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JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Newsapers liable for printing wire reports

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling that newspapers should not be held responsible for publishing defamatory wire reports, and returned the cases to the Tokyo High Court.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Red Cross wants ban lifted on hepatitis-tainted blood

The Japanese Red Cross Society has asked the health ministry to lift its ban on shipments of blood products made using blood tainted with the hepatitis B virus, according to ministry sources.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2002

Matsushita, Toshiba eye cyberappliances

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Toshiba Corp. and two other firms said Monday that they will establish a joint venture on Friday to offer Internet-access services for next-generation, Net-capable home appliances.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2002

Joyu to take Aum's reins Wednesday

Fumihiro Joyu, a longtime spokesman for Aum Shinrikyo, will on Wednesday formally take over leadership of the cult responsible for the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Jan 29, 2002

Bellmare looking at more than just soccer

J. League second division club Shonan Bellmare is making a unique challenge to transform itself into a multi-sports organization.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2002

First tests on suspect chemicals complete

The Environment Ministry said Monday it has finished a preliminary assessment to determine if 39 chemicals pose a potential danger to humans and wildlife, and will perform in-depth tests on five chemicals that appear especially pernicious.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2002

Consumer confidence unchanged, but deflation proving popular

Japan's overall consumer confidence in December remained unchanged from September, indicating spending is unlikely to increase soon, a quarterly government survey showed Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2002

An inadequate rescue plan

A new three-year restructuring program for Daiei Inc., the nation's second-largest supermarket chain operator, is symbolic of the debt woes that plague large Japanese distributors, constructors and real estate firms. Earlier this month, Daiei's three creditor banks -- UFJ Holdings Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2002

Commission a model of global cooperation

Responding to the call by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in September 1999, then-Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy set up an independent, 12-member International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty to try to bridge the divide between international intervention and national sovereignty....
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2002

Indo-Pakistani crisis: a catalyst for peace

In a way, the Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament was a blessing. It may have pushed two nuclear powers to the edge of a disaster. But the threat of war often helps feuding nations pause and re-examine their priorities and how they affect bilateral relations.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 28, 2002

The plastic nature of historic judgment

NEW YORK -- There is something mesmerizing about America's fascination with its own people of prominence, especially presidents. There is an endless stream of biographies, and some become immensely popular.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2002

More fraud allegations emerge in Snow debacle

Compiled from wire services Scandal-ravaged Snow Brand Food Co. faced fresh allegations Sunday that it asked a storage contractor to lie about how much beef was in a container in order to cash in on a government mad cow subsidy.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2002

Red Cross urges OK of 'safe' blood goods

The Japanese Red Cross Society has asked the health ministry to lift its ban on shipments of blood products, part of which stemmed from blood tainted with type B hepatitis virus, arguing that the virus is removed in the production process, ministry sources said.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2002

Globalization role of APEC's other half

SEOUL -- Earlier this month in Honolulu, parliamentarians from 25 Asia Pacific nations renewed debate over the digital divide at the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum, headed by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2002

Credit union forced customers to buy into golf club

OSAKA -- Kansai Kogin, a failed local credit union whose former executives were arrested last week in a breach of trust case, pressured recipients of loans in the late 1990s to buy memberships of a golf course operated by an affiliate by threatening to withdraw the loans, sources close to the case said...
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2002

Back on the trolley

The objects of nostalgia are always receding. In the stories of Nagai Kafu, for example, electric trolleys (also called trams or streetcars) are viewed as ugly symbols of everything that is new and un-Japanese. His characters ride them out of necessity, but walk or take a rickshaw whenever they can....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 27, 2002

You've got mail

It was one of those sharp, pithy statements that raise the hair on the back of your neck. Similar perhaps to "Godzilla Lives!" or "The Creature Walks Among Us!" or "Quayle for President!"
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 27, 2002

Can't start a fire without a match

A popular format for variety specials is the omiai, bringing together single men and women for the purpose of making couples. Often the stated goal is nothing more than dating, but of course the ultimate goal is matrimony.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jan 27, 2002

Straight from the mothership

So, before I inundate you with a slew of new discoveries in the Shibuya-Ebisu-Daikanyama triangle, I must first pay homage to a funky little hole in the wall of seven years' standing -- Enjoy! House. It -- like 2626 (Flo Flo) -- sits within seconds of the Nishi-Ebisu fiveways. I can never make up my...
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2002

Nissho Iwai to sell new head office

Trading company Nissho Iwai Corp. plans to sell its new head office building in Tokyo's Daiba district in order to raise cash to reduce its mounting debts, according to company sources.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2002

Outsiders didn't dig the Argentine hole

WASHINGTON -- It is always politically incorrect to blame the victim. But Argentina is an exception. Argentines have no one to blame but themselves for their current economic mess. They have long lived beyond their means. And now the piper must be paid.
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jan 27, 2002

Harnessing the preservative power of the sun

Culinary standards are often determined by prosperity. In Japan's past, food was not always as abundant as it is now. In lean harvest years, there was no rice to import from foreign nations and no cheap vegetable stocks to rely on when the local crop failed. Polished white rice was scarce among peasants...
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2002

Three little words

The United States is holding prisoner some 500 men that it captured in Afghanistan. According to the U.S. government, those detainees are "unlawful combatants," not prisoners of war. The distinction is an important one: In addition to depriving the men of their rights, it mocks the principles that the...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2002

Government to buy old cattle to aid farmers

The government and the Liberal Democratic Party on Friday approved using public funds to buy old cattle that farmers cannot sell because of repercussions from the outbreak of mad cow disease, government sources said.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2002

A revolution in British politics

LONDON -- The British Constitution has long been widely admired, if not always understood.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2002

China could help Japan by taking its money and cutting its Kyoto target

Backed by its status as the world's largest single aid donor, Japan is anxious to have dibs on China as a partner in a scheme linking development aid to achieving required cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2002

Obituary: Rose Lesser

Rose Lesser, a resident of Japan since 1929 and widow of geobotanist Kenji Takahashi, died Tuesday in Tokyo. She was 93.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go