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Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Nov 16, 2002

'Oden' is secret weapon in 24-hour stores' war for customers

For many modern urban residents, the typical harbinger of winter is the smell of "oden" steaming on the convenience store counter.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 16, 2002

Q-chan out of Tokyo marathon

Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi pulled out of this weekend's Tokyo International Women's Marathon on Friday due to a stress fracture in her left rib.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

Kenwood to ask for tax break

Major audio equipment maker Kenwood Corp. said Friday it will file an application with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for treatment under the industrial revival law to qualify for a tax break METI gives to debt-ridden but potentially viable firms.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

Ties and friendship

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi emphasized Friday that Japan's desire to further enhance ties with China remains unchanged under Beijing's new leadership.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

Three die in Edogawa blaze

Two children and their grandmother were killed Thursday night in a fire in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, police and firefighters said.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

Japan, East Asian neighbors pursue common travel pass

Japan plans to work with Hong Kong and Singapore to develop a common pass for trains and buses, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 16, 2002

Big, bad Wolf devours Japanese All-Star team

After giving up 29 runs in the last four games, the major league pitchers finally put on an All-Star display.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

KEDO plan welcomed

Japan supports the decision by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization to freeze oil shipments to North Korea beginning in December, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 16, 2002

Dark days for Britain's Tories

LONDON -- The once-mighty Conservative Party, which dominated the British political scene for most of the 20th century, has now fallen on very bad times.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

JAL group operating profit dropped 26.7% in first half

Japan Airlines Co. said Friday its group operating profit for the first half of the business year fell 26.7 percent on a year-on-year basis to 28.55 billion yen.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

Former Tokushima governor given suspended prison term

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Tokushima Gov. Toshio Endo to a suspended three-year prison term Friday and fined him 8 million yen for bribery.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

Executives of top banks say everything is fine

Seeking to reassure markets of their financial stability, top executives of the nation's four biggest banking groups insisted Friday they do not require another injection of public funds.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

Women governors press Koizumi on policy

The nation's three female governors on Friday submitted to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi a package of policy measures that focus on the needs of ordinary citizens.
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2002

A shadow over the U.S. economy

Prospects for the U.S. economy look increasingly uncertain, and not only for cyclical reasons. Although third-quarter GDP increased at an annual rate of over 3 percent, posting four straight quarters of expansion, there are signs that consumers are beginning to tighten their purse strings. In October,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

Homeless hawkers fight turf war

Opening a shop in Tokyo's trendy Harajuku district may be every merchant's dream. But if one is destitute, desperate and hungry, there's always a market on the street.
COMMENTARY
Nov 16, 2002

Chance for India, Pakistan after the polls

ISLAMABAD -- With elections in Pakistan and Indian-administered Kashmir out of the way, South Asia's two nuclear-armed neighbors have an opportunity to embark on a new peace initiative.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

Fewer bankruptcies but high liabilities left behind

The number of corporate bankruptcies fell in October from a year earlier for the third straight month, but the amount of liabilities left by failed firms was at the second-highest level for October in the postwar period, credit research agency Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 16, 2002

East meets West moves over for East meets East

While accepting that cultural exchange is hardly a new concept, Astrid (de los Rios) Nishimaki has her own very individual slant on the subject. "My aim is to bring Latin America, Arab countries and Japan closer together through the lingua franca of artists and creators."
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

Nuclear institute misused 1.5 million yen

Officials of the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute misappropriated 1.5 million yen in funds in fiscal 2000 to cover unauthorized food and drink expenses, the state-run body said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PREFECTURAL FARE
Nov 16, 2002

Fukushima tourist office gives natives taste of home

Kotaro Takamura's poem about a homesick woman in Tokyo pining for her native Fukushima Prefecture more than 60 years ago could just as easily have been written about many of the displaced locals living in the capital these days.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 16, 2002

'Oba-chan' mutiny brings funeral chaos

There was so much activity on Shiraishi Island, it was almost seismic. Elderly women grouped outside their houses whispering. The Buddhist priest was so busy, he wasn't answering his cell phone. Ferries kept bringing more people dressed in black.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 16, 2002

A whole lot of shaking going on in my mind

Earthquakes are not laughable affairs. The breadth of the destruction and depth of the human tragedy demand only a solemn response.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 16, 2002

Michiko Mitarai

This week has seen ceremonies setting up a new relationship between Goucher College, Baltimore, and Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo. An agreement reached for cultural and educational exchange between the two institutions represents, in fact, a rediscovery of an old, essential connection. For Michiko...
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

Mitsui O.S.K. net profit falls

Major shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. said Friday its group net profit in the fiscal first half to Sept. 30 fell 60.5 percent from a year earlier to 5.54 billion yen due to flagging shipping fees and higher fuel costs.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

U.S. military to continue underwater blasts

The United States has notified Japan it will continue military exercises involving underwater explosions in waters near Japan through Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2002

Indians starve while grain is exported

MADRAS -- Hunger still stalks India. Fifty-five years after the British gave the country its freedom, 200 million Indians -- a fifth of the population -- still go to bed hungry. What makes this situation even more tragic is the fact that the government plans to export million tons of rice and wheat.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’