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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2002

Myanmar's SPDC must honor its word

Visits to Myanmar by United Nations Special Envoy Ismail Razali and Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi ended in hopes that change would take place. Unfortunately, however, Myanmar's generals have shown no sign of turning their words into action, and the country's situation continues to deteriorate. If...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 21, 2002

Far-out news headlines from the Far East

Sometimes I yearn for lies. Like sensational news items that everybody knows aren't true:
COMMENTARY
Sep 21, 2002

Past returns to haunt Taiwan's Kuomintang

HONG KONG -- The Kuomintang's chickens have come home to roost. The KMT, which was swept off the China mainland in 1949 by Communist forces, ruled Taiwan from then until two years ago, when it was defeated in the presidential elections by Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Sep 21, 2002

Traditional house preserves dream of pioneering writer

Surrounded by trees, the old house sits preserved in tranquility, exuding the beauty of traditional Japan and reviving the taste of the Edo Period two centuries ago.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Woman left off list of abductees probably nurse

The Japanese woman abducted to North Korea who was not on Tokyo's official list of 11 is probably a nurse from Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture who vanished along with her mother in 1978, sources said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 21, 2002

Ian Bailey

SHROPSHIRE, England -- A plaque over the porch of a remarkable black-and-white house in a small hamlet in Shropshire gives the date 1636. This records the age of the front of the house. Parts of the rest are older. Owner Ian Bailey has documents that are dated 1589, when the first known inventory was...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2002

Testing times for the U.N.

In finally taking the vexed issue of war with Iraq to the United Nations, U.S. President George W. Bush has presented the organization with a double-edged test of credibility. Will it lift its performance and remain relevant to U.S. foreign policy on Washington's terms, or in doing so will it be seen...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

More utilities admit reactor coverups

Tohoku Electric Power Co. and Chubu Electric Power Co. admitted Friday they failed to report structural faults in their nuclear plants to the government.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

Government will draft new measures in October to cull bad loans: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday the government will devise measures next month to accelerate the disposal of nonperforming loans held by the nation's financial institutions.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

Inose slams road entity, private firm links

About 700 firms that have hired retired officials from Japan Highway Public Corp. received annual orders totaling more than 1 trillion yen from four road-related semigovernmental bodies in each of the past five years, it was learned Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 21, 2002

Chiba puts Lions' PL party on hold

CHIBA -- Nate Minchey made sure things didn't go the way the Seibu Lions had expected Friday night.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Kawaguchi apologizes over abductee information fiasco

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi apologized Friday for the ministry's failure to disclose information it received from North Korea regarding the dates of the deaths of eight abducted Japanese nationals.
EDITORIALS
Sep 20, 2002

Following up the Pyongyang summit

North Korea's acknowledgment of its involvement in the kidnappings of Japanese nationals marks a major milestone in the off-and-on normalization talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang that began in 1991. With the negotiations resuming next month, following Tuesday's summit agreement between Prime Minister...
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2002

Fujisawa licenses drug-coated stent to Italy's Sorin

Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. said Thursday it has concluded a contract with Sorin Biomedica Cardio SpA to license to the Italian firm its immunosuppressive drug-coated stents used for heart disease treatment.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2002

Panel adopts outline for intellectual property legislation

A government panel adopted on Thursday an outline for proposed legislation aimed at promoting and protecting intellectual property rights, such as patents and copyrights.
Japan Times
JAPAN / BABY BUST
Sep 20, 2002

Education costs seen adding fuel to fall in birthrate

At age 4, Mari takes swimming, gymnastics, drawing and English-conversation classes. And that's after kindergarten.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2002

JCCI adopts emergency economic plan

The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday adopted a five-point emergency recommendation on economic policies for the government that includes a call for bold action to fight deflation.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2002

Beefed up traffic law slows drunk motorists

A toughened nationwide road traffic law has cut the number of drunken driving violations by 1,846 since it came into effect three months ago, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2002

Part-timers top 10 million, account for 26% of workforce

The number of part-time workers topped 10 million last year, accounting for one in every four workers in Japan, according to a survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2002

Land prices down for 11th year

Land prices in Japan fell in the 12-month period to July 1 for the 11th consecutive year, showing larger margins of decline than in the previous year for both residential and commercial properties, according to a government study released Thursday.
SUMO
Sep 20, 2002

Musashimaru stays in charge

Grand champion Musashimaru had a brush with his second defeat but came away unscathed Thursday while rival yokozuna Takanohana overpowered ozeki Musoyama to stay one off the pace at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.
JAPAN / ENERGY EQUATION
Sep 20, 2002

Energy goals, needs, realities not in sync

OSAKA -- It was another sweltering summer day in Den Den Town here, with the temperature expected to climb above 30 and humidity at nearly 80 percent.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2002

Abductees' families kept in dark

North Korea gave Japan the dates eight of its abducted nationals died, but the Foreign Ministry withheld the information from the next of kin until it was reported in a newspaper, government officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2002

Koizumi backs BOJ bad-loan disposal measures

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday the government will take every possible measure in cooperation with the Bank of Japan to accelerate the disposal of nonperforming loans and prevent a financial crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2002

Court dismisses inventor's patent claim but will consider reward

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday acknowledged Nichia Corp.'s ownership of the patent for a key semiconductor device, rejecting a suit filed by the inventor, now a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2002

Three Kyushu assemblies agree to request probe into abductions

Three local assemblies in Kyushu separately adopted written opinions Thursday pressing the central government to fully investigate North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2002

Political lull comes to an end

This past summer was rather quiescent both politically and economically. About the only big story was former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's resignation from the Diet over allegations that she misused the state-funded pay of her legislative secretaries.

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’