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JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

'Sakura' dubbed a diplomatic tool

A group that believes "sakura" cherry trees are a vital tool in exchanging international goodwill is trying to raise the blossoms' profile ahead of the 90th anniversary of Tokyo's gift of cherry trees to Washington.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2001

Whatever Luhrmann wants, I don't get

Moulin Rouge Rating: * * Director: Baz Luhrmann Running time: 128 minutes Language: English Now showing
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Japan, Thailand to explore free trade

Visiting Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra came up with a new approach Tuesday to get his country and Japan on the road toward a free-trade agreement.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2001

Firmly on the map

The Sixth Pusan International Film Festival proved to the rest of the film world that it means business, both figuratively and literally. Attendance was down by about 40,000 from last year, but PIFF still managed to fill 143,103 seats over nine days (Nov. 9-17), during which 201 films from 60 countries...
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

Ministry to keep ban on untested beef

Farm minister Tsutomu Takebe pledged Tuesday to maintain a ban on the distribution of 13,000 tons of beef from cows butchered before nationwide cattle testing began for mad cow disease on Oct. 18.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Suzuki reports interim increase in profits, sales

Suzuki Motor Corp. said Tuesday that group profits and sales increased for the first six months of fiscal 2001, thanks to a weaker yen and cost reduction efforts.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2001

Oh Father, forgive us our cinematic trespasses

Bless the Child Rating: * * 1/2 Director: Chuck Russell Running time: 107 minutes Language: English Opens Dec. 1 at the Shibuya Tokyu 3 Theater
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Securitize home loans: panel

A framework for the securitization of housing loans should be created before Government Housing Loan Corp. is privatized, the head of an advisory panel to the land minister proposed Tuesday.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2001

All under the sun

The Japanese, my barber once told me, "don't really think of Hawaii as America -- for us, it's more like part of Japan." But after Sept. 11, many Japanese who might have otherwise booked a wedding in Honolulu or a golf holiday in Maui suddenly realized that Hawaii really was part of the United States...
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Honda best Fit for car of the year

Honda Motor Co.'s compact car Fit has been named the 2001 RJC Car of the Year, a group of automobile researchers, critics and journalists said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2001

When marketing hits the target, that's amore

Reisei to Jonetsu no Aida Rating: * * Director: Isamu Nakae Running time: 124 minutes Language: Japanese Now showing
COMMENTARY
Nov 21, 2001

Recipe for economic change

WASHINGTON — In recent weeks, Taiwan has taken two steps to prepare for the transformation of its economy. Taipei's decision to lift many of the restrictions on investment in the mainland and the island's entry into the World Trade Organization will produce fundamental shifts in the way Taiwan conducts...
COMMENTARY
Nov 21, 2001

LDP strife must end before it's too late

The entire world has undergone radical change since terrorists attacked New York and Washington on Sept. 11. Having identified Osama bin Laden as the mastermind of the attacks, the United States, with military cooperation from Britain, launched bombing raids against Afghanistan's Taliban regime in October....
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

War orphan from China finds Nagano man is her brother

One of 19 war-displaced Japanese from China searching for relatives in Japan was confirmed Tuesday to be the sister of a Nagano Prefecture man after meeting him in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

Ex-con to hang for slaying pair while on parole

OSAKA -- The Osaka District Court sentenced a 53-year-old paroled killer to death Tuesday for fatally stabbing a man and a woman in Osaka Prefecture in 1998.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

'Amakudari' appointments remain steady

More than 30 percent of public corporations had former bureaucrats on their boards of trustees last year, almost the same level as that of the previous year, according to a white paper released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Asahi Bank forecasts net loss of 520 billion yen

Asahi Bank on Tuesday said it projects a 520 billion yen unconsolidated net loss for this business year as it sets aside a hefty 400 billion yen in loan loss reserves to rein in its ballooning bad-loan problem.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

Nation struggles with drug abuse

A suspended prison term handed down six years ago was not enough to stop the 34-year-old gas station worker from using amphetamines, which had already badly damaged his life.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

Theft of bank data system leads to Aum arrest

Tokyo police Tuesday arrested a member of Aum Shinrikyo on suspicion of stealing a transaction data management system from a major Japanese bank.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

Japan to join battle against cybercrimes

Japan will sign a treaty aimed at reducing Internet-related crimes at an international conference on cyber crime Friday in Budapest, the government said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 21, 2001

2002 could be busy year in Japanese sports

You read last week where the National Football League is coming back to Japan next year, having scheduled an American Bowl exhibition game between the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins in Osaka on Aug. 3. Let's hope this will be the first of several announcements of major international sports...
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

Confab told of renewed interest in Japanese-language study

Studying Japanese is gaining popularity in places as close as South Korea and as far away as Brazil, and the reasons for studying the language in Japan vary just as widely.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Nov 21, 2001

Dollar poised to gain ground

The dollar has snapped out of a holding pattern and now appears poised to gain ground against other currencies.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Second extra budget 'being considered': Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he is considering compiling a second supplementary budget for this fiscal year, indicating the government has started discussions on its size and contents.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan