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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2002

Make the world a better place for children

From May 8 to 10, the streets of New York City were adorned by the presence of 60 heads of state and their bodyguards, 3,000 government officials, 3,000 nongovernmental organizations and children from 180 countries. They were delegates of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children,...
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

Lower House takes up postal bills

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications opened debate Thursday over a set of four postal services deregulation bills.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 31, 2002

Encouraging kids to think for themselves

"Is it really OK for school to be this much fun?"
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

Civil servants face reductions in salary, benefits

A Finance Ministry advisory panel has drafted a proposal for the fiscal 2003 budget that calls for curtailing the salaries of civil servants, as well as unemployment and other welfare benefits, panel sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Fukuda nixes talk of raising consumption tax

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration is not planning to raise the 5 percent consumption tax in the near future, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Monday, dismissing a government panel's proposal to the contrary.
MORE SPORTS
May 27, 2002

Tongans overpower Japan 41-29

KUMAGAYA, Saitama Pref. -- Japan's build-up to the 2003 Rugby World Cup received a set back on Sunday when it lost 41-29 to Tonga at the Kumagaya Rugby Ground in Saitama Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 26, 2002

Waxing monstrously about the first Japanese I ever got to know

The first Japanese I fell in love with was a little taller than my wife.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2002

DIC spends 9.05 trillion yen covering bad-loan losses

The government-run Deposit Insurance Corp. spent a combined 9.05 trillion yen in the four years to March 31 to enable dozens of failed banks to fully refund depositors, the Financial Services Agency said in a report Friday.
COMMUNITY
May 25, 2002

Ocean photographer passionate over dying seas

He stands on the prow of a ship, camera ready for the perfect shot of dolphins as they leap skyward. He directs film and video for movies and TV to amaze viewers with images of whales. And he dives with underwater equipment to record the life of the oceans. Meet Bob Talbot, indisputably the most respected...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 24, 2002

Asahara's counsel begins defense

Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara's defense counsel began its arguments Thursday in his Tokyo District Court trial on charges of murder and other offenses related to the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack and other crimes.
JAPAN
May 24, 2002

Pesticide found in spinach at Jonathan's restaurants

Illegally high levels of pesticide residue have been found in frozen spinach imported from China and used by the Jonathan's restaurant chain, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced Thursday.
JAPAN
May 23, 2002

Panel to mull bids for 15 new colleges

The education ministry has asked an advisory panel to study applications to establish 15 new universities in fiscal 2003, according to ministry officials.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 23, 2002

Helper dogs get legal power to work in public facilities

The Diet enacted a law Wednesday that makes it mandatory for public and transportation facilities to permit the entry of helper dogs that accompany disabled people.
JAPAN
May 22, 2002

Private schools plan uniform entry exams

The Tokyo Private Junior and Senior High Schools Association has started discussions on introducing standardized high school entrance exams for accredited students in fiscal 2003, association and school sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2002

Koizumi may send observers to private German postal firm

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday proposed sending a team to a German postal firm to observe privatized postal services.
MORE SPORTS
May 21, 2002

Japan hammers Russia 59-19

Japan opened its build-up toward the 2003 World Cup with a resounding 59-19 win over Russia at the National Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 20, 2002

World's first industrial designer creates a stir

Andrew McIntosh Patrick has a strong sense of history. He lives in a terrace row (derelict before British Heritage came to the rescue) dated 1728. Benjamin Franklin's house is just doors away, being transformed into a museum. And all in the shadow of London's Charing Cross Station.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2002

LDP approves two bills to break apart JNOC

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party gave the go-ahead Tuesday to two bills designed to effectively dissolve the debt-ridden Japan National Oil Corp. in March 2004.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 14, 2002

Toyota's record-setting profits top 1 trillion yen

Toyota Motor Corp. announced Monday that its consolidated pretax profits jumped 14.5 percent from last year to a record 1.113 trillion yen during the 2001 business year, becoming the first Japanese company ever to post pretax profits exceeding 1 trillion yen.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2002

Koizumi vows to keep pursuing privatization in second year

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has told a British financial newspaper that his top priorities for his second year in office are to privatize the postal services and public organizations, including Japan Highway Public Corp., and to accelerate the disposal of banks' bad loans.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

IY Bank unfazed by loss in '01, eyes profit by '03

In its first year of offering 24-hour ATM banking at convenience stores, Ito-Yokado Co.'s fledgling IY Bank reported a 12.18 billion yen after-tax loss in fiscal 2001.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Kawaguchi sorry for scandals

In a highly unusual arrangement, Foreign Ministry scandals and reform plans were at the fore of the so-called diplomatic Blue Book for 2002, released on Friday, with Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi expressing resolve to regain trust in the ministry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 10, 2002

Nissan eyes big global sales boost

Nissan Motor Co. chief Carlos Ghosn announced Thursday the carmaker will add 1 million units to its global sales by the end of the 2004 business year by launching at least 28 new models worldwide.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2002

ANA to push for more on-time flights

To survive intensifying domestic competition, All Nippon Airways Co. will unify flight codes of its group airlines and improve on-time flight rates, the company said Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 4, 2002

52% of firms expect October-March upturn

Some 52 percent of major companies expect an economic upturn in the latter half of the current business year, according to a recent survey by Kyodo News released Friday.
BUSINESS
May 4, 2002

Pursuit of FTAs vital but troublesome

Last month, leading brewer Asahi Breweries Ltd. began shipping its Super Dry beer to Singapore from Japan, instead of from its facilities in China.
COMMENTARY
May 1, 2002

Economic sense clashes with security concerns

HONG KONG -- Taiwan is coming to grips with a paradox: China is both its best friend and its worst enemy. In recent weeks, the island has been debating what its priority should be -- to enhance its economy by taking advantage of what China has to offer, or to safeguard its political security by restricting...
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2002

Japanese cheerleader back for second season with NFL team

When Ai Yasuda was named to the San Francisco 49ers' Gold Rush cheerleading squad for the second straight year, she realized that although the door may not be wide, it is always open.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 28, 2002

Public rests easy with cash under the futon

As the scandals keep a-comin', the citizens are receiving what many believe is a healthy and long overdue reality check about those whom they've entrusted with their collective well-being. Politicians have always been suspicious types and bureaucrats only slightly less so. But now teachers, policemen...

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.