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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Rise in computer prices to reflect winds of change

"Now is your chance," reads a sign at the personal computer section of a Yodobashi Camera outlet in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Apr 26, 2002

Laughing all the way to English proficiency

"When Genki English visits our school, the kids simply love it," says Kimie Chu, an English teacher at Shin Tokorozawa preschool in Saitama Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Sony sales figures defy 2001 slowdown

Sony Corp. defied the worldwide slowdown in fiscal 2001 by logging record consolidated sales, thanks to a sharp increase in sales of the PlayStation2 game console and a weakening of the yen, company officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 26, 2002

Indian fritillary

* Japanese name: Tsumaguro-hyomon * Scientific name: Argyreus hyperbius * Description: This is a common butterfly in the nymphalid family. It has an orange body and distinctively marked orange wings with black spots (hyomon means "panther pattern"). The female, but not the male, has black wingtips....
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2002

On-call sex service firms flourishing amid regulation

The number of businesses offering on-call sex services to customers at their homes or other locations tripled in the two years since police began regulating such trade in 1999, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Keizai Doyukai OKs vice chairmen

The Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) on Thursday elected Ricoh Co. President Masamitsu Sakurai, Mitsui Fudosan Co. President Hiromichi Iwasa, and JR East Railway Co. Executive Vice President Eiji Hosoya as vice chairmen.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Japan Telecom to cut spending

Japan Telecom Co. announced Thursday a midterm business management plan that includes cutting planned capital expenditures by up to one-third by the end of the 2004 business year.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Toshiba, NEC, Fujitsu report huge losses

High-tech giants Toshiba Corp., NEC Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. on Thursday reported decreased sales and huge losses for the 2001 business year, blaming the slump in global demand for semiconductors and a sharp decline in prices.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Quarterly GDP contraction of 1.2% confirmed

The Cabinet Office on Thursday held to its preliminary report on gross domestic product in the October-December period, confirming it contracted a real 1.2 percent from the previous quarter.
LIFE / Language
Apr 26, 2002

How Greek myths live on in English expressions

You'd think Greek myths might have lost their relevance by now, almost 3,000 years after they were first written down. But they are so full of vibrant stories and characters that people still often allude to them in their daily lives, and many references from them have become part of the English language....
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Japan to take flexible stance on oil reserves: METI

Japan plans to relax its oil reserves policy and will unleash stockpiles in the event of a surge in crude oil prices, government sources said Thursday.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Apr 26, 2002

Forget the textbooks and discover the pleasure of real books

At the start of each new school year, I would confidently advise my university students: "Becoming a fluent reader in English is like learning to play the piano -- it requires constant practice.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Nichido Fire rapped for car policies

The Financial Services Agency ordered Nichido Fire & Marine Insurance Co. on Thursday to suspend some of its operations after it was found to have sold an unauthorized type of automobile insurance.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Russia allows hike in Siberian flights

Moscow has agreed to allow Japan to increase the number of code-sharing flights its airlines can operate in Siberian skies with non-Russian airlines, the transport ministry said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2002

Dangers of nuclear-energy use

Safety is a perennial problem for nuclear power plants. The latest government report on nuclear safety, released earlier this month, focuses on assuring safety in the use of plutonium, particularly in the so-called pluthermal program, which uses plutonium as fuel in light-water reactors.
SUMO
Apr 25, 2002

Asashoryu looking for promotion to ozeki

Feisty Mongolian Asashoryu gets a chance to line himself up for a move up to sumo's second highest rank after earning the top sekiwake position for the upcoming Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.
SUMO
Apr 25, 2002

Kotomitsuki out of summer basho

Sekiwake Kotomitsuki will pull out of the upcoming Summer Grand Sumo Tournament after failing to recover from a broken jaw sustained in March, sumo sources said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2002

Time to engage, not bully, North Korea

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Since January 2001, relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have been tense. The various confidence-building measures agreed to at the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung in June 2000 came to a halt after newly elected U.S. President...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 25, 2002

Arias, Hiyama help Hanshin cause as Yabu earns third win of season

Keiichi Yabu scattered eight hits and gave up three runs over 7 1/3 innings to pick up his third win of the season as the Hanshin Tigers defeated the Hiroshima Carp 6-3 Wednesday evening at Hiroshima Stadium.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2002

FTC orders Marubeni chicken plant to shut down

The Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday it has ordered Marubeni Chikusan Corp. to cease production over its intentional mislabeling of some 1,700 tons of chicken during an almost three-year period beginning in 1999.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2002

Details of another suspected abductee released

OSAKA -- The identity of another man suspected of having been abducted by North Korea in 1980 has been made public, and his photograph were released Wednesday by a group working to secure the release of abductees.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2002

Master exchange plan eyed for Japanese culture

An education ministry advisory panel on Wednesday recommended a set of measures to promote Japanese culture overseas by drawing up an international cultural exchange master plan.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2002

Airfare cuts may follow JAL-JAS merger

Japan Airlines and Japan Air System may cut their airfares on domestic routes by some 10 percent on average after integrating their operations in October, company sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2002

Business confidence growing: survey

Business confidence improved in all industry areas in the January-March quarter for the first time in 10 quarters, but lingering overcapacity at manufacturers suggests a slow recovery in capital investment in the near future, the government said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 25, 2002

Regret on the morning after

PARIS -- Until last Sunday, the campaign for the French presidency seemed to be the dullest ever. But when the returns of the first round were made public at 8 p.m., commentators were shocked by an earthquake that President Jacques Chirac's wife, Bernadette, had been, according to her husband, the only...
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2002

Sales at stores, supermarkets continued to decline in 2001

Sales at supermarkets and department stores continued their downward spiral in fiscal 2001 as the prolonged economic slump and worsening joblessness undermined consumer confidence, according to industry data released Wednesday.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 25, 2002

Tokyo Verdy picks Sandri as new manager

Tokyo Verdy named Brazilian Lori Sandri as the struggling J. League First Division club's new manager Tuesday.

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