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BUSINESS
May 8, 2003

METI to open 10 youth job centers in '03

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to open 10 youth job-placement centers by the end of the current fiscal year, ministry officials said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
May 8, 2003

A clear answer is demanded

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has pulled the plug on Northern Ireland's local elections in an atEtempt to preserve the province's battered peace process. His decision makes sense, but it is indicaEtive of the desperate straits into which supporters of the Good Friday accords have fallen. The fault...
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2003

Positioning for the next crisis

In my last column in late April, I treated critically the transformation of America's foreign policy between the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the war against Iraq, focusing on the unilateralist policy of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. At the end of that column, I gave...
BUSINESS
May 8, 2003

Experts urge financial firms to publicize internal rules

A group of experts called on financial firms Wednesday to disclose their self-imposed business rules, saying they may serve as barriers to prospective financial-sector entrants.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2003

Watanabe his own man -- but honors father's role

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yoshimi Watanabe is an exception to the rule when it comes to discussing his political roots.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2003

Prudential sells securities subsidiary

Prudential Financial Inc. has withdrawn from Japan's retail securities business, selling its subsidiary, Prudential Financial Advisors Securities Co., company sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 8, 2003

More breathing space in the classroom

Last month, just before the new school year started in Japan, I ran into a neighbor at the supermarket. She's a bit high-strung and gets worked up over school matters, so I try to avoid her. But she collared me by the cabbages and dropped her voice to a dramatic whisper. "Have you heard? The Suzukis...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 8, 2003

Ethicists bid to unscramble egg argument

It's often been said that philosophy lags behind science. Bertrand Russell's "The ABC of Relativity," for example, was published in 1926, 21 years after Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 8, 2003

O-soji: the way of the Japanese housewife

A lot of things baffled when I attended a Japanese school for the first time at the age of 14. Lot's of things baffled me, but the custom of soji -- or cleaning -- of the classroom and school buildings everyday after the last bell, seemed outrageous.
ENVIRONMENT
May 8, 2003

Emerging specialty puts focus on the 'green' way cities could be

Cities appeared relatively late in human history, and have gradually evolved over five millennia to support complex economic, political, religious, academic and military organizations and hierarchies. However, their concentration of wealth, talent and creativity that breeds cultural and scientific innovation...
BUSINESS
May 8, 2003

Power Rangers help boost Bandai's profit

Bandai Co., Japan's top toy maker, on Wednesday reported a 19 percent increase in group net profit for the year through March, with an army of characters such as Mobile Suit Gundam and Power Rangers beating the nation's deflationary trend.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
May 8, 2003

Sony's own silver lining

With all of the big games that have come out lately, it's hard to keep up.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 8, 2003

Shoppers' power coming to the aid of sustainable development

Few environmentalists or economists doubt that the G-7 must take an active role in promoting environmental protection and economic prosperity in the developing world. To date, however, though the G-7 nations -- the economic powers of the developed North -- have dispensed substantial aid to the developing...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 8, 2003

Japanese weasel

* Japanese name: Nihon itachi * Scientific name: Mustela itatsi * Description: Japanese weasels are fairly small mammals in the mustelid family (a large family of animals that includes otters, badgers, stoats, polecats, martens and skunks). Males are 29-37 cm long, females 20-26 cm. The fur is an orange-brown...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

Japan Post to create model offices in bid to reform

Japan Post will try to improve its operations by creating 12 model post offices around the country so employees at its 24,000 outlets can learn about cost-cutting measures and improving productivity, Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta said in a recent interview.
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

U.S. court dismisses Furukawa suit

A U.S. federal district court has dismissed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Furukawa Electric Co. because the case was outside its jurisdiction, the company said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
May 7, 2003

Shimadzu enjoys fruits of research and development program

If he had been a researcher at a major Japanese university, Koichi Tanaka could not have won the 2002 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
EDITORIALS
May 7, 2003

Ease lending to small firms

Small businesses in Japan continue to languish in the midst of a protracted economic slump. Compounding their predicament is the tight lending policy of private banks, which are said to be more selective toward smaller borrowers than larger ones. Banks may have their own reasons to restrict lending,...
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

BOJ board members noted policy's failings

Several members of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board said at an emergency meeting March 25 that quantitative monetary-easing steps taken by the central bank did not produce the desired effects in stimulating the economy, according to minutes of the talks released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2003

Vajpayee overture boosts hopes for peace in South Asia

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BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

Qualified IT staff still thin on ground

At least one in four major Japanese companies lack qualified information-technology staff despite the high unemployment rate amid the sluggish economy, according to a Kyodo News survey released Tuesday.
SUMO
May 7, 2003

Maru pulls out of summer basho

Stablemaster Musashigawa confirmed Tuesday that Samoan-born grand champion Musashimaru will miss the upcoming Summer Grand Sumo Tournament after failing to fully recover from a nagging wrist injury.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2003

Careworn Blair turns 50

LONDON -- As British Prime Minister Tony Blair passes his 50th birthday, the almost boyish bounce that characterized him in the years when he got to the top of the Labour Party, reformed it and then won two crushing general election victories has been replaced by a more careworn appearance. This may...
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

Seafood firm, Waseda forge alliance

Seafood maker Natori Co. said Tuesday it will set up a joint venture with Waseda University to develop food items for the elderly.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 7, 2003

Iguchi powers Hawks past 'Wave

Daiei rookie Tsuyoshi Wada fanned 12 batters over the distance in notching his fourth victory and Tadahito Iguchi homered in consecutive at-bats as the Hawks defeated the Orix BlueWave 8-4 at Yahoo BB Stadium on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

MHI plans to green Saudi desert

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Tuesday it will begin to draw up plans this fiscal year to create a greenbelt of about 50 sq. km in the Saudi Arabian desert beside the Red Sea.
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

Ripplewood to take over Asahi Tec

U.S. investment fund Ripplewood Holdings LLC will obtain a 51 percent stake in auto parts maker Asahi Tec Corp.

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