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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 3, 2003

Into the jaws of death

My first close contact with the beasts came after I went to Ethiopia in 1967 to take on the job of establishing a new national park in the cliff-rimmed northern mountains.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Apr 3, 2003

"Going for Stone," "Through the Night"

"Going for Stone," Philip Gross, Oxford University Press; 2002; 224 pp. It seems there's only one thing more terrifying than anything you could dream up -- the world you actually live in. Nick is a teenager who hasn't seen much of that world while growing up, but he's in for a shock when he leaves home....
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2003

Politicians extend 10% pay cut

Amid the prolonged economic slump, the Diet has enacted an amendment to extend for one year a 10 percent pay cut for lawmakers.
COMMENTARY
Apr 3, 2003

Economic effects of war concern China

HONG KONG -- The war in Iraq has brought to the surface strains in the Chinese-American relationship that had been papered over because of the two countries' common stand in the war on terrorism.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2003

Triumvirate to top Diet agenda with data bills

In prioritizing their legislative goals, the secretaries general of the three ruling parties agreed Wednesday to push a controversial set of personal-data protection bills through the House of Representatives by the end of the month.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2003

FTC fines firms over cartel formation

The Fair Trade Commission has ordered three petrochemical firms to pay a total of 2.04 billion yen in fines for forming a polypropylene price cartel in 2000, FTC officials said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2003

U.S. confidence not enough

LONDON -- America's notion of its national sense of "manifest destiny" has been a mainstay of its internal expansion and then its involvement with the world in the past century. This has frequently been of enormous benefit to the rest of the globe. But it can lead the most powerful nation on Earth into...
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2003

Policy drafted to allow medical practice patents

An advisory panel to the economy, trade and industry minister examining a patent system for medical practices compiled a draft policy Wednesday that would allow some advanced medical technologies to be patented.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 3, 2003

Mistletoe magic

I am back in my local wood in Hokkaido yet again. From one spot, I can see the fluffed-out form of a Ural owl sunning itself at the entrance of its day roost, while looking in another direction and a little higher in the canopy of a towering elm, I find more than half a dozen spherical clumps, like strange...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2003

Will war affect Asian vision?

SINGAPORE -- The Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 was a defining moment for a majority of East Asian countries. It made them more aware of their individual vulnerabilities, and impressed upon them the need for regional stability to ensure continuous economic growth.
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2003

Mizuho to speed up branch mergers

Mizuho Bank will accelerate the consolidation of its branches this fiscal year, bank sources said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2003

Spy satellites for peaceful use

Japan last week put its first Earth-circling spy satellites in orbit, acquiring its own capability to gather intelligence information from space about conditions in other countries. There is little doubt, considering recent developments in and around North Korea, that these two satellites are designed...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Apr 3, 2003

Indy Jones excavates action

"Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb," LucasArts' new game for Xbox, PC and PlayStation2, marks the triumphant return of the world's most famous adventurer/archaeologist.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 2, 2003

Rampaging Buffaloes notch fifth straight

Kintetsu slugger Yuji Yoshioka smashed a three-run homer off Daiei rookie starter Tsuyoshi Wada to cap a four-run first-inning burst as the Buffaloes defeated the Daiei Hawks 5-3 at Osaka Dome on Tuesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 2, 2003

Pedraza, Bailey key to Yomiuri 'relay'

There are various categories of baseball pitchers. You've got your starters, closers, middle relievers, "one-point" relievers, set-up men and mop-up and "reverse mop-up" guys. For the Yomiuri Giants this season, Americans Rodney Pedraza and Cory Bailey may be creating a new classification. Call them...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Homes for seniors not all created equal

Matsudo Nissei's Garden of Eden is a private seniors' home located in a natural environment near Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Tokai plutonium removal figures revised

The discrepancy between the projected amount of plutonium extracted at a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, and the actual amount was 59 kg, not 206 kg as initially reported, the government said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2003

Taiyo latest life insurer to go public

Taiyo Life Insurance Co. converted itself Tuesday into a stock company from a mutual firm, becoming the second Japanese mutual life insurer to become a stock company, excluding ones that have since failed.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2003

Fraying business sentiment augurs poorly for recovery

Dented by falling stock prices and fears that the war in Iraq will hurt any nascent economic recovery, business sentiment remained weak in March, according to a key Bank of Japan survey released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Controversial tax breaks help Western-style schools in Japan

New tax breaks to help Western-style international schools in Japan took effect Tuesday but may trigger fresh charges of discrimination against the government's education policy because schools catering to Asian ethnic minorities are not covered by the new breaks.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2003

Carbon molecule inspires hope in medicine, energy sectors

In the liver or even the brain of a cancer patient, carbon molecules shaped like soccer balls seek out malignant cells and bombard them with anticancer drugs.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Not all prefectures testing for mad cow

A special law requiring nationwide testing of dead cattle for mad cow disease went into force Tuesday, but more than a third of prefectural governments failed to comply, citing a lack of manpower and facilities.
COMMENTARY
Apr 2, 2003

Caught between Iraq and a North Korean hard place

When the war between the U.S.-British coalition and Iraq finally began on March 20, a Japanese magazine put out a special issue headlined "The Realization of Justice or Arousal of the Devil?" to stress the importance of looking through to the essence of the war.
COMMENTARY
Apr 2, 2003

Pessimism about war looks overdone

LONDON -- As the military operation in Iraq rolls forward, those who still have doubts about the project -- and there are many -- have started to focus on all the catastrophes that could lie ahead, however speedy the campaign.

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