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BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2003

Automakers see jump in global output

Each of Japan's five biggest automakers said Wednesday they posted a year-on-year rise in domestic and overseas output for January due to robust overseas demand and their policy of moving factories abroad.
EDITORIALS
Feb 27, 2003

New BOJ head's main task

On March 20, former Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Toshihiko Fukui will replace current BOJ Gov. Masaru Hayami as head of Japan's central bank. Mr. Fukui, now director of the Fujitsu Research Institute, will be assisted by two new deputies: Mr. Toshiro Muto, former vice minister of finance, and Mr. Kazumasa...
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Chirac cancels March trip to Japan

French President Jacques Chirac has canceled a visit to Japan scheduled for mid-March, saying he will stay at home because of the tense international situation, Japanese government officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Man arrested over platform altercation resulting in coma

A 42-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly punching a man, who later fell into a coma, at JR Nippori Station last year after they bumped into each other, police said.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

35 to run for 11 seats in gubernatorial elections

The 11 gubernatorial elections slated for April 13 are expecting a total of 35 candidates to run, down from 41 at this point in the lead up to the elections four years ago, according to a Kyodo News survey released Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2003

Visiting Belgian leader seeks Japan investment

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt called Wednesday for increased Japanese investment in Belgium, saying his country has steadily carried out economic reforms, including corporate tax cuts.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2003

Wholesale, retail sales dip yet again

The nation's combined wholesale and retail sales fell 0.3 percent in January from a year earlier to 42.73 trillion yen, down for the 24th consecutive month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report released Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Quake drill held on Tokyo subway system

A Tokyo subway company and the Tokyo Fire Department conducted a special earthquake and fire drill Wednesday, following last week's fatal subway torching in South Korea.
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2003

Blair gives lesson in courage

LONDON -- For anyone with a sense of history, it is impossible not to admire the tireless conviction and the lonely valor of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 27, 2003

Environment Bushwhack

U.S. Civil War General William Sherman is credited with uttering the sage words, "War is hell." War is hell on the environment as well, and U.S. President George W. Bush's "War on Terror" is no exception. Ironically, the environment being degraded is America's own.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Tokyo to send envoy to Iraq in zero-hour diplomacy bid

Japan will send its senior vice foreign minister as a special envoy to Baghdad as part of a last-ditch diplomatic effort to get Iraq to give up its weapons of mass destruction program, government leaders said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2003

228.9 billion yen debt sinks Dutch-style theme park

Huis Ten Bosch Co., operator of a 17th century Dutch theme park in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, collapsed under 228.9 billion yen in debt Wednesday after Mizuho Holdings Inc. cut off funding in a race to resolve problem loans.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Artist to bedazzle Yokohama

Starting in April, Hiro Yamagata will bombard onlookers in Yokohama with images of an ever-changing universe.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2003

Persecuted for centuries, Iraq's Assyrian Christians once again wary of their future

LONDON -- Iraq's 1.2 million Assyrian Christians -- remnants of the Assyrian empire and the only people who still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ -- are once again the victims of circumstances beyond their control. Unlike the Kurds, the Assyrians are all but ignored in discussions over Iraq's...
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Abe wins 4 million yen in libel case

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday ordered a journalist to pay 4 million yen in damages to Takeshi Abe, a former vice president of Teikyo University and a hemophilia expert, over a defamation case linked to a scandal involving HIV-tainted blood products.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Japan won't pay for Iraq war: LDP exec

A top executive of the Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of Japan shouldering the financial cost of a possible United States-led war against Iraq as it did in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2003

What Arabs fear the most: aftermath of a war on Iraq

BEIRUT -- All Arabs, regimes and citizens agree on one thing: War on Iraq may affect the entire world, but they and their region will pay the highest price by far.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Asahara trial's closing arguments may come in April

Prosecutors may present their closing arguments in late April in the trial of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, who stands accused of murder and other heinous crimes, including masterminding two deadly sarin attacks, legal sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDEN PATHS
Feb 27, 2003

Plants of blooming passion

On a gray February day, gardeners may be looking at colorful seed catalogs or even holiday brochures, dreaming of a trip to a tropical island. But this week it's time to leave your armchair gardening, because the tropics have come to Tokyo. The Japan Grand Prix International Orchid Festival offers a...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 27, 2003

How much pain can your brain take?

Japanese TV became famous abroad in the 1980s and created an image of Japan for outsiders that still lingers. The shows were the gaman taikai (endurance contests), where members of the public carried out tasks in which they suffered pain: The winners were the ones who endured the most.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Application time limit for asylum may be scrapped

The government plans to scrap a widely criticized rule that says refugee applications can only be accepted within 60 days of an individual's arrival, according to a draft bill.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Agency calls for repair of reactor cracks

Cracked pipes in nuclear reactors owned by three power utilities must be repaired or replaced before the reactors are put back into operation, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2003

Skylark posts 1.16 billion yen net loss

Skylark Co. said Wednesday it posted a group net loss of 1.16 billion yen in the business year to Dec. 31. The chain of family restaurants attributed the deterioration, which marks a reversal from a profit of 5.85 billion yen in the previous year, to an extraordinary loss of 31.73 billion yen, mainly...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NETWISE
Feb 27, 2003

Avoiding the 'mojibake' bugaboo

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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