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BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
May 29, 2002

Stock, GDP surge fuels unwelcome yen rise

There is mounting alarm in the government that a stronger yen might undermine its effort to get the economy back on track.
EDITORIALS
May 28, 2002

Sustainable usage is key for IWC

The International Whaling Commission's 54th annual gathering concluded last Friday in the traditional whaling port of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Once again it sent a signal to the world that the forum is not ready for compromise. The meeting left U.S. and Russian indigenous peoples without a...
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2002

Japan's diplomacy at stake

Corruption at the Foreign Ministry has come to a head following the arrest of two assistant division directors earlier this month on suspicion of breach of trust. Last year, three assistant division directors and a clerk were arrested on suspicion of embezzlement and fraud. Several senior ministry officials...
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

ANA computer failure strands thousands of fliers

Passengers on All Nippon Airways flights across Japan were unable to board their flights Monday afternoon after two sets of computer systems handling boarding processes temporarily broke down, ANA officials said.
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Government fears public's reaction to reactor mishap

The government is concerned about the impact the radioactive water leak at the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka Prefecture over the weekend will have on public sentiment, a top industry ministry official said Monday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Tokyo's population hits record high

Tokyo's estimated population grew to a record 12.24 million people as of May 1, up about 110,000 from a year earlier, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Monday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Hacker hits Kommy customer files

Beauty treatment firm Kommy Corp. said Monday that personal information on more than 37,000 customers who have used its Web site has been leaked.
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Death penalty seminar commences

A group of Japanese lawmakers and representatives from the Council of Europe opened a joint two-day seminar Monday in Tokyo on the abolition of capital punishment.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
May 28, 2002

God and Japan try to copy Latvian recipe

What with France relying on a Japanese referee to beat South Korea 3-2 and plucky Latvia winning the Eurovision Song Contest, it was a truly controversial weekend.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
May 28, 2002

Post-Enron dilemma: share value vs. honor

"Nobody goes down with the ship anymore," complained a pundit recently. "Whatever happened to the idea of personal integrity?" he opined.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Wholesale and retail sales still on downward path

Retail sales plummeted 4.1 percent in April from a year earlier, while wholesale sales fell 2.7 percent, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Monday.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Fukuda nixes talk of raising consumption tax

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration is not planning to raise the 5 percent consumption tax in the near future, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Monday, dismissing a government panel's proposal to the contrary.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Ishikawajima, Mitsui get petroleum plant order

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. and Mitsui & Co. said Monday they have obtained an order to build a plant designed to liquefy and store petroleum gas for U.S. oil firm ChevronTexaco Corp.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Gibraltar Life Insurance posts 12.9 billion yen profit

Gibraltar Life Insurance Co., the successor of failed Kyoei Life Insurance Co., said Monday it posted unconsolidated net profits of 12.9 billion yen for the 2001 business year.
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Service held for unknown soldiers

The government held a memorial service Monday in Tokyo for unidentified Japanese who died overseas during World War II and whose remains were returned to Japan last year.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 28, 2002

Matsui blast lifts Seibu over Hawks

Kazuo Matsui and Alex Cabrera homered and Koji Mitsui had a solid start Monday to help the front-running Seibu Lions to a 5-3 victory over the Daiei Hawks in the Pacific League.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
May 28, 2002

On the front lines of bird conservation

It may say as much about the status of politicians as it does about that of birds, but one of the more striking demographic statistics to emerge from the United Kingdom is this: There are currently more members of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds than there are members of all British political...
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Koizumi sits while tax reform tug of war rages

As the government intensifies discussions toward compiling a fundamental tax reform blueprint next month, a new priority is emerging -- using tax breaks as a tool to revitalize the economy.
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Obituary: Saburo Boya

Comedian Saburo Boya died of heart failure Saturday morning at a Tokyo hospital, his family said. He was 92.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Kokuro to drop lawsuits against Japan Railways

The National Railway Workers Union (Kokuro) voted Monday to drop lawsuits filed against the Japan Railway group over the dismissal of former Japanese National Railways employees who were let go when the railway was privatized in 1987.
BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
May 28, 2002

Factors point to June stock market surge

The Tokyo stock market will probably strengthen in June because surrounding conditions are improving.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Runway now in land holdouts' backyard

NARITA, Chiba Pref. -- Crops rustling in the wind appear to be trembling because of the jetliner taxiing nearby, its fin visible above the walls surrounding the farm.
MORE SPORTS
May 28, 2002

Japan's cricketers get a lesson from a master

For those with no knowledge of the game of cricket --imagine a player with Ichiro Suzuki's eye for the ball, speed and throwing arm, throw in Barry Bonds' power and Carl Ripken Jr.'s mental and physical toughness and you will come up with Dean Mervyn Jones. Jones was arguably the most popular cricketer...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 28, 2002

North of the border, Chinese reap a rich harvest

LAZAREVSKOYE, Russia -- In order to enter Lu Binzheng's pig farm, visitors have to dress in white lab coats, stand under an ultraviolet light to kill any germs and slosh their shoes in disinfectant.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Project team proposes early implementation of fuel cells

A project team working to promote the development of fuel cell technology on Monday proposed that the deadline for easing and abolishing regulations related to the cells be moved forward to 2005 from 2020.

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