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JAPAN
Aug 13, 2002

Tour leader opens eyes to harsh realities of Vietnam

HO CHI MINH CITY -- Most tourists don't expect to be scolded by tour operators while vacationing abroad. But that's what they're in for when they join a tour led by Hiromi Tanaka of Sinh Cafe Tours in Vietnam.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2002

Kobe Steel poised to transfer lead-frame operations to unit

Kobe Steel Ltd. said Monday it plans to place its copper lead-frame operations under the control of a subsidiary Oct. 1 in an effort to cut production and other operational costs.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2002

Current account surplus rocketed 51.9% in first half

The nation's current account surplus soared 51.9 percent in the first half of 2002 from a year earlier to 7.928 trillion yen, the second-largest figure for a six-month period, according to a preliminary report released Monday by the Finance Ministry.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2002

Info on secret Okinawa pact placed on Web

Copies of official documents that confirm a secret pact between Tokyo and Washington concerning the 1972 reversion of Okinawa to Japanese rule have been placed on the Web site of Diet member Kinya Narazaki of the Democratic Party of Japan.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2002

Researchers find way to block growth of brain tumor cells

Japanese researchers have found a method of blocking the growth of human brain tumor cells, suppressing their migration and inducing programmed cell death, according to a study in the U.S. online science magazine Nature Medicine.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2002

Chogin credit unions launched

OSAKA -- Business began Monday at three credit unions created to take over the banking operations of the failed Chogin Kinki Credit Union, which mainly served pro-Pyongyang Koreans in Japan, after officials at the lender were arrested for allegedly sending public money it received to North Korea.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2002

Nonresidents turn net buyers of Japan for a fourth month

Nonresident investors were net buyers of Japanese stocks in June for the fourth consecutive month, with net purchases of 254.5 billion yen, the Finance Ministry said Monday in a report based on settlements.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2002

30 million dine at McDonald's in single week

Ltd. said Monday that the fast-food hamburger chain's latest price cut, implemented last Monday, has already propelled it to a new one-week record of 30.1 million customers. Theoretically, that means one out of four people in Japan visited a McDonald's between Aug. 5 and Sunday, the holding company said....
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2002

Delivery firm to launch new unit in China

Kintetsu World Express Inc., the nation's second-largest transport and delivery firm, said Monday it will set up a distribution unit in Dalian, northeastern China, on Oct. 1.
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 2002

Another fallen political idol

Former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's resignation from the Diet on Friday was a surprise even though her political fortunes had waned visibly in recent months amid a smoldering money scandal. Did she take responsibility for the "trouble" she had caused? Was she unable to bear the brunt of public criticism?...
COMMENTARY
Aug 11, 2002

U.S. may manage Kashmir row at best

NEW DELHI -- Every regional crisis seems like an opportunity for U.S. policy to advance its interests. This has come out starkly since 9/11, as Washington has gone about extending its influence and building long-term strategic arrangements with nations across Asia, from the Caspian region to the South...
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2002

Nippon Food beef probe expands

OSAKA -- Farm ministry investigators expanded their probe Saturday into the suspected defrauding of the state-run beef buyback program by Nippon Food Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan's largest ham and sausage maker, Nippon Meat Packers Inc.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2002

Meteor shower expected Monday

The Perseid meteor shower, a midsummer favorite of stargazers, is likely to light up the moonless skies over Japan on Monday night when it peaks, according to the national observatory. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan said the moon will set around 9 p.m. Monday. This will make it possible,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2002

Full trains, traffic jams at start of Bon

The nation's expressways, railways and airports were jammed Saturday with people heading back to their hometowns or overseas for the start of the traditional Bon holiday week.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2002

Smog alerts in hot Kanto set to be worst in decade

Tokyo and surrounding prefectures, baking in intense summer heat, have been subject to almost daily smog alerts since the beginning of August and observers expect the number of alerts will be the highest in a decade.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2002

Five die, six injured in crash after truck driver falls asleep

Five people died and six were injured in a multiple pileup early Saturday morning on an expressway in Mie Prefecture after a large truck, whose driver had apparently fallen asleep, crashed into lines of holidaymakers' cars, police said.
COMMENTARY
Aug 11, 2002

Universal role of new soldier

LONDON -- "A soldier's life is terrible hard" goes the song, and so it remains today, but with some big differences.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 11, 2002

Money woes carry on as season dawns

Christopher Davies of the London Daily Telegraph is one of Britain's most prominent soccer writers. He regularly covers Premier League champion Arsenal in the Champions League and the Republic of Ireland internationally. Davies has covered eight World Cups and is a former chairman of the Football Writers'...
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 11, 2002

Hawks hold off Buffs, Rhodes

Kintetsu slugger Tuffy Rhodes hit his 34th and 35th homers of the season, but the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks pulled away with three runs in the ninth inning and avoided their first seven-game losing streak in three years with a 7-5 win over the Buffaloes.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2002

Tanaka bombshell leaves LDP in by-election crisis

The surprise resignation of Makiko Tanaka from the Lower House means more problems for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, already facing an uphill battle in key Diet by-elections in October.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2002

Beijing forcing Chen to take own road

NEW YORK -- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's posture toward China has undergone a significant change recently -- from showing infinite good will to proclaiming that Taiwan is an independent sovereign state and that Taiwan's future should be determined by the people of Taiwan. He now supports legislation...
MORE SPORTS
Aug 11, 2002

Sunday Silence in battle for his life

Japan's leading sire, Sunday Silence, is suffering from laminitis, a debilitating disease of the hoof, and may be euthanized within the week.

Longform

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