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COMMENTARY
Feb 8, 2002

No nation-state to rebuild in Afghanistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- "Why are you letting them in," screamed the Afghan refugee. Her burqa hid her age but not her anger: "The Americans are not good. They are hurting our people in Afghanistan."
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2002

Government may slash child-care allowances

The government plans to slash child-rearing allowances for single mothers in a bid to reduce rising social security outlays caused by increasing divorce rates in families with young children, government sources said Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 8, 2002

Arimori strides for success in life after marathon

Winning an Olympic medal, you would think, would be the greatest honor an athlete can achieve.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2002

Steel unions open talks with job entreaty

Annual spring wage talks got under way Thursday with major steelmaker unions seeking a two-year pledge from management not to cut workers.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2002

Kansai forum hears calls for innovation

OSAKA -- "No guts, no glory" was the rallying cry for nearly 400 Kansai area business and government leaders Thursday, the opening day of the 40th annual Kansai Economic Seminar.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2002

Snow Foods cuts bosses' pay by 50%

Snow Brand Foods Co., the meat packer hit by a fraudulent beef-labeling scandal, said Thursday it will cut the salaries of its president and two senior managing directors by 50 percent next month.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2002

Are cell phones becoming too disruptive?

Masahito Tagami spent some 900,000 yen on a relay antenna system when he opened an "izakaya" restaurant in the basement of a building in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, last April, so that customers could use their mobile phones.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2002

Mitsubishi saw profit dive 45% in third quarter

Mitsubishi Corp. said Thursday its group net profit in the October-December period plunged 45.3 percent from a year earlier to 10.43 billion yen on operating revenue of 3.37 trillion yen, down 4.5 percent.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2002

Osaka stages memorial service for maestro

OSAKA -- A memorial service for Takashi Asahina, who was the world's oldest active conductor and a founder of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, was held Thursday at a concert hall in Kita Ward. He was 93.
JAPAN / WORKING IT OUT
Feb 8, 2002

Calls mount for work-sharing as jobless ranks soar

KOBE -- Hatsue Okada, a 33-year-old nurse, works between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. three days a week at a day-care center for elderly people in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture.
SOCCER / World cup
Feb 8, 2002

Officials unhappy with Saitama pitch

Japanese officials are concerned about the playing surface at the Saitama World Cup stadium and may order it relaid in time for this year's finals, local media said Wednesday.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Feb 8, 2002

Making a big difference in little places

Rachel Rawlings was surprised when she ran into two famous Japanese comedians in the parking lot outside her local village office. The popular television stars, Shofukutei Tsurube and Kazuki Enari, were astonished, too. Why was a young Australian woman living in a fishing village in Kochi Prefecture?...
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2002

German envoy emphasizes links with Japan

Henrik Schmiegelow, the new German ambassador to Japan, said Thursday it was no coincidence that Germany and Japan were asked to host recent conferences on Afghan peace and reconstruction.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2002

Investors shaky as critical phase looms

Tokyo stocks tumbled across the board again this week, mirroring a wholesale collapse in investor confidence.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Feb 8, 2002

It's time to say: Let's talk about sex, babies

In all my years of studying Japanese, I never learned the word I need right now. How do you say "nocturnal emission"? I need to know because my 10-year-old son is starting sex education at school, and I haven't told him that part of "the facts of life." His Japanese is pretty good, but I think he'll...
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2002

Study calculates smoking risks

The mortality rate of male smokers who died from mainly cancer-related causes was 1.6 times higher than nonsmoking males, indicating that not smoking could have prevented one in five of those deaths, according to a recent health ministry report.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2002

Tokyo consumer sentiment rises

Consumer confidence in Tokyo improved in January for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, according to a monthly survey released Thursday by the Cabinet Office.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2002

Law eyed to target trade in stolen antiques on Net

The National Police Agency is hoping to revise the antiques business law to counter the increasing number of stolen antiques that are being traded on Internet auction sites, agency officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2002

U.S. unit of Softbank in equities deal

Softbank Corp. said Thursday its U.S. subsidiary has decided to sell part of its 42 percent equity stake in UT Starcom Inc., one of its U.S. affiliates, to help cut Softbank's interest-bearing group debts.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 8, 2002

Japanese hare

* Japanese name: Nihon-nousagi * Scientific name: Lepus brachyurus * Description: Hares are like rabbits, only bigger and faster, with longer legs and ears. In winter, their fur is thick and white (with black tips to the ears), but as the weather gets warmer, hares molt and grow a lightweight brown...
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2002

German deal seen as model for war laborer claims

A $5.2 billion compensation deal struck by Germany with representatives of victims of forced labor during World War II, to be shared by the government and industry, could serve as a model for Japan in dealing with redress claims by Asian wartime laborers, according to two key negotiators.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2002

Wearable display does not block view

OSAKA -- Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has developed a headset-mounted liquid crystal display that does not block the viewer's field of vision, making a radical departure from the goggle-style displays being marketed as portable movie theaters.
EDITORIALS
Feb 8, 2002

Let the Games begin

The 2002 Winter Olympics begin today. More than 2,000 athletes from 80 countries have descended on Salt Lake City, Utah, for the XIX Winter Games. This year's Olympiad takes place in the shadow of the Sept. 11 terror bombings. The games are a vital reminder that competition among nations may be inevitable,...
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2002

BOJ Policy Board seeking to enhance its credit-easing tools

The Bank of Japan convened a two-day meeting of its Policy Board on Thursday to discuss ways of refining its credit-easing tools in a bid to ensure that its current quantitative-easing policy will not be undermined.
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2002

An optimistic economic outlook

How will Japan's economy develop from fiscal 2002 through 2006? The official answer, in a nutshell, is that it will stage a slow but steady recovery led by private demand. Under the circumstances, that is probably the most the government can hope for. The big question is whether this scenario will come...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2002

Canberra sticks to its policy on illegal immigrants despite growing protests

SYDNEY -- Just as Australian Prime Minister John Howard was addressing world economic leaders in New York on the profits to be made from investing here, Afghan asylum seekers held in detention camps in the Australian desert were trying to die in hunger strikes.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 7, 2002

Yomiuri's Almonte feuds with trainers

Yomiuri Giants right-hander Hector Almonte provided drama to the Central League club's spring training Tuesday when he refused to continue running and abruptly returned to the team hotel.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2002

Baldness may be cured -- in 2010

OSAKA -- Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. said Wednesday it has developed a synthesized protein that can help reactivate dormant hair root cells.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji