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JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

First ever surgery employing remote robots is performed

The age of automated, computer-controlled surgery came closer than ever this week with the report that surgeons in New York successfully used remote-controlled robots to remove the gall bladder of a patient in France. The procedure, performed on a 68-year-old woman in Strasbourg, was the world's first...
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

Schoolgirl-sex judge: 'I admit everything'

A high court judge already convicted of paying for sex with schoolgirls admitted to all charges against him during the first session of his impeachment trial at the Diet on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 21, 2001

Swallows streak takes dive

Hirofumi Ogawa hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning Thursday and lifted the Yokohama BayStars to a 4-2 victory over the Yakult Swallows at Jingu Stadium.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

State expands scope of mad cow testing

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Thursday it will expand the scope of its cattle testing to ensure it finds animals that may be infected with mad cow disease, ministry officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

Citigroup to form tieup with two life insurers

U.S. financial services giant Citigroup Inc. said Thursday it has reached a basic agreement on a life insurance tieup with Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

Forum could smooth relations

Japan is informally considering the establishment of a high-level comprehensive forum for discussing economic issues with China as early as next year to promote policy cooperation in a wide range of areas, government sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

Global summit to issue call to arms against disease

Japan will host an international symposium early next month to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in the fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Sep 21, 2001

Riding tall in the classroom

When Tom Kodiak's grandfather offered him 2,200 head of cattle and a 17,000-hectare ranch in South Park, Colorado, he told his grandfather he'd think it over. It was his last year of college and Kodiak was afraid that if he went straight from school to managing a big cattle ranch he'd be stuck there...
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

Dollar, like America, no longer safe haven

The dollar, often considered a safe haven in times of international unrest, has been spurned on the world currency market of late.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

Tokyo Motor Show must go on

The Tokyo Motor Show will be held in late October as scheduled despite the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, organizers said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

Ukraine envoy pleased with relations

Yuriy V. Kostenko, the new Ukraine Ambassador to Japan, said Thursday he is satisfied with the development in bilateral relations and the deepened mutual understanding in the 10 years since his country became independent of the former Soviet Union.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

Center turns away Myanmar donors

The Japanese Red Cross Society has turned away a dozen Myanmar residents wanting to donate blood, saying HIV risk-assessment interviews cannot be effectively conducted with foreigners, a group representing Myanmar residents said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

Koizumi-led panel reveals steps to cope with unemployment

A state task force led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday unveiled a comprehensive package of measures to deal with unemployment.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 21, 2001

Japan names team for golf World Cup

Toshimitsu Izawa will team up with Shigeki Maruyama for host Japan and face the American pair of Tiger Woods and David Duval on the opening day of the World Cup golf competition in Shizuoka Pref., organizers said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

Outlook worsens for Komatsu

Standard & Poor's Corp. has revised the outlook on its BBB long-term corporate credit rating for construction machinery maker Komatsu Ltd. to negative from stable.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

Ogi slips out of hospital for meeting

Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chikage Ogi partially resumed her official duties Thursday, one week after entering a hospital to receive liver treatment.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

Detention process questioned

The alleged rape of a Japanese woman on June 29 by a U.S. serviceman in Okinawa has revived an old debate -- whether crime suspects are treated fairly during the investigative and trial process in Japan.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

Trade surplus down 47% in August to 320.25 billion yen

In its 14th-consecutive month of year-on-year decline, the nation's trade surplus plunged 47.2 percent in August to 320.25 billion yen, the Finance Ministry said Thursday in a preliminary report.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

BOJ downgrades economic assessment

There will be no immediate recovery in productivity as the economic slump triggers rising unemployment and wage cuts, the Bank of Japan said Thursday while downgrading its assessment of the economy for the fourth consecutive month.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

Vodafone unit to launch Japan Telecom takeover

British cellular operator Vodafone Group PLC will today launch an agreed takeover bid over Japan Telecom Co. through a wholly owned subsidiary and take full control of the nation's third-largest operator with up to a 66.7 percent stake, Vodafone announced Thursday in Tokyo.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 21, 2001

Japanese macaque

JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

Koizumi considers U.S. visit ahead of Diet session

The government is trying to organize a visit to the United States by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi before the extraordinary Diet session gets under way next week, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2001

Miyake islanders visit evacuated homes

MIYAKE ISLAND -- More than 300 people returned to their homes here Tuesday for the first time since being forced to evacuate a year ago due to worsening volcanic activity.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2001

Fugitive's wife a Pyongyang agent?

Emiko Akagi, the wife of one of nine Red Army fugitives wanted in the hijacking of a Japan Airlines jet to North Korea in 1970, used a North Korean diplomatic passport during a trip in Europe in 1988, investigative sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2001

Koizumi starts preparations so SDF could support U.S.

Japan will prepare for the dispatch of its Self-Defense Forces to lend noncombatant support to U.S. forces should Washington take retaliatory action against terrorists, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced Wednesday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Sep 20, 2001

Honoring victims never easy to do

It was a refreshing change to get back to covering sports again this week. You know the stuff: Mariners top White Sox, 'Niners stuff Pats, Habs ice Leafs, and so on.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 20, 2001

Buffaloes soldier on as Isobe grabs some glory

OSAKA -- Another game, another hero for the Kintetsu Buffaloes. And so the story goes, as Kintetsu's incredible march toward the Pacific League pennant continues.

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’