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BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
May 17, 2002

Skepticism abounds over market direction

Despite signs of economic recovery, doubts remain over the Tokyo stock market's prospects.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2002

Japan dismisses credit ratings

Yasuo Fukuda, the top government spokesman, said Thursday that credit-rating agencies such as Moody's Investors Service Inc. have underestimated Japan's economic strength.
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2002

Cold War in cold storage

American President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to a historic arms control treaty that will make drastic cuts in the two countries' nuclear arsenals. The agreement should be applauded, but it is long overdue: Domestic politics in both countries have conspired against...
BUSINESS
May 17, 2002

Yamanouchi suffers 5.8% decline in pretax profit

Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. said Thursday its group pretax profit fell 5.8 percent to 100.02 billion yen in fiscal 2001 due to a rise in research and development costs and a decline in sales and royalty revenues abroad for its antigastritis medicine.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 17, 2002

Language help lets foreign students fit in

You'd think my sons were the first gaijin kids ever to attend a Japanese elementary school, judging from the surprised responses we get from people. But there are lots of foreign children in Japanese schools, and their numbers are growing. Unfortunately, most schools aren't equipped to teach newcomers...
BUSINESS
May 17, 2002

Minebea to liquidate overseas units

Minebea Co., a maker of miniature ball bearings, at the end of September will liquidate two subsidiaries in the United States and Singapore as part of operational restructuring.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 17, 2002

'Rakugo' storytelling master Kosan dies

Yanagiya Kosan, the first "rakugo" comic storyteller recognized as a living national treasure, died early Thursday of heart failure at his home in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, his family said. He was 87.
EDITORIALS
May 16, 2002

Lessons from the Shenyang incident

Japan and China have been locked in a diplomatic row over an incident May 8 in which Chinese police guards seized and removed five North Korean asylum seekers from the compound of the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, northeastern China. On Wednesday, however, it appeared that concerns over the...
COMMENTARY
May 16, 2002

Another crisis feeds distrust

HONG KONG -- It is the stuff of drama. Chinese policemen grabbed three North Koreans -- two women and a toddler -- who were trying to seek asylum in the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang in northeastern China last Wednesday, but not before the two men with them succeeded in reaching the diplomatic...
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE OKINAWA FACTOR
May 16, 2002

Love-hate ties bind Okinawans, U.S. military

OKINAWA CITY, Okinawa Pref. -- Many former American soldiers who once stayed at the Diego Hotel near the U.S. Kadena Air Base here regard the hotel's manager with a reverence usually reserved for their own mothers.
SOCCER / World cup / COHOSTING
May 16, 2002

World Cup pie gets bigger

The head of soccer's world governing body FIFA is never likely to be called a shrinking violet. In the world of sport, perhaps only the head of the International Olympic Committee has a more powerful voice. When he talks, everyone listens.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 16, 2002

Expansion in Japan unlikely

Dear Wayne Graczyk: I'm writing to express support for the move of the Nippon Ham Fighters to Sapporo. I think this would be good not just for the Fighters and the city of Sapporo, but for all of Japanese baseball.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
May 16, 2002

U.S. pickup fuels hope for Japan recovery

There is little dispute that a solid pickup in U.S. consumer spending has bolstered evidence that the economic recovery is gaining momentum.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

Sony Bank struggles through difficult debut year

Sony Bank said Wednesday it posted net losses of 4.1 billion yen in the 2001 business year on revenues of 3.8 billion yen.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

Short-sold share balance up

The balance of shares sold short turned higher last week, with the previous week's first fall in three weeks proving to be a short-lived affair.
SUMO
May 16, 2002

Tochiazuma stung for first loss

Ozeki Tochiazuma suffered his first loss of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday to find himself a pace behind the leaders only four days into the 15-day tourney at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
MORE SPORTS
May 16, 2002

Hozumi retains OPB middleweight crown

Japan's Naotaka Hozumi knocked out Kwang Jin Choi of South Korea in the eighth round of their scheduled 12-round bout to defend his Orient-Pacific Boxing Federation middleweight title here Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

Cell phone penetration rate projected at 65.5% in 2006

The cell phone penetration rate for Japan will likely hit 65.5 percent in 2006, up from 52.8 percent at the end of 2001, research and consulting firm Gartner Japan Ltd. said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WHALE WATCHING
May 16, 2002

Legal mechanism flawed: wildlife expert

Japanese laws are ill-equipped to protect marine mammals and need an overhaul if these animals are to receive attention akin to their terrestrial counterparts, according to a leading wildlife expert.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

AIG to deal in securities in Japan

American International Group Inc. said Wednesday it will launch a securities business in Japan next week targeting institutional investors.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
May 16, 2002

Summer's serenaders of the moon, sun and stars

Summer really is here. It has spread north so rapidly that June- and July-like temperatures were reported in Hokkaido even before the end of April. The cherry blossom wave rushed northward, too, at such a pace it was as if it were trying to take a running jump at Sakhalin.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

Current account surplus continued decline in 2001

Japan's current account surplus fell for the third consecutive year in fiscal 2001.

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