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BUSINESS
May 17, 2002

U.S.-Japan steel talks going down to the wire

Tokyo will tell the World Trade Organization on Friday that it intends to levy retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel imports worth $4.88 million, according to an official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 17, 2002

Long-armed shrimp

* Japanese name: Tenaga-ebi * Scientific name: Macrobrachium nipponese * Description: Long-armed shrimp are accurately named. They are crustaceans in the family that includes lobsters and crabs, all of which have 10 pairs of legs. In the long-armed shrimp, the first five pairs are the walking legs,...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 17, 2002

We're all narrow-minded

It's a commonly held belief that we lose brain cells as we age. But, in fact, although our brains may not work as well when we get older -- learning becomes harder, memories fuzzier -- the number of cells they contain remains the same, about 28 billion. Scientists think the real problem is that the myelin...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 17, 2002

Contractor focuses on middle-aged hires

A small contractor in Yokohama is challenging the country's rigid labor market with an unusual strategy -- recruiting the middle-aged.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
May 17, 2002

Osaka homeless fear evictions

OSAKA -- For Kazutoshi Nishimura, a 61-year-old homeless man who, in his own words, is retired and living on a park bench near Nagai Park, the approach of the World Cup soccer finals in June is a case of deja vu.
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.

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