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JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Group reveals additional 40 suspected abduction victims

An influential citizens' group investigating the abduction of Japanese citizens to North Korea released Friday a list of 40 more cases that it wants the government to look into.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Government plans to up stock prices

The government will take all necessary steps to shore up stock prices, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Forex reserves approach $470 billion

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves at the end of December hit a new record, up $9.26 billion from a month earlier to $469.73 billion, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Asahi Mutual cans Millea tieup plans

Struggling Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. announced Friday it has scrapped plans to team up with the Millea Insurance Group, saying it may look for another partner.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Malpractice suits up sharply since 2000

In the last 10 years, 210 lawsuits and arbitration cases were brought against the government over incidents of malpractice at national hospitals and sanitariums, according to a health ministry report released Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

El Nino in mature stage: agency

The El Nino phenomenon, which creates abnormal weather conditions worldwide, is in a mature stage and will continue at least through the spring, the Meteorological Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

New road to run under Tokyo

The national government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government have agreed to build a controversial expressway project in Tokyo under ground to avoid costly land purchases, transport minister Chikage Ogi said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Tokyo will host informal WTO meeting next month

Japan will host an informal ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization on Feb. 15 and 16, Foreign Ministry officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Jan. 20 start to Diet session approved

The government decided at a Cabinet meeting Friday to convene an ordinary Diet session Jan. 20 for a 150-day run through June 18, government officials said.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 11, 2003

Get ready for Japanese inside and out

People often ask me what they should expect before coming to Japan. It's hard to say, but if you don't speak Japanese, at first you'll be limited to communicating with Japanese people who can speak English. Be ready to meet these people:
SUMO
Jan 11, 2003

Musashimaru to skip new year basho

Yokozuna Musashimaru and two ozeki will sit out the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, sumo officials confirmed Friday when bouts for the opening two days of the meet were announced.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Iceland prime minister visits Monday

Icelandic Prime Minister David Oddsson will make a seven-day visit to Japan from Monday to hold talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Foreign Ministry officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

System reform advocates to field candidates

A private group advocating the introduction of a system to elect the prime minister by popular vote said Friday it will establish a new political body that will field candidates for nationwide local-level elections in April.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Imperial Couple attend 2003 lecture

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended an annual New Year's lecture Friday at the Imperial Palace covering language, material science innovations and genetic research, the Imperial Household Agency said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Jobless fear for future, survive on savings

When Mamoru Kawasaki, 45, was forced to leave a well-known information technology company in March, he had heavy housing debts and a family of five to support, but also enough savings to live on for the time being.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 11, 2003

Luigi Cerantola

It is unusual to meet someone so unconventional as professor Luigi Cerantola. He has impeccable credentials in his publications of poetry, art and literary criticism, and in his collaborations with musicians for opera librettos. He presents himself with whimsy as a maverick who has a nonconforming wry,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 11, 2003

The 'risutora' blues: Music that won't go away

I have been "restored."
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Security guard's 1970s abduction reads like novel

Police intercepted suspicious coded radio messages to and from a North Korean ship near the Noto Peninsula in 1977, shortly before security guard Yutaka Kume was apparently abducted nearby, sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Japan will release oil stocks in event of Iraq war

Japan is ready to release its oil stockpiles, in line with other countries, if war breaks out in Iraq, industry minister Takeo Hiranuma said Friday.
JAPAN / PREFECTURAL FARE
Jan 11, 2003

Style, taste, color of Kyoto brought directly to Tokyo

If you want to learn some of the secrets of the ancient capital of Kyoto without leaving Tokyo, visit Kyoto-kan in the Akasaka district.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Economic gauge indicates a state of contraction

The key gauge of the current state of the economy dipped below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in November for the first time in 10 months due chiefly to a decline in industrial output, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Japan, Russia defense chiefs to meet

Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba will pay a four-day visit to Moscow from Monday and hold talks the following day with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, the Defense Agency said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Takeda Chemical forges U.S. link

OSAKA -- Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. said Friday it has reached a three-year agreement, involving an investment of $13.7 million, with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School of the United States, to cooperate in research and drug development for metabolic diseases....
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2003

Domestic, overseas travelers to fall 0.3% in 2003, JTB predicts

The number of Japanese traveling to domestic and overseas destinations this year will fall 0.3 percent to 335.82 million, according to an estimate by travel agency JTB Corp.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 11, 2003

Prepared to stand by his principles, pay the price

Francis Higashiki is on the move, passing through Tokyo's Hamamatsucho on his way to Haneda Airport. He works near Oita in Kyushu, in a home for 35 abused children. "After the war, orphanages were full of orphans. Now most children have parents, but sadly there is so much domestic violence."
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 10, 2003

Buffs open vault for Nakamura

OSAKA -- Norihiro Nakamura signed a free-agent deal with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes on Wednesday, becoming the highest-paid Japanese baseball player with an estimated annual salary of 500 million yen for 2003 plus incentives.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear