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BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2002

Kenwood to cut 550 jobs by Sept. 30

Financially troubled Kenwood Corp. said Friday it plans to cut 550 jobs from its workforce by Sept. 30 through a voluntary retirement program.
SUMO
Aug 23, 2002

Takanohana promises return in fall

Yokozuna Takanohana, facing calls for retirement if he does not wrestle in next month's fall tourney, told his fan club Wednesday that he is ready to get back onto the raised ring after more than a year's absence.
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2002

Chen eyes Taiwan's 'own road'

HONG KONG -- In the days following Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's provocative declaration Aug. 3 that Taiwan and China are separate countries, there has been much speculation regarding his motives, with some analysts suggesting it was an unintentional slip of the tongue. Others said his words were...
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

FSA offers protection in exchange for zero interest

The Financial Services Agency is considering maintaining full government protection for ordinary deposits beyond April 1 on condition that the deposits earn no interest, FSA sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Kobe activists hope to repay Tanaka by rallying behind his Nagano race

KOBE -- Kobe-based activists who had worked with former Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka as volunteers helping this city following the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake are lending support to his re-election bid in the Sept. 1 gubernatorial race.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Fifth mad cow case found in Japan

Japan's fifth case of mad cow disease has been found in an inspection of slaughtered cows in Kanagawa Prefecture, the health ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Net-dating crimes up 2.6-fold through June

Crimes linked to Internet dating sites more than doubled in the first half of this year, according to a National Police Agency report released Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 23, 2002

Matsui's double not 'magic' for Giants

Yomiuri slugger Hideki Matsui drilled his Central League-leading 34th and 35th homers but it was not enough as Takuro Ishii nailed a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 11th inning to lift the Yokohama BayStars over the Giants 6-5 at the Tokyo Dome on Thursday, avoiding a sweep of the three-game series....
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Aug 23, 2002

Japan gropes for ideal corporate governance model

The rash of U.S. corporate scandals has rocked the Japanese business community, which until recently admired the success of the American business model.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Victims of bad medicine slated for relief in 2004

A new independent administrative agency will be set up in April 2004 to support victims of tainted or faulty medications and to simplify approval procedures for new drugs and medical equipment, health ministry sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2002

Merchandise trade surplus leaps 80%

Led by brisk exports to the rest of Asia, the country's merchandise trade surplus soared 80.3 percent in July from a year earlier to 752 billion yen, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by the Finance Ministry.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Ministry seeks 1.04 trillion yen for child-rearing aid

The health ministry is asking for 1.04 trillion yen in the fiscal 2003 national budget to support child-rearing in a bid to curb the declining birth rate, ministry officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2002

Kyoei Mutual pulls out of Millea group merger

Kyoei Mutual Fire & Marine Insurance Co. on Thursday formally announced that it will not join the Millea Insurance Group, bidding to instead strengthen its finances as a subsidiary of the National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (Zenkyoren).
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

'Politically motivated' arrests slammed

The head of the public security department of the Osaka High Public Prosecutor's Office was arrested April 23 for allegedly being entertained to the tune of 280,000 yen by mobsters in return for providing internal information.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2002

Ministry red-faced over trade data leak

Finance Ministry officials apologized Thursday for mistakenly releasing national merchandise trade data on the ministry's Web site a day earlier than scheduled.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2002

Sony puts broadband content online

Sony Corp. has started to offer original visual content through a newly established Web site to Internet users whose connection speed is 1 Mbps or better.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Matsuzawa drops out of DPJ race

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Shigefumi Matsuzawa said Thursday he no longer plans to run in his party's upcoming presidential election.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 23, 2002

Common octopus

* Japanese name: Madako * Scientific name: Octopus vulgaris * Description: Octopuses are cephalopods, the most complex and advanced of the mollusks. They have short, round bodies and, of course, eight arms joined by a web of skin. The arms are covered with suckers. Octopuses move by jet propulsion,...
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Panel seeks 'review' of new roads

A key government panel discussing the privatization of tollways agreed Thursday to urge the government to "immediately review" the implementation of all ongoing expressway construction work.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2002

Panel proposes measures to end Okinawa taxi glut

A transport ministry advisory panel proposed Thursday that new taxi entrants and vehicle increases by existing operators on Okinawa's main island be restricted for a year beginning Sept. 1.
EDITORIALS
Aug 23, 2002

Time to act quickly on aging

In about 13 years, when the generation born in the first baby-boom period immediately after World War II reaches old age, Japan will become a full-fledged aged society. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the elderly population aged 65 years or over will number 33 million and will...
LIFE / Language / FOR KIDS
Aug 23, 2002

What water can do

If you put your hand under the kitchen tap or stick your toe into a fast-flowing river, you can feel the push of the water. Water has great power. This is something that the ancient Greek hero Hercules knew only too well. He used the strength of water to clean the stables of King Augeas. They were so...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Aug 23, 2002

Living like a local

Murdo Maclean is no longer shy about wearing a loincloth and jumping into ice-cold rivers. In fact, it has become an annual event for the red-haired Scot, who has just finished his second year as a coordinator for international relations (CIR) in the town of Ogata, Oita Prefecture.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight