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BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2002

August trade surplus leaps to 644 billion yen

Japan's merchandise trade surplus grew 107.9 percent in August from a year earlier to 644.1 billion yen, the sixth straight month of year-on-year growth, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday by the Finance Ministry.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2002

Strike a balance in the Security Council

SEOUL -- While virtually all countries are agreed on the danger posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's surreptitious efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD), this is not the only -- or even the main danger -- facing the international community over how to respond to Iraq's noncompliance...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 26, 2002

U.K. comic is drawn eastward once again

As a lad in Liverpool, comedian Simon Bligh knew it was just a matter of time before he'd end up in Japan. Even the most English of culinary treats was being subjected to Orientation, drawing him Eastward.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Sep 26, 2002

Iraq dominates Washington's agenda

WASHINGTON -- The Oct. 4 target date for the adjournment of Congress is fast approaching. The top priority for President George W. Bush is to convince Congress to give him some form of support for his crusade against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Sep 26, 2002

Mario milks aesthetic basics as a baby on Yoshi's Island

Mario is usually the star of Mario Bros. adventures; but in the case of "Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island" for Game Boy Advance, the little plumber literally comes off as a crybaby.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 26, 2002

Oral hygiene, oral history and aural pollution

Flouride in Japan The queries we get! About looking after our teeth, for example. Nancy Ridenour, who lives in Gifu, recalls being told a decade ago by a Colgate rep that fluoride is not introduced into Japanese toothpaste, nor is it legal in water here. As a result, she's been bringing in supplies...
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2002

Duskin chief to step down over Mister Donut scandal

OSAKA -- Duskin Co., the operator of Mister Donut shops in Japan, said Wednesday its president will step down in November over a scandal involving meat dumplings containing a banned additive.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2002

A harmful exception to the rule

Banking reform in Japan continues to disappoint. The general perception is that both authorities and banks are mostly taking stopgap measures, such as the Bank of Japan's plan to buy bank shares. Another notable example of expediency is the de facto reversal of the government decision to abolish full...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 26, 2002

Ozone hole? Soon it could be . . . 'what hole?'

Despite the international set-to over Iraq and caustic reviews for the recent U.N. Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, there is still some good news on cooperation and the environment.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2002

Nichirei cuts profit forecast for full year

Nichirei Corp., Japan's top maker of frozen foods, said Tuesday it has cut its net profit forecast for the fiscal first half to Sept. 30 and the full year to next March 31, due to tainted spinach from China, capital losses on sales of stock and fixed-asset holdings.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2002

Uniqlo working to build major presence in China

Fast Retailing Co., which produces the Uniqlo brand of casual clothing, is pushing to create a dominant presence in the Chinese casual clothing market, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2002

North Korea may face grilling

Japan may bring up additional cases of possible abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea if it finds sufficient evidence to back its claims, Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2002

Supreme Court upholds ban on book

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court decision to halt the publication of a novella, marking the first time in postwar Japan that the top court has endorsed such an action in a libel suit.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2002

War orphans plan to sue government by December

A group of Japanese left behind as children in China during the war plans to sue the government for damages by mid-December.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2002

Ex-gangster gets five months for bribing official

OSAKA -- A former gangster was sentenced Tuesday to five months in prison for bribing a senior official of the Osaka High Public Prosecutor's Office.
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 25, 2002

FIFA to pay up for ticket troubles

The Japanese World Cup Organizing Committee will receive a compensation fee for the damages that the local organizer suffered with the World Cup ticketing process, JAWOC general secretary Yasuhiko Endo said on Tuesday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2002

RCC should buy loans above market value: banker

The head of the Japanese Bankers Association indicated Tuesday that Resolution and Collection Corp., the government's debt collector, should purchase bank loans at above-market prices.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2002

Abduction ordered via radio

One night in June 1980, Radio Pyongyang broadcast an apparently random five-digit number -- 29627.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 25, 2002

From the mailbox: What's wrong with Ichiro?

Wayne: Have there been any negative or questioning press comments about Ichiro's (Suzuki) recent slump in batting here in Seattle? From my perspective it almost looks like he might be hiding a health problem; he seems to have no fire in the belly and is almost running on empty, so to speak. Also, do...
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2002

'Yakiniku' stages recovery in wake of BSE outbreak

Sales at "yakiniku" barbecued beef restaurants have recovered significantly after plunging in the wake of last fall's outbreak of mad cow disease, a restaurant industry body said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2002

Scholar from Japan held in China prison

The prisoner smiled at his 13-year-old son through a window in the hot meeting room of the No. 3 prison in Urumqi, the provincial capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, one day in August.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2002

Nissan Diesel reveals restructuring program

Nissan Diesel Motor Co. announced a new three-year restructuring program Tuesday that will help it reduce its interest-bearing debt to 250 billion yen by the end of March 2006 from about 420 billion yen at the end of last March.
COMMENTARY
Sep 25, 2002

Strengthen Sino-Japanese ties

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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’