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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2003

228.9 billion yen debt sinks Dutch-style theme park

Huis Ten Bosch Co., operator of a 17th century Dutch theme park in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, collapsed under 228.9 billion yen in debt Wednesday after Mizuho Holdings Inc. cut off funding in a race to resolve problem loans.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Artist to bedazzle Yokohama

Starting in April, Hiro Yamagata will bombard onlookers in Yokohama with images of an ever-changing universe.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2003

Persecuted for centuries, Iraq's Assyrian Christians once again wary of their future

LONDON -- Iraq's 1.2 million Assyrian Christians -- remnants of the Assyrian empire and the only people who still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ -- are once again the victims of circumstances beyond their control. Unlike the Kurds, the Assyrians are all but ignored in discussions over Iraq's...
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Abe wins 4 million yen in libel case

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday ordered a journalist to pay 4 million yen in damages to Takeshi Abe, a former vice president of Teikyo University and a hemophilia expert, over a defamation case linked to a scandal involving HIV-tainted blood products.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Japan won't pay for Iraq war: LDP exec

A top executive of the Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of Japan shouldering the financial cost of a possible United States-led war against Iraq as it did in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2003

What Arabs fear the most: aftermath of a war on Iraq

BEIRUT -- All Arabs, regimes and citizens agree on one thing: War on Iraq may affect the entire world, but they and their region will pay the highest price by far.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Asahara trial's closing arguments may come in April

Prosecutors may present their closing arguments in late April in the trial of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, who stands accused of murder and other heinous crimes, including masterminding two deadly sarin attacks, legal sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDEN PATHS
Feb 27, 2003

Plants of blooming passion

On a gray February day, gardeners may be looking at colorful seed catalogs or even holiday brochures, dreaming of a trip to a tropical island. But this week it's time to leave your armchair gardening, because the tropics have come to Tokyo. The Japan Grand Prix International Orchid Festival offers a...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 27, 2003

How much pain can your brain take?

Japanese TV became famous abroad in the 1980s and created an image of Japan for outsiders that still lingers. The shows were the gaman taikai (endurance contests), where members of the public carried out tasks in which they suffered pain: The winners were the ones who endured the most.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Application time limit for asylum may be scrapped

The government plans to scrap a widely criticized rule that says refugee applications can only be accepted within 60 days of an individual's arrival, according to a draft bill.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Agency calls for repair of reactor cracks

Cracked pipes in nuclear reactors owned by three power utilities must be repaired or replaced before the reactors are put back into operation, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2003

Skylark posts 1.16 billion yen net loss

Skylark Co. said Wednesday it posted a group net loss of 1.16 billion yen in the business year to Dec. 31. The chain of family restaurants attributed the deterioration, which marks a reversal from a profit of 5.85 billion yen in the previous year, to an extraordinary loss of 31.73 billion yen, mainly...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NETWISE
Feb 27, 2003

Avoiding the 'mojibake' bugaboo

Just about everyone uses e-mail today, and many of us in Japan do so in English, Japanese, and other languages as well. But anyone who corresponds in Japanese via e-mail knows that we still have a long way to go in terms of ensuring that our e-mail reaches the intended recipient both intact and readable....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2003

Yamaguchi fraud appeal rejected

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday trimmed six months off former Labor Minister Toshio Yamaguchi's four-year prison sentence for fraud and embezzlement.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 26, 2003

Slow start for Godzilla

TAMPA, Fla. -- Hideki Matsui went 0-for-2 in his first intrasquad game with the New York Yankees.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2003

25 municipalities ended '01 in red

Twenty-five municipalities and affiliated organizations were in the red on their ordinary account balance sheets in fiscal 2001, according to a central government survey released Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2003

Cleanup of palace moat yields just two bluegill

Contrary to initial predictions, the cleanup of Ushigafuchi moat at the Imperial Palace that began Tuesday yielded just two small bluegill, government officials said.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2003

Appliance sales off 2% in January

January sales of home electrical appliances at big retailers fell 2.16 percent year-on-year to 197.7 billion yen, the fifth drop in a row, the Nippon Electric Big-Stores Association said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2003

Mitsui staff found guilty of rigging bids

The Tokyo District Court sentenced two Mitsui & Co. employees Tuesday to suspended one-year prison terms for rigging bids for a project that used official aid money.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2003

Teacher molester gets token term

OSAKA -- The Osaka District Court sentenced a 51-year-old former junior high school teacher to a suspended 30-month prison term Tuesday for molesting a 13-year-old female pupil last October.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2003

Isetan business plan looks to cut workers, boost profit

Isetan Co. said Tuesday it will try to boost its operating profit to 15 billion yen in fiscal 2005 from an estimated 10 billion yen in fiscal 2002 under a three-year business plan featuring drastic cuts in personnel costs.
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2003

Asia losing a great leader with the departure of Kim

MANILA -- As resident representative of the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation for six years in South Korea, I was given the honor of meeting Kim Dae Jung on several occasions both as leader of the opposition and as president. Kim is internationally renown primarily as a political and economic reformer and...
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2003

Trans-Atlantic arrogance defeats unity

LONDON -- One of the most depressing features of the past few weeks has been the arrogance displayed by political leaders. With some leaders, power goes to their heads. They are surrounded by sycophantic underlings and protected by posses of security guards. The media are bludgeoned by press offices...
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2003

Firebombing goes awry as man sets self alight

OSAKA -- A man tried Tuesday to torch the Osaka branch of Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. in Chuo Ward but instead set himself ablaze before fleeing, police said.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2003

Opposition parties to call for change in budget for 2003

Four opposition parties agreed Tuesday to jointly urge the government to make changes worth 1.7 trillion yen to the 81.79 trillion yen budget for fiscal 2003 submitted to the Diet in late January.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2003

Cabinet chimes in on antideflation expectations

Cabinet ministers voiced expectations Tuesday that the government and the Bank of Japan will cooperate more closely to combat deflation following Monday's nomination of Toshihiko Fukui as the new BOJ chief.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’