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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Nikkei's yearend close lowest since 1983

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended the year on a lackluster note Friday, with key market gauges flirting with their lowest closing levels in decades.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Key CPI falls by record 1.2%

Key consumer prices in Tokyo fell a record 1.2 percent in 2001 from the year before, with deflation continuing into a third consecutive year for the first time since the war, the government said Friday in a preliminary report.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Japan, South Korea and China eye launch of IT talks

Japan, South Korea and China are expected to launch regular ministerial talks on information technology issues, telecommunications minister Toranosuke Katayama said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Hanae Mori to sell part of operations

Hanae Mori International Co. will sell most of its Hanae Mori-brand clothes and its licensed apparel operations to a group that will be formed by trading house Mitsui & Co. and the Rothschild group of Britain, company officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Anti-Koizumi LDP faction urges return to old ways

The administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will not last long unless he shifts to a policy of aggressive spending to shore up the economy in the near future, says a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker openly critical of Koizumi's reform initiatives.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Mizuho to write off latent losses on derivatives trading

The Mizuho Financial Group has decided to write off all unrealized losses in derivative transactions by using "merger profit" after reorganizing its group banks in April, company officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Osaka to surpass Tokyo in crime

For the first time since the end of World War II, Osaka this year will overtake Tokyo and have the highest crime rate in the country.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Takebe hit for querying need to find source of mad cow

Senior members of the opposition parties demanded Friday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi remove farm minister Tsutomu Takebe from office for his recent comment indicating his reluctance to look into the source of mad cow disease.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Jobless rate climbed to 5.5% in November

The unemployment rate climbed to 5.5 percent in November, setting a record high for the third consecutive month with job losses by middle-aged, full-time male workers showing a marked increase, the government announced Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Police plan system to monitor suspects' e-mail

The National Police Agency revealed Friday that it plans to set up e-mail surveillance systems at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and 13 other prefectural police headquarters in April.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Tokyo, Seoul strike deal in fishing talks

Japan and South Korea reached a basic fisheries agreement Friday, with Tokyo offering Seoul the same quota of saury next year as this year in waters off northeastern Japan, the Fisheries Agency said.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Household spending up 3.6%

Spending by wage-earning households rose an inflation-adjusted 3.6 percent in November from a year earlier, up for the second straight month, with a notable rise in spending on entertainment amid a decline in overseas travel, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Mitsui mulls low-pollution project

Mitsui & Co. and the government-affiliated Inpex Corp. may participate in a Qatari project to develop low-pollution liquid fuel from natural gas, company sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Sony in talks with Fujitsu over Nifty

Sony Corp. is negotiating with Fujitsu Ltd. to acquire Internet service provider Nifty Corp., a Fujitsu subsidiary, industry sources said Friday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 29, 2001

JABBA bans foreigners from C'ships

said on Friday that foreign players registered in the Japan Basketball League (JBL) will not be allowed to take part in the 2003 national championships. JABBA explained that the rule was taken to allow Japanese players increased playing opportunities.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

China, South Korea notified during chase of rogue vessel

The Japan Coast Guard contacted South Korean and Chinese authorities during its pursuit last weekend of an unidentified ship in the East China Sea, coast guard officials said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 29, 2001

Tetsuya Kobayashi

Early in his career at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, when he was still on the bottom rung of the ladder, Tetsuya Kobayashi was sent to the Kamikochi Imperial Hotel. Part of his duties there were the cleaning-up operations. "I shall never forget my first experience," he said. "While I was working, I was...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

DPJ too busy waging war on itself to threaten LDP

While Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has enjoyed sky-high popularity ratings during his eight months in office, his main opponent, the Democratic Party of Japan, has moved deeper and deeper into trouble.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2001

A step back after the euro?

LONDON -- Shopkeepers in Germany say they have never seen so many crisp 1,000-mark (about $500) bills as in the past month -- the last before the new euro replaces the mark.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Tanaka clarifies her comments on Taiwan

Following protests from Taiwan, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Friday clarified her earlier remarks that she hoped the sovereignty of Taiwan would be resolved peacefully, as Hong Kong was returned to China.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 29, 2001

Kitchen tips for the year's leftover snake

It's the end of the Year of the Snake and you're wondering what to do with that pet snake you bought last year to celebrate. You have just three days left to dispose of Sammy so you can make room in that aquarium for next year's animal -- the horse.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

TV comedian indicted over drug use

Prosecutors on Friday indicted TV comedian Masashi Tashiro on a charge of using stimulant drugs.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Japanese opt for domestic travel

Akihiro is planning to spend some of his New Year's holiday at a hot spring resort.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Koizumi rules out plans to call election anytime soon

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday ruled out any plan to call a general election in the near future, placing the implementation of his structural reform programs at the forefront.
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2001

No public faith in Koizumi reforms

The first year of the 21st century has seen a great change in Japan's political landscape with the appearance of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Mr. Koizumi, who in April won the post of prime minister with an ardent call for "reforms without sacred cows," has been maintaining an unprecedentedly high...
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2001

Japan nears economic abyss

The story of the dimwitted man watching the rerun of a Clint Eastwood Western is relevant to current claims that the "structural reforms" urged by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will somehow rescue the Japanese economy.

Longform

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