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BUSINESS
May 22, 2003

Sluggish ad sales dent Fuji TV profit

Fuji Television Network Inc. said Wednesday its group net profit for fiscal 2002 fell 14.4 percent from the previous year to 14.82 billion yen.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 22, 2003

Mavs owner hatching plans

SAN ANTONIO -- Unless the Mavericks thoroughly disgrace themselves against the Spurs, we'll probably never be able to confirm what evil lurks in the heart of Mavs owner Mark Cuban regarding Don Nelson's coaching future in Dallas.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 22, 2003

Katydid

* Japanese name: Sesuji tsuyumushi * Scientific name: Ducetia japonica * Description: Katydids (also known as bush crickets) belong to a family of grasshoppers and crickets called the Tettigoniidae. The insects in this family have very long antennae, like threads, sometimes two or three times the length...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
May 22, 2003

EA scores big time with 'MVP Baseball'

Who knows what burr got under Electronic Arts' saddle, but the biggest name in sports games is really sharpening its act. The publisher of such megahits as "John Madden NFL Football" and "FIFA Soccer," EA has always kind of stunk at baseball. Not anymore.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2003

Wowow returns to profitability

Satellite broadcaster Wowow Inc. said Wednesday it climbed back into the black in fiscal 2002 due to a sharp reduction in promotional costs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
May 22, 2003

Political scientist gained key perspective in Japan

On March 19, just hours before U.S. forces began their raids on Baghdad, more than 50 U.S. government intelligence experts as well as scholars and embassy staff from several South Asian countries assembled in a top-floor room at John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies for a...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDEN PATHS
May 22, 2003

Seasonal spectaculars

In the last week or so, roses have been taking the first of their twice-yearly turns to brighten the streets of Tokyo. Potted roses in narrow sidewalk gardens and shrub roses arching over railway fences have suddenly burst into glorious colors.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 22, 2003

Reading the mind through the face

Victorian Englishmen were not known for feeling comfortable displaying their emotions. Charles Darwin, exceptional in so many other ways, was like his countrymen in this regard, and considered the display of emotions in adult humans to be vestigial, something left over from our evolutionary past. That...
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
May 22, 2003

Book Off chief rolls with the blows as status quo publishers complain

The Japanese may love a hardworking and unassuming company man who out of nowhere wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, but they are still wary of the true entrepreneur who is willing to take risks and shake up long-established ways of doing things.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 22, 2003

Corporate values ignore the bottom line

With all the scandals swirling around U.S. corporations, public respect for CEOs has plunged and, as a lawyer, I can empathize. Stories about sleazy lawyers chasing after ambulances still bring color to my cheeks, so I understand what it's like to work in a profession that is equated with sharks and...
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Kawaguchi hits WTO draft report

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi expressed dissatisfaction Tuesday with a World Trade Organization draft report on the liberalization of nonfarm trade, saying calls for the elimination of tariffs on certain products are unacceptable.
EDITORIALS
May 21, 2003

Moment of truth in the bank crisis

The government decision to inject taxpayer money into Resona Holdings, the nation's fifth-largest banking group, is a fresh reminder of the fragility of the Japanese financial system. There have been no bank runs, but confidence in bank management has been shaken again. Until very recently Resona executives...
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Report cites flat economy, mounting risks of SARS

The economy remained flat in May, the government said Tuesday. In its monthly economic report, the government also described the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome as a risk factor.
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2003

Narrowing the U.S.-South Korean gap

WASHINGTON -- The summit meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun was, by almost all accounts, a success. The main reason, according to the skeptics, was that expectations were very low. No major breakthroughs were achieved, they argue; "success" merely meant...
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Honda blows horn about world's first car-crash detector

Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it has developed the world's first system capable of predicting vehicle collisions.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Nissan announces Taiwan venture

Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday it will set up a joint venture with Taiwan-based Yulon Motor Co. by the end of the year to promote car sales in Taiwan and China.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

BOJ decides to pump more cash into system

The Bank of Japan decided Tuesday to pump still more money into the economy amid falling stock prices, a rising yen and the bailout of Resona Bank.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Rising fuel costs bludgeon Tepco profits

Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s group net profit dropped 18.1 percent to 165.27 billion yen in fiscal 2002, with the increasing cost of fuel used to fire up thermal power generators weighing heavily on its earnings, the utility said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Suzuki Motor records 20% sales increase

Suzuki Motor Corp., the nation's top minivehicle maker, on Tuesday reported record group sales of 2.02 trillion yen for fiscal 2002, up 20.8 percent from the previous year.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Hitachi chip may be used in euro bills

The European Central Bank is considering adopting the world's smallest integrated circuit, developed by Hitachi Ltd., to prevent forgery of euro bills, according to Hitachi sources.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Ministry calls for sweeping overhaul of farm co-ops

Structural reform is lagging behind in the farm sector and the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives group should undergo a major overhaul, the agricultural ministry said Tuesday in its annual white paper.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Bill imminent to let insurers shirk on yields

The tripartite ruling coalition approved Tuesday an amended bill that would allow life insurers to cut yields guaranteed to policyholders, resulting in a possible cut in payouts, coalition officials said.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 21, 2003

Tuffy slams homers No. 16 and 17 as Buffaloes whip Lions

Kintetsu slugger Tuffy Rhodes smashed two homers and drove home six runs to lead the Buffaloes' 16-hit barrage as Kintetsu destroyed the Seibu Lions 14-3 at Osaka Dome on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Shiokawa ponders extra budget

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday he would consider compiling an extra budget to fight deflation should the ruling coalition submit specific proposals to this end.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 21, 2003

David Murray Big Band: "Now is Another Time"

Boundary crossing and genre mixing are no longer a big deal in jazz, but few do them with the raw power and awe-inspiring glee of David Murray. His list of musical projects reads like a postmodern smorgasbord: Guadaloupian vocals and percussion; Caribbean instrumentation; a musical tribute to Picasso;...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 21, 2003

Mira Calix: "Shimskitta"

The music of Mira Calix -- Chantal Passamonte to her friends and family back in Durban, South Africa -- is neither composed nor produced on a computer, though it sounds as if it was. Having burnished her ambient techno style at Warp Records, England's premier "laptop-music" label where she worked in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 21, 2003

King Sunny Ade: "Syncro Series"

King Sunny Ade of Nigeria came and went as a star of African music, and these days makes only sporadic appearances. At his peak, in the early '80s, he had a deal with Island Records, which was then hoping he would fill the shoes and sales of the recently deceased Bob Marley. But if Ade's music was reigning...

Longform

The volunteer lifesavers of Nishihama Surf Lifesaving Club never know what's in store at the start of their day.
It's no simple day at the beach for Japan's volunteer lifesavers