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Japan Times
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Apr 9, 2003

Domestic firms missing out on slice of medical device market

Dr. Kiyoshi Namba is a hard-core believer in medical technology. A breast cancer specialist, Namba has invested heavily in state-of-the-art medical equipment at his two clinics in Miyazaki Prefecture, claiming this provides exactly what he needs to counter the killer disease -- the earliest detection...
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

Pasona, Randstad forge alliance

Staffing agency Pasona Inc. said Tuesday it has launched joint marketing activities with Randstad Holding N.V. of the Netherlands to provide multinational clients with a global network.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2003

Delayed flights get Haneda option

Aircraft on international flights will be allowed to land at Haneda airport beginning April 25 if they are unable to use Narita airport due to unforeseen circumstances, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 2003

Sino-Japanese cooperation is key

Over the past two years, relations between Japan and China have been a little awkward because of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which is seen by Chinese as a symbolic legacy of Japanese militarism. Now, however, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi's three-day visit to China...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Apr 9, 2003

Sun, sea, sand and . . . ceramics

The Izu Peninsula, just an hour out of Tokyo, has some of the finest scenery in all of Japan. Rugged coastlines, clear views of Mount Fuji, pristine forests with rivers and waterfalls, not to mention the many soothing hot-spring resorts dotting the land, shape Izu into a very attractive destination....
COMMENTARY
Apr 9, 2003

Outsiders neglectful as China hid SARS

HONG KONG -- Chinese officialdom continues to both avoid reality and to invent it. The Chinese people still suffer because of the absence of freedom of information. Ironically, Hong Kong residents are still receiving phone calls from friends and relatives in Guangdong, asking them what is going on in...
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

Takenaka cautious over accounting change

Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka remained cautious Tuesday about a Liberal Democratic Party proposal to freeze the mark-to-market accounting method on corporate securities holdings to limit the damage from stock market falls.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2003

Taking it all back

Developing a "voice" of one's own is perhaps the ultimate achievement in music. As anyone who's ever touched an instrument or opened their mouth with the intention of expressing a musical idea knows, developing a voice is difficult to the point of being overwhelming. Conservatories, university music...
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

Official in Russia to discuss pipeline

A top energy official left Tuesday for Moscow to hold talks with Russian officials over a planned pipeline to carry crude oil from eastern Siberia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 9, 2003

The Bad Plus: "Here are the Vistas"

It had to happen eventually. Every other social and musical trend has at some point been swept into jazz's fold. The Bad Plus' debut CD, "These Are the Vistas," is a startling work, taking some of its cues from grunge's earnest, introspective stance. Even while sticking to a piano, bass and drums line-up,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 9, 2003

Blood Brothers: "Burn Piano Island, Burn"

Though "Burn Piano Island, Burn," the third album by Seattle's Blood Brothers, has been hailed by headbangers as the first hard rock record in a while that will actually scare parents to death, its real value is in the way it reconfigures hardcore for fans who've become bored with hardcore's predictability....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 9, 2003

Compilation: "Spirit of the Blues"

The title "Spirit of the Blues" is not misleading, but it may be perceived as such. The key word here is "spirit" and so if you're a blues purist who insists on 12-bar progressions and what not, then forget it. This 17-track compilation album of Japanese artists is a chaotic mess and all the better for...
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2003

ODA to be focused on postwar peace-building

With fiscal constraints putting pressure on official development assistance, the nation will focus more on peace-building and postconflict reconstruction, according to an annual ODA white paper endorsed by the Cabinet on Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

BOJ decides on a risky financing course

The Bank of Japan took another step into the unknown at its Policy Board meeting Tuesday, effectively committing itself to purchasing risk assets in a bid to transform how small and medium-size companies secure funding.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

DaimlerChrysler recalls 3,268 Jeeps

DaimlerChrysler Japan Co. said Tuesday it is recalling 3,268 units of the Jeep Wrangler and the Jeep Cherokee for free replacement of defective parts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 9, 2003

Roll up, the lion tamer's in town

Hurry, hurry, step right up, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Right this way. The circus has come to town!
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 9, 2003

Complex reasons to paaaarty!

Judging from the scene in Roppongi Friday night, no one would suspect that U.S. and British warplanes are blasting Iraq, French auction houses are facing a boycott, and the world's art market has landed in the toilet. It was happy time here on the Tokyo contemporary art scene. With smiles on their faces,...
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

NEC expects to book loss for second straight year

NEC Corp. has lowered its group earnings forecast to an expected group net loss of 25 billion yen for the 2002 business year, which ended March 31, the firm said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2003

Hope at last for the DRC

For four years, the Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered a bloody conflict that has been practically invisible to most of the world. Rival factions and greedy neighbors have fought over the country's spoils, leaving death and destruction in their wake. As a result, one of Africa's richest countries...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 8, 2003

May, Marines blast Buffaloes

Derrick May went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and three RBIs as the Chiba Lotte Marines pounded the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 11-3 Monday night at Chiba Marine Stadium.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Economic gauge showed expansion again in February

The government's key gauge for the current state of the domestic economy stayed above the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in February for the second month in a row.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Post offices to aid in recycling PCs

Personal computer makers and the public postal corporation will join hands to recycle PCs starting Oct. 1, an industry group said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Shipbuilder plans to lead way to new energy source

A major shipbuilding company in Tokyo has been working to commercialize natural gas hydrate, a chemically stable combination of water and natural gas in powdery form, hoping to make it more economical to transport and store.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Sanyo goes back to school for guidance on personnel

Sanyo Electric Co. will tap academic expertise to improve its personnel management system through joint projects with Cambridge University, Hong Kong University and France's INSEAD business school, company officials said Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 8, 2003

Kato still in critical condition after crash at Suzuka circuit

Japanese rider Daijiro Kato was still in a critical condition on Monday, a day after sustaining serious head, neck and chest injuries in a high-speed crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

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