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EDITORIALS
May 18, 2002

Making a mockery of the public

Once again a Lower House resolution recommending the resignation of the scandal-tainted lawmaker, Mr. Muneo Suzuki, has been shelved. A motion calling for such a resolution to be brought before a plenary session of the House of Representatives was rejected Tuesday, with the Liberal Democratic Party and...
SUMO
May 18, 2002

International trio tied for lead

Yokozuna Musashimaru ousted hapless Takanonami in a quiet storm to remain undefeated Friday but the ozeki duo of Kaio and Tochiazuma were tripped up at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.
SOCCER / World cup
May 18, 2002

Troussier pulls squad shocker

Riding the shinkansen from Kobe to Tokyo with Philippe Troussier on May 3, Japan's soccer coach said there would be no surprises when he announced his World Cup squad on May 17.
SOCCER / World cup / COHOSTING
May 18, 2002

Beyond the limits of normalcy

Can Japan and South Korea work together to put on the 2002 World Cup?
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2002

Koizumi overplays his hand in Shenyang

BEIJING -- There is a sharp contrast between Japan and China on how they have handled the incident of North Korean asylum-seekers in Japan's Shenyang consulate general. While Beijing has taken a low-key approach, Tokyo has blown the whole matter into crisis proportion, creating a nationwide sensation...
JAPAN
May 18, 2002

Sharp pays overtime, drops flextime

OSAKA -- Sharp Corp. employees working flextime shifts have been paid overtime in line with a recommendation by a labor standards inspection office, sources said Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 18, 2002

Kataoka diagnosed with broken hand

OSAKA -- Hanshin Tigers infielder Atsushi Kataoka was diagnosed with fractured bones in his left hand Friday after being hit by a pitch in a game with the Yomiuri Giants last Sunday.
JAPAN
May 18, 2002

Equal status of part-time, full-time staff seen as key

Japan is looking to the Netherlands, which has successfully implemented a number of work sharing programs, for ways to deal with its record levels of unemployment.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Foreigners are net buyers for fourth week

Foreign investors were net buyers of Japanese stocks for the fourth week in a row last week, apparently banking on signs of an economic recovery in Japan.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Tokyo to launch Mizuho inspection

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Friday it will soon launch an independent inspection of Mizuho Bank, which suffered a computer-system fiasco last month.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Yamaha group net balance in red

Yamaha Corp. said Friday its group net balance fell into the red in fiscal 2001 due chiefly to appraisal losses on its securities holdings.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Fuji Heavy logs profit, record sales

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. announced Friday that its group profit increased for the first time in two years and that it logged record consolidated sales in the 2001 business year, due to cost cuts and the weakened yen.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

WTO notified over steel tariffs

Japan on Friday notified the World Trade Organization of its plan to slap 100 percent retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel imports, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Nonaka U-turn on postal bills may turn tide

Hiromu Nonaka, a heavyweight in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and a vocal opponent of postal deregulation, said Friday that he will not obstruct the passage of the bills through the Lower House in the current Diet session.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 18, 2002

Work sharing solves Netherlands' economic woes

THE HAGUE -- As Japan remains mired in an economic slump, the idea of work sharing is increasingly attracting the attention of the government, labor unions and business organizations as a way to handle the record level of more than 5 percent unemployment.
JAPAN
May 18, 2002

Cows born in spring '96 face inspection

The farm ministry will inspect all cows born between March and April 1996 for symptoms of mad cow disease, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Mitsui O.S.K.'s group profit dips

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. said Friday its group net profit fell 3.6 percent in fiscal 2001 due primarily to higher sales costs, lower transportation fees and the sluggish global economy.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Takeda Chemical pretax profit up

OSAKA -- Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. said Friday its group pretax profit increased 37 percent to 359.21 billion yen in fiscal 2001 from the previous year due to brisk sales of medical products at home and abroad, and the weak yen.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Matsushita eyes new PDP plant

OSAKA -- Matsushita PDP Co., a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., will increase output of plasma display panels by setting up a new 50 billion yen plant, Matsushita officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Economy has hit bottom, report says

The Japanese economy has bottomed out, the government declared Friday for the first time during the current recession. The government gave no indication, however, of whether they expected economic recovery.
JAPAN
May 18, 2002

Marathon champ Takahashi fourth on athletes' tax list

Olympic marathon champion Naoko Takahashi has made her debut on the list of Japan's top taxpayer athletes, coming in fourth.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
May 18, 2002

Pieces at Tokyo furniture museum all miniature history lessons: curator

A piece of furniture speaks volumes about history, lifestyles and people's sense of beauty, according to Masashi Saito, curator of the Furniture Museum in Tokyo's Harumi district.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Nippon Yusen group profit down

Major shipping firm Nippon Yusen K.K. said Friday its group pretax profit for fiscal 2001 fell 29.7 percent from the previous year to 50.11 billion yen, as the firm was hit by a sharp reduction in freight charges.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Output revised up; capacity falls

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Friday upwardly revised the nation's industrial production figures for March by 0.3 of a percentage point to 92.8.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2002

Ajinomoto net balance in the black

Ajinomoto Co. said Friday its group net balance returned to the black in the year that ended March 31 due mainly to increased sales of pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements. Consolidated net profit in fiscal 2001 came to 31.44 billion yen, a turnaround from the previous fiscal year's loss of 11.55...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WHALE WATCHING
May 18, 2002

Arguments of whalers, opponents both have merit, writer believes

Hiroto Kawabata is one of the few people who bring a measure of equanimity to the whaling debate, where knee-jerk reactions are often the rule and reasoned debate the exception.
JAPAN
May 18, 2002

Student climber sets world record

A 23-year-old Japanese university student became the youngest person to scale the tallest peak on each of the world's seven continents when he conquered Mount Everest on Friday, his supporters said.

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