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JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Health watchdog eyes food-safety crackdown

Japan's health watchdog plans to tighten food safety rules and make protecting public health its priority, officials said Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 9, 2002

Big leaguers wary of Giants

The Japanese channel was one of many shows Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins tuned into as a kid in his hometown of Oakland, Calif. He remembers watching scores and highlights of baseball games played in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Social responsibility a safe investment

One Akiyama thrived in the fast-paced, high-stakes world of finance for 18 years, working as a U.S. government bond trader for several brokerages in Tokyo and New York. Until about a year ago.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 9, 2002

Hunching to keep from dying of cold poisoning

If I could bring one thing from my home country to Japan, it would be a fireplace. Of course, the hearth wouldn't make it through the security check these days. But still, to have an open fire blazing in the living room would be nice, not to mention warm.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2002

IT slump bludgeons Itochu profit

Trading house Itochu Corp. said Friday its group net profit in the first half of the 2002 business year dropped 11.8 percent from a year earlier to 22.24 billion yen due to the slump in the domestic IT sector.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2002

Bar code's replacement packs data into a series of squares

A seemingly random collection of black-and-white blocks will become an increasingly common sight when we buy soda out of a vending machine, bet on a horse race or purchase items at a store.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Okinawa to host Pacific island talks

Japan will host the third summit of Pacific island nations to enhance cooperation among its Pacific neighbors, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2002

KDDI sees group net profit jump 205.4% in first half

KDDI Corp. said Friday its group net profit for the business first half to Sept. 30 soared 205.4 percent from a year earlier to 20.45 billion yen.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Medical staff grilled over incorrect data

Tokyo Metropolitan Government health officials questioned staff at a hospital and a clinical testing company Friday over incorrect medical data given to more than 10,000 patients over a six-month period beginning April.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Civilians sent to fix SDF warships

The Defense Agency has been dispatching private-sector civilian engineers to carry out maintenance on Self-Defense Forces vessels providing logistics support to the U.S.-led antiterrorism campaign in the Indian Ocean, agency officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2002

Gas taxes to aid loss-making bridge, roadside trees

The land and transport ministry has outlined plans to expand the use of revenues from gas and other automobile-related taxes, currently used for road construction, for projects ranging from more ecologically friendly roads to electronic toll collection systems, ministry sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

New Cabinet ministers' assets average 36 million yen

Six ministers who were appointed in a September Cabinet reshuffle have an average of 36 million yen in assets, excluding stockholdings and savings in ordinary deposits, according to a Kyodo News survey based on Diet report released Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2002

Shiokawa wants 'major cuts' in national capital gains tax

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday the capital gains tax should be significantly reduced -- although not to zero, because that would cause problems for the tax system.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Price is right for 'carbon fund' investments now

It would be wise for Japanese firms to invest in so-called carbon funds soon so they can meet greenhouse gas emissions targets more cheaply and on schedule, according to Ken Newcombe, manager of one such fund run by the World Bank.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Obituary: Akira Hatano

Akira Hatano, a former superintendent general of the Metropolitan Police Department who later served as justice minister, died of kidney failure Wednesday at a hospital in Kawasaki, his family said Friday. He was 91.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Former diplomat Saotome to head new NGO mission

The Foreign Ministry on Friday appointed Mitsuhiro Saotome, the former ambassador to Zambia, as the first ambassador in charge of nongovernmental organizations, a post newly created under ministry reforms.
COMMENTARY
Nov 9, 2002

Overwhelming school ordeals

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair was right when he emphasized that education was the top priority for Britain. It is certainly a major issue in Japan, too. Britain and Japan face real problems in education, but the issues for each country, while interesting to compare, are different and almost equally...
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Korean group faces antisubversion probe

The antisubversion law may be applied to a pro-Pyongyang group of Korean residents in Japan because of its alleged involvement in suspected illicit transfers of funds to North Korea, a senior Public Security Investigation Agency official said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2002

State to warn of mounting risks

The government may use its economic assessment for November to warn that the downside risks facing the nation's economy are increasing, a senior official of the Cabinet Office indicated Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2002

Tokyo consumer confidence down

The government said Friday its key gauge to measure consumer confidence in Tokyo fell in October from the previous month for the third consecutive monthly drop.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Amnesty criticizes rights-protection bills

Amnesty International Japan has "serious concerns" over a set of bills the government says will protect human rights and personal information, saying they will be ineffective in preventing violations by authorities.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2002

Public health problems in the Americas

NEW YORK -- Latin America and the Caribbean enter the new century showing measurable gains in several health indicators such as life expectancy, infant survivability and the fight against several infectious diseases. Most countries in these regions, however, still face daunting challenges due to sprawling...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 9, 2002

Shoko Sugitani

A dozen years ago, pianist Shoko Sugitani owned nine pianos, which she kept in different places. She is now down to seven, some of them in Duesseldorf and the rest in Tokyo. She has a favorite piano that she takes with her to important concerts. For the concert scheduled with the Warsaw Philharmonic...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 9, 2002

Restoring hemp to natural place in Japan's culture

Even as a child, Yasunao Nakayama knew of the importance of hemp, called "suna" in Japanese but most commonly known as "asa." His grandfather grew a plot of the stuff, for use in ritual Shinto ceremonies.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2002

Confidence down in second quarter

The government downgraded its assessment of domestic business confidence on Thursday, reporting that confidence deteriorated in the July-September period from the previous quarter.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2002

Teijin posts net loss of 1.08 billion yen

Teijin Ltd. on Thursday reported a group net loss of 1.08 billion yen for the fiscal first half ended Sept. 30, citing poor clothing and textile sales and restructuring costs.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2002

High-level talks planned on future of North Korea reactors

Japan, the United States and South Korea will hold high-level talks Saturday in Tokyo on whether to continue a project to build light-water reactors in North Korea, now that Pyongyang has admitted it has been working to develop atomic weapons in defiance of its pledge not to do so.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2002

Official tasked with reviving ailing industry

The government on Thursday said National Public Safety Commission Chairman Sadakazu Tanigaki will assume a new ministerial post in charge of revitalizing the nation's sluggish industrial sector.

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’