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JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Ministry to draft environment tax

Environment Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Friday his ministry will draft an environment tax by this summer to fight global warming. "We would like to come up with a draft for the tax by this summer to foster public debate on the issue before actually introducing the tax," Suzuki said.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Gang of teens attacks homeless men

OSAKA -- About 30 teenagers wielding steel pipes and baseball bats assaulted 10 homeless men sleeping in a park in Osaka Prefecture early Friday, inflicting various injuries, police said. The teenagers, who appeared to be either junior high or high school students, arrived on scooters and bicycles at...
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2003

No decision yet on insurer yield cuts

The government has made no final decision on whether to allow financially troubled life insurers to cut the yields they have guaranteed to policyholders, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Friday .
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Shiga 'eco-village' lures many disciplines

HIKONE, Shiga Pref. -- Rooftop solar panels provide energy and heat water. Rainwater is collected and used for washing and toilets. Kitchen waste and leaves are composted into fertilizers for crops. People work on farms and community businesses.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2003

WTO farming plans trigger huge Tokyo protest

More than 2,000 representatives of farm groups from Japan and nine other countries demonstrated Friday in Tokyo against plans for a substantial reduction in agricultural tariffs.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Group offers info on Europe's 'Utopias'

An Osaka-based nonprofit organization promoting "eco-villages" provides information on such communities in Europe. It also makes arrangements for people who wish to visit or stay at one.
COMMENTARY
Feb 15, 2003

Why hasn't Saddam killed all Americans?

WASHINGTON -- Americans all should be dead. At least, Americans all should be dead if the Bush administration is correct about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. It believes there is nothing today that prevents a weak and isolated Iraq from striking the United States, the globe's dominant power.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 15, 2003

J.A. Stam

At the end of the 1960s, when Joop Stam was a student at Keio Kokusai Center in Tokyo, people used to say: "That young man from Holland will go a long way. He typifies the modern young scholar, who is eager and able to take advantage of today's opportunities."
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

LDP may field DPJ member in Kanagawa governor race

The Liberal Democratic Party is reportedly considering an unusual tactic for the Kanagawa gubernatorial election in April -- fielding a current Diet member of the Democratic Party of Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 15, 2003

Local boy with a liking for the finer things in life

Living in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "furusato" (hometown), it seems likely that Hisataka (Issa) Koizumi is related.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2003

Toyota to sell Lexus on domestic market

Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it will introduce its Lexus luxury brand on the domestic market.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Japanese advised to get out of Baghdad

The government Friday advised Japanese nationals in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq to leave the country immediately, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2003

WTO talks kick off with clashes over farm trade

A three-day WTO trade conference got off to a fiery start Friday as trade ministers from 22 countries clashed over a recent WTO draft proposal aimed at expanding farm trade.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2003

GDP rises 0.5% but outlook still gloomy

The economy eked out a marginal increase of 0.5 percent in the October-December period from the previous quarter, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of growth, the Cabinet Office said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 15, 2003

'Yaido': the deep art of beheading people

Have you ever had the urge to behead someone? Now you can. Behead as many people as you like, and additionally slice off their limbs. But there are some restrictions: only between the hours of 7 and 9 on Tuesday nights at a particular dojo in the city of Okayama. Ueno-sensei would be your teacher --...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Chile president stresses need for fresh resolution prior to attack on Iraq

Visiting Chilean President Ricardo Lagos on Friday stressed the importance of the U.N. Security Council adopting a fresh resolution before any military action is taken against Iraq.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2003

Hot-button farm trade policy issues

Following are facts tied to Japan's efforts to protect its rice market during World Trade Organization agricultural negotiations:
EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2003

North Korea vs. the world

The International Atomic Energy Agency voted this week to bring North Korea's nuclear violations before the United Nations Security Council. The move increases the pressure on Pyongyang; for that reason, some governments are concerned that North Korea will only respond with more belligerent behavior....
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Ministry to discount bridge tolls in bid to lure motorists

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry will further reduce tolls on three bridges linking Honshu and Shikoku in a bid to get people to use the heavily indebted expressways, transport minister Chikage Ogi said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2003

Few hawks in Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE -- As the world awaits the outcome of another report by United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq, and perhaps a second resolution (following U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441), war drums are beating ever louder in the United States, Britain and some allied nations.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2003

Japanese unit of McDonald's logs huge loss

Ltd. said Friday it posted a group net loss of 2.34 billion yen for the business year through December, sinking into the red for the first time in nearly three decades under the heavy cost of store closures. The firm also said outlet openings will be reduced to 75 from 117 in 2002, leading to the first-ever...
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Osaka to build world's largest planetarium theater screen

OSAKA -- The city of Osaka has unveiled a plan to build the world's largest "all-sky" screen at the Osaka Science Museum's planetarium theater to project celestial movements and simulate space travel.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 15, 2003

Four teams to battle for Mazda Cup

Who will become the first champion as the No. 1 club in the East Asia?
Japan Times
JAPAN / PREFECTURAL FARE
Feb 15, 2003

Taste, color of Tokushima arrive in Tokyo

One weekday afternoon in January, an elderly woman dropped by Tokushima Ai-ai Plaza in Tokyo's Minato Ward just to pick up a package of boiled and dried baby sardines and fish paste.

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