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BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2002

Life insurers remain negative: S&P

Standard & Poor's Corp. said Friday its outlook for Japanese life insurers remains negative, as their earnings reports released earlier this week indicate continued business contraction, a severe environment of ultra-low interest rates and a weak stock market.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2002

Noguchi to go on Atlantis mission

Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi will be one of seven crew members on the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis to be launched Jan. 16, the National Space Development Agency of Japan announced Friday.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Jun 7, 2002

Japan toys with transparency in building sector

Open a black box and take a peek at the notoriously opaque Japanese construction industry.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 7, 2002

Fighters to play 15 games in Tokyo

The Nippon Ham Fighters, who are planning a move to Sapporo in 2004, will play about 15 games at the Tokyo Dome after relocating in Hokkaido to ensure that Pacific League games are played in Tokyo, baseball sources said Thursday.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 7, 2002

Cameroon win sees off Saudi Arabia

SAITAMA -- Saudi Arabia became the first team to be eliminated from the 2002 World Cup after losing 1-0 to Cameroon in front of a crowd of 52,328 at Saitama Stadium on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002

Japan to donate $5 million to ecosystem fund

Japan announced Thursday its intention to contribute $5 million this year to the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, an international fund to help protect environmentally sensitive areas around the globe.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002

Most hospitals not prepared to handle domestic violence

Some 86 percent of the nation's hospitals and clinics lack measures for dealing with victims of domestic violence, according to the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2002

S&P serves up analyses in Japanese

Standard & Poor's Corp. said Thursday it has launched a new credit analysis service in Japanese for Japanese institutional investors, banks and corporate financial managers.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 7, 2002

World champions still without a win

PUSAN, South Korea -- France, the world champion just four years ago, may have surrendered its crown.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2002

Japan, U.S. to work on patent deal

The Japanese and U.S. patent offices have reached a basic accord aimed at reducing duplication in their work, Japanese patent officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2002

Koizumi may address steel spat at talks in Canada

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is likely to raise the Japan-U.S. steel trade dispute at a meeting with President George W. Bush in Canada later this month, government sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002

Russia war novel rightly paints Japanese as rational: translator

While working on a novel on the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War, Ryotaro Shiba wrote in 1967 that one of the prime features he wanted to highlight was the "almost ridiculous optimism" shared by top political and military leaders in Japan during the Meiji Era (1867-1911).
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Jun 7, 2002

Working with people to save the Earth

Money was not Fareeha Ibrahim's reason for joining the JET program. In fact, as a senior policy adviser in Australia's Environment Department, her annual income was significantly more than the 3.6 million yen she gets as a JET.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2002

Matsushita refrigerator plant to close in Osaka

OSAKA -- Matsushita Refrigeration Co., a refrigerator-making unit of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., will shut down its factory in Osaka in August to step up its cost-cutting efforts, officials at the parent company said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002

Sometimes 'open' schools are more secure

OSAKA — The main gate of Hakata Elementary School in the city of Fukuoka is kept wide open.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 7, 2002

Slender shrew

* Japanese name: Togarinezumi * Scientific name: Sorex gracillimus * Description: The shrew is the archetypal small furry mammal, resembling the first mammals that ever existed. It has brown fur with a white underside, a long tail, small ears and eyes, and a pointy nose. Slender shrews are 6-7 cm...
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2002

Shinsei to drop Visa in favor of Amex

Shinsei Bank said Thursday that American Express International Inc. will take over from Visa International as its partner in credit card operations.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2002

Takenaka confirms that businesses are likely to get tax break

Economic minister Heizo Takenaka told top ruling coalition policymakers Thursday that a plan to cut the effective tax rate for companies will be included in a tax reform package to be compiled by a key economic panel Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2002

Foreign insurers unable to halt cancellations

Foreign-affiliated life insurance companies that took on the operations of collapsed domestic insurers were unable to stem the tide of policy cancellations in fiscal 2001, according to earnings reports, the last of which was released Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002

Road privatization panel gets the nod

The House of Councilors Cabinet Committee approved a bill Thursday to establish a third-party panel to discuss how four road-related public entities should be privatized.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2002

Relocating capital functions unlikely anytime soon: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday made clear that his Cabinet will not address in the foreseeable future the proposed relocation of the nation's capital functions outside of Tokyo.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jun 7, 2002

Market likely to struggle for some time

The Tokyo stock market opened the month moderately higher Monday, but the rally soon fizzled, dashing hopes that the Nikkei average would soon hit 12,000.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 7, 2002

Samurais hoping to play Kiwis

The Japan Rugby League announced on Wednesday that it was hoping to stage a test match between the Japanese Samurais and New Zealand in Tokyo in October.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 7, 2002

Igawa's three-hitter sinks Carp

Hanshin southpaw Kei Igawa threw a three-hitter and notched his Central League-leading eighth win Thursday as the Tigers roared past the Hiroshima Carp 7-0 at the Osaka Dome.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2002

Kansai airport faces struggle over funds for extra runway

The top bureaucrat in the transport ministry said Thursday the specter of weak demand for a second runway at Kansai International Airport has made the ministry wary of taking any budgetary steps to fund its construction.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past