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JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

False auto insurance claims rising

Fraudulent claims for auto accident insurance this year amounted to 310 as of the end of October, 88 more than all of last year, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

Prince dies after collapse on embassy squash court

Prince Takamado died Thursday night at a Tokyo hospital after collapsing during a squash lesson at the Canadian Embassy in the afternoon, the Imperial Household Agency said. He was 47.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

Science grads shift to service sector

The service sector, especially software industries, became the largest employer of university science and technology graduates last spring, overtaking manufacturing, according to the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 22, 2002

Japanese movies eyed for makeover

With "The Ring," the horror film based on the 1998 Hideo Nakata hit "Ringu," sailing past the $100 million mark in the United States, remakes of Japanese and other Asian films are suddenly hot in Hollywood.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 22, 2002

Oily cicada

* Japanese name: Abura zemi * Scientific name: Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata * Description: The body length of this large cicada is between 32-40 mm as an adult. Like any true bug, the wings are held over the body and form an upside-down V-shape. The mottled wings look like they have a coating of oil...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2002

Daiei kicks off crucial nationwide sale with help from Oh

Struggling supermarket chain Daiei Inc. started Thursday a crucial yearend sale at its 271 stores across the country.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2002

Wowow maneuvers into the black

Satellite broadcaster Wowow Inc. said Thursday it swung back into the black in the fiscal first half to Sept. 30 due largely to cost cuts.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Nov 22, 2002

Are our schools ready for a big one?

Every few months, I have the same nightmare: A major earthquake strikes Tokyo when my kids are at school. The city is in ruins. There's no electricity, the phones are out and the trains have stopped. I run through the streets, unable to find my children, until I wake up in a cold sweat.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 22, 2002

Reduce friendly matches, not Champions League games

LONDON -- Tord Grip, the assistant to England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, once sat next to a supporter on a plane bound for a game in Germany. The fan remarked to the Swede who watches at least three games each week at home and abroad: "You must have lots of air miles."
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

Five war-displaced Japanese return

Five Japanese left behind in China during and after World War II arrived Thursday at Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture for meetings with their possible relatives in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2002

Achilles' heel in FTA progress

In a major shift of trade strategy, Japan is moving toward concluding bilateral and regional free-trade agreements. In January of this year the nation signed its first FTA with Singapore. Now it is negotiating a similar arrangement with Mexico. And looming over the horizon are FTAs with South Korea and...
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2002

GDP likely to drop over 7% from slack birthrate

The gross domestic product is expected to decrease between 7.8 percent and 8.6 percent in 2025 from 533.7 trillion yen in 2001 due to a decrease in the labor force caused by the falling birthrate, labor minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2002

One in three Internet users in Japan link via broadband

More than one in three Internet users in Japan use broadband transmission systems such as asymmetrical digital subscriber line services, according to a survey released Wednesday by Nomura Research Institute.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Fukuda denies that Japan backs halting of KEDO deal

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda dismissed a report Wednesday that Japan is ready to agree to a U.S. proposal to suspend a project aimed at providing North Korea with light-water nuclear reactors.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Planned Pyongyang security talks at risk

Planned security talks with Pyongyang may not be held this month due to the North's refusal to drop its demand for the return of five Japanese it abducted in 1978 and recently allowed to go home, Katsunari Suzuki, Japan's ambassador in charge of normalization talks with North Korea, said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Study sees more elderly, more troubles

A recent study by a university research institute forecasts not only a more significant rapid aging of Japanese society than had initially been anticipated, but also an increase in the number of elderly people needing nursing care and assistance.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2002

Two-year goal eyed for entity's bad-loan buys

An entity being created to salvage companies unable to repay their bank loans but deemed potentially viable will complete its purchases of nonperforming loans within two years to achieve its purpose as soon as possible, the government said Wednesday.
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 21, 2002

Japan beaten 2-0

For 45 minutes at Saitama Stadium on Wednesday, Japan looked like it had the measure of its more illustrious opponent Argentina and would have been justified in believing that an upset was a distinct possibility.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Sept. 11 radically shifts policy priorities for U.S.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have radically altered the policy priorities of the United States, which could have wide-ranging international implications for years to come, according to American experts taking part in a recent seminar in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Survey highlights lack of interest in disaster maps

Half of the 2,150 adults surveyed by the Cabinet Office in September said they have not seen or heard of disaster-prevention maps, while more than two in five said they don't know if there are disaster-prone areas in their neighborhoods.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2002

Mazda Atenza picked as car of year

Mazda Motor Corp.'s Atenza has been chosen by a group of auto researchers and journalists as the car of the year, the group said Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 21, 2002

Orix drafts Mac Suzuki

The Orix BlueWave obtained the right to negotiate with Mac Suzuki on Wednesday, naming the former Kansas City Royals right-hander in the second round of the baseball draft.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2002

Nissan Diesel tumbles into the red

Major truck maker Nissan Diesel Motor Co. said Wednesday that its group net balance fell into the red in the first six months of fiscal 2002 because it had to set aside large provisions for sales credits that may become uncollectible due to the anemic economy.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Former Pyongyang agent speaks to DPJ

A former North Korean agent on Wednesday urged the government to help Japanese-born ethnic Koreans and their Japanese spouses who have defected from North Korea to this country, saying they are living under severe conditions without jobs or Japanese nationality.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

U.S. ready to use force against obtuse Iraq

Despite Iraq's recent announcement that it will accept the new United Nations Security Council resolution demanding inspectors be granted access to its weapons of mass destruction program, the United States may still opt for military action if the result is anything short of full compliance.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2002

Mizuno posts consolidated net loss

Mizuno Corp. said Wednesday it incurred a consolidated net loss of 180 million yen in the first half of the 2002 business year, a reversal from a profit of 478 million yen a year earlier.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

NGO envoy views groups' activities as an effective form of diplomacy

Nongovernmental organizations play an extremely important role abroad, with their activities constituting an effective form of diplomacy, according to a new ambassador tasked with overseeing Japanese NGOs.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight