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JAPAN
Dec 13, 2001

Four Afghans denied refugee status take case to court

Four Afghan men, whose applications for refugee status were rejected by the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau in November, filed a case against the decision with the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday, their lawyers said.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2001

Ministry opens counterterrorism office

The Foreign Ministry said it set up a new division Wednesday to deal with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, centering around cooperating with the international community in the fight against terrorism.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2001

Asylum seekers' fates hang in balance

Refugees in danger of persecution, or migrants seeking work and wealth?
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 13, 2001

Afghan aid groups persevere despite danger

Prospects for the upcoming winter in Afghanistan were bleak enough before Sept. 11, as years of drought destroyed crops and drove millions of people toward famine.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 13, 2001

Mario, Mike and miscellaneous madness

Some recent observations from the world of sports:
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

Big steelmakers make it official

Nippon Steel Corp. and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd., Japan's biggest and fourth-largest steelmakers, officially announced Wednesday their intentions to begin negotiations on a business alliance that would slash production, distribution and material-procurement costs.
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

Seiko unit to produce in Thailand

Seiko Corp. said Wednesday its wholly owned subsidiary Seiko Precision Inc. will shift domestic production of camera devices to Thailand to enhance its competitiveness.
JAPAN / LAST CALL FOR SAKE
Dec 13, 2001

Sake brewers seeking to please palates overseas

NIIGATA -- When movie star Robert De Niro visited Hokusetsu Shuzo's cellar in the village of Akadomari on Sado Island in fall 1998, he reportedly held up a 10-year-old bottle of sake and said he wanted it shipped to his restaurant in the United States.
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

Arabian Oil, Kuwait nearing deal

Arabian Oil Co. said Wednesday it has signed memorandums with the Kuwaiti government that oblige the two sides to seek to reach an agreement by Jan. 29 to allow Arabian Oil to continue tapping Kuwait's Khafji oil field.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

Daiwa Bank Holdings established

OSAKA -- Daiwa Bank and two regional banks established Daiwa Bank Holdings Inc. on Wednesday to integrate their management and create the largest financial group in the Kansai region.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2001

Readers reach out with fund

Total contributions to The Japan Times Readers' Fund in 2000 came to 3,401,372 yen.
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

Panel threatens NTT with splitup

An advisory panel to the telecommunications minister said that Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. should be reorganized or split up if steps to promote competition in the telecom market fail.
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

Yoshinoya to open in Philippines

Fast-food chain operator Yoshinoya D&C Co. said Wednesday it will open two restaurants in Manila this month, its first in the Philippines. Yoshinoya, which sells seasoned beef strips and rice known as "gyudon," said the first outlet will open Saturday and the second on Dec. 22.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Dec 13, 2001

Bond issues a given, but who will buy them?

There is a virtual consensus in the marketplace that another increase in government bond issues is inevitable.
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

LDP panel nixes tax hike plans

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's powerful tax policy panel decided Wednesday to scrap plans to raise taxes on cigarettes and low-malt "happoshu" in fiscal 2002, LDP officials said.
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

Hitachi, Corning in cable venture

Hitachi Cable Ltd. said Wednesday it has agreed with Corning Cable Systems LLC of the United States to set up a 50-50 joint venture next month for the manufacture of optical fiber cable in Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

'Tankan' reveals sentiment falling but not as steeply

Business sentiment is continuing to fall at Japanese companies as they struggle against declining exports and prices amid the global economic slump, according to the Bank of Japan's latest "tankan" quarterly survey.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2001

State bars three countries from donating organs

A health ministry panel decided Wednesday to add Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands to a list of seven countries from which organ donations to Japan are barred to prevent the spread of the brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2001

Arafat losing his grasp on leadership

BEIRUT -- The closer Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat gets to the fulfillment of his long-standing dream of establishing a Palestinian state, the more his plans seem to go awry. Now holed up in Ramallah, just 10 km from the holy city, his chances of ever entering it look their bleakest ever....
MORE SPORTS
Dec 13, 2001

Davenport, Hingis head field

World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport and three-time champion Martina Hingis head a strong field for next year's Toray Pan Pacific Open, organizers said Wednesday.

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’