tax Commission on Tuesday proposed abolishing in fiscal 2003 certain tax exemptions granted to salaried employees with a working spouse.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2002

Osaka officials declare USJ drinking fountains safe

OSAKA -- Osaka city officials on Tuesday declared the drinking fountains at the Universal Studios Japan theme park safe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Sep 4, 2002

X Japan pianist/drummer is now a global commodity

If you've walked by the Laforet building in Harajuku recently, you might have noticed a huge banner that draped the structure's exterior featuring a masked character, looking something like a pro wrestler, poking his head out of what appears to be a body of water.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat