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BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 4, 2001

Kiyohara puts end to Baystars streak

Yomiuri slugger Kazuhiro Kiyohara hit a two-run homer off Yokohama starter Satoru Komiyama (6-5) in the sixth inning as the Giants put an end to the BayStars' winning streak at nine with a 4-3 victory on Friday night at Yokohama Stadium.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2001

Food firms facing polarized market

The nation's food companies are facing increasingly polarized consumption trends, and any firm that fails to meet the needs of such a market faces future downgrading, Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2001

Sumitomo Rubber reports record profits

Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. said Friday that it recorded unconsolidated pretax profits of 6.72 billion yen for the January-June period.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

Local walkathon raises 4 million yen

NAGOYA -- The American Chamber of Commerce Chubu, announced Friday that their 2001 Walkathon, held in May, raised more than 4 million yen for charity.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2001

Daikyo, Mori Trust to set up high-quality condo sales unit

Leading condominium builder Daikyo Inc. will establish a joint venture with Mori Trust Co. to sell high-quality condominiums in Tokyo's downtown areas, Daikyo said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

All Miyake households able to visit

Residents of Miyake Island forced to flee heightened volcanic activity last September will be allowed to pay a temporary visit to their homes early next month, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

Economic panel floats budget limits

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy proposed Friday earmarking some 2 trillion yen for seven key areas under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform blueprint when the panel draws up budgetary ceilings for fiscal 2002 next week.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

Palau leader pushes for summit

Palau President Thomas Remengesau Jr. urged Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday to host a second summit of Japan and Pacific island nations, a Japanese government official said.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

People of all ages are turning to a variety of volunteer work

Japanese men and women of all ages are increasingly spending their spare time engaging in a variety of volunteer work, ranging from restoring traditional "minka" wooden houses in the countryside to recycling secondhand computers.
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2001

Balloting system falls short

Use of the new open-list balloting system in the proportional representation segment of the July 29 Upper House election has exposed a number of defects. The basic flaw is that it favors candidates from major parties, particularly those who count on organized votes.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

Male fish develop eggs in testes

The Environment Ministry announced Friday that nonyl phenol, an organic chemical used in cleaning products, disrupts the endocrine system of "medaka" killifish and causes males to assume female reproductive traits.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2001

APEC to hold talks in Kumamoto

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will hold a four-day ministerial conference in Kyushu Prefecture beginning Sept. 27 to discuss how to improve workers' abilities amid rapid advances in information technology, the labor ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

Takuma attempted suicide, lawyer says

OSAKA -- The man suspected of massacring eight children at an elementary school in Osaka Prefecture on June 8 has tried to commit suicide while in custody, his lawyer said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2001

Mycal revised restructuring plan expected next week

OSAKA -- Ailing retailer Mycal Corp. is expected to unveil a revised restructuring plan as early as next week in a bid to accelerate efforts to pare down its massive debts, company sources said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 4, 2001

Enduring summer's mosquitoes is murderous

It's summer on Shiraishi Island and the mosquitoes are out on their search and annoy missions. There are so many mosquitoes at night, it sounds like Leo Sayer is singing in my bedroom: "You make me feel like dancin' " they sing, "Gonna dance the night awa--" Pssssshhht. In a cloud of insecticide, they...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 4, 2001

Reflections on a most unexpected career abroad

So often you hear of people who come to Japan for a few months and wake one day to find that many years have flown by. How comforting then to find that it also works in reverse.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2001

Fight the good fight for press freedom

What strange set of circumstances could connect the issue of tax probes of South Korean media outlets with China's bid for the Olympics and the advertising policy of a Hong Kong bank? While it may not seem obvious at first glance, the linkage relates to freedom of expression.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

A-bomb survivor spreads peace message

HIGASHI-HIROSHIMA, Hiroshima Pref. -- When a doctor told Hitoshi Takayama in 1962 that a lump removed from his abdomen was malignant, the then 32-year-old thought he would share the fate of the 200,000 whose lives were lost in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2001

Nikkeiren urges jobless safety net

FUJIYOSHIDA, Yamanashi Pref. -- Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren), said creating a safety net for the unemployed should be a priority for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who is promoting structural reforms.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

Pyongyang officials' visit to be nixed

The government will deny requests from a group of North Korean officials, including senior members of the ruling Workers Party of (North) Korea, to enter Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2001

Matsushita touts lightest DVD player

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Friday it will launch the world's lightest portable DVD player on Sept. 1.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

Osaka's 10-year reform plan aims to avoid state intervention

OSAKA -- In an attempt to avoid bankruptcy or fiscal intervention from the central government, the Osaka Prefectural Government submitted a 10-year reform program Friday that includes cutting 3,000 jobs and abolishing its Bureau of Public Enterprise.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

Wife held in abusive spouse's slaying

OSAKA -- A 32-year-old Osaka housewife was arrested Friday on suspicion of stabbing her abusive husband to death with a kitchen knife at their house in Tsurumi Ward.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 4, 2001

Felix

Most passengers boarded the RMS St. Helena in Cardiff, South Wales. Some went on board in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Felix, who is of Spanish-Cuban descent, joined the ship in Tenerife, as the resort island is his home. He had never set foot on St. Helena.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2001

METI to test hydrogen fuel gas stations

Hydrogen gas stations for fuel-cell vehicles will open in April on a three-year trial basis.

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’