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JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Missile defense system debate heats up

As concerns mount over the threat posed by North Korea, the debate over Japan introducing missile defense systems is heating up.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Obituary: Hidefumi Minorikawa

Hidefumi Minorikawa, a House of Representatives member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, died Thursday of liver failure at a hospital in Omagari, Akita Prefecture, his family said. He was 67.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Science minister to visit Europe

The state minister of science and technology policy said Friday he will visit four European countries next week to ask them to participate in a global science and technology convention to be held in Japan in September 2004.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Japan divided over how to respond

Government officials were divided Friday over how to deal with Pyongyang's reported admission that it possesses nuclear weapons, with some calling for the imposition of economic sanctions.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Personal info bills OK'd by Lower House panel

A package of controversial bills aimed at protecting personal information was approved Friday by a special committee of the Lower House.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Lifeline for life insurers extended

The House of Councilors on Friday enacted an amendment to the insurance business law to allow the government to extend its 400 billion yen contribution to the Life Insurance Policyholders Protection Corp., a safety-net body for life insurers.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Youth unemployment rockets to record 13.2%

The unemployment rate hovered at a near-record 5.4 percent in March, as joblessness among the young peaked at its highest levels in half a century, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Costs for bad loans climb 1.3 trillion yen

The Financial Services Agency reported Friday that the nation's 11 largest banks incurred additional bad loan disposal costs of 1.3 trillion yen for the 2002 business year, which ended in March.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Hino Motors sees net profit decline

Hino Motors Ltd. said Friday it posted a consolidated net profit of 4.96 billion yen for fiscal 2002, down 40.7 percent from a year earlier due to valuation losses on its securities holdings amid the slumping stock market.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Nikkei plumbs new depths

The Nikkei index closed Friday at a fresh 20-year low, battered by sales of technology stocks that were pushed down by Sony's bearish earnings outlook released the previous day.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

English words targeted for banishment

The National Institute for Japanese Language proposed Friday that the government avoid using 59 English words or terms that are similar to English in its Japanese-language documents.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Electoral vows Koizumi has kept -- and the rest

Following is a summary of the campaign promises that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has kept -- and those he has not:
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 26, 2003

Jiro Hirano

When he was poised between high school and university in the late 1950s, Jiro Hirano had a vague idea that in life he wanted to do "something international." He knew he didn't want to study at the University of Tokyo, as his father and brother and cousins had before him. "I wanted to have a way of my...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 26, 2003

How to tell if your neighbor is a yakuza

Several years ago as I was taking a taxi to work, the taxi driver took a shortcut down a small side street through an old neighborhood. When we rounded a corner, we were met by about 50 men dressed in suits lining both sides of the street and making deep bows. The taxi driver stopped behind a large black...
MORE SPORTS
Apr 26, 2003

Japan wraps it up

Japan's Saori Obata defeated Hong Kong's Lee Si-nga Friday as the host nation improved to 4-0 at the Fed Cup Asia-Oceania zone qualifying tournament.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Japan Post suspends EMS to Nigeria

Japan Post said Friday it will suspend its express mail service to Nigeria.
COMMENTARY
Apr 26, 2003

An opportunity for APEC

HONOLULU -- The rapid spread of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is a compelling demonstration of the need for a truly global health network to fight future epidemics. The particulars of this outbreak also highlight the role that the Asia-Pacific region will have to play in this effort. The...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 26, 2003

Lions chew up Lotte

Seibu slugger Alex Cabrera homered in back-to-back at-bats for his sixth and seventh home runs to lift the Lions over the Marines 3-2 at Chiba Marine Stadium on Friday, putting a halt to Lotte's winning streak at four.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Fujitsu slashes group net loss but remains in red

Fujitsu Ltd. remained in the red in fiscal 2002, posting a consolidated net loss for the second consecutive year after booking a restructuring cost of 151.49 billion yen, the firm reported Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Honda reports record group net profit and sales

Honda Motor Co. reported Friday a record group net profit of 426.66 billion yen for fiscal 2002, up 17.6 percent from the previous year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Yankee-Mariner games only bright spot for travel industry

Causing yet another made-in-Japan sensation on the other side of the Pacific, New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui is providing a bit of much-needed relief for the nation's travel industry.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 26, 2003

Weaving her way back to harmony with the gods

It was Leo Tolstoy who wrote (in "Anna Karenina"), "Happy families are all the same; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Ghana envoy seeks more investment

Increased Japanese investment in the Republic of Ghana would be "mutually beneficial" to both sides, Ghanaian Ambassador to Japan Dr. Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah told The Japan Times on Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Mazda reports near threefold profit surge

Mazda Motor Corp.'s group net profit for the year through March nearly tripled from the previous year to 24.1 billion yen, due to large reductions in operating costs and the appreciation of the euro against the yen, the company announced Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

CPI declines for fifth straight year

The key gauge of nationwide consumer prices fell 0.8 percent in fiscal 2002 from the previous year, declining for the fifth consecutive year, the longest skein on record, the government said in a preliminary report Friday.

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