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JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

Antitrust watchdog eyes investigative-raid rights

A Fair Trade Commission advisory panel has issued a package of proposals that includes giving investigative rights to the antitrust watchdog and increasing penalties for companies that violate the Antimonopoly Law.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

More workers embrace early retirement

As economic woes prompt companies to pare down workforces and job-security anxiety grows amid widening cracks in Japan's storied lifetime employment system, at least one new breed is rising from the ashes -- older workers who are eager to pocket a payoff and branch out in a new direction.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

Film about Sorge in works

A veteran Japanese film director has announced he will begin shooting a movie next year on the wartime Sorge espionage case with focus on two journalists, one German and the other Japanese, who were hanged as Soviet spies.
COMMENTARY
Nov 16, 2001

Failure to reform will doom the economy

We no longer hear about "automatic increases in tax revenue." Instead, over the past decade we have heard so much about "deficit-covering government bonds" and "bad debts" that they have almost become household words.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2001

Stink raised over planned cuts to sewerage, dam projects

The Finance Ministry will cut outlays for sewerage by around 20 percent and for dam and flood-control projects by more than 10 percent next fiscal year to achieve a 10 percent cut in public works spending, ministry sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

Captive journalist's whereabouts unknown

Recent developments in Afghanistan have made it difficult to confirm the whereabouts of a Japanese national being detained by Taliban authorities, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

JAL reports plunge in interim profits, sees red for full year

Japan Airlines Co. said Thursday that the Sept. 11 terror attacks caused its interim net profit to plunge 61.3 percent to 16.4 billion yen and may lead the group into the red by the end of fiscal 2001.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

Job growth tipped for environmental technologies

Promoting technologies that would ease climate change could boost economic growth and employment significantly by 2010, according to a report being put together by a think tank commissioned by the Environment Ministry.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2001

Tokyo department store sales slide

Sales at department stores in Tokyo came to 178.02 billion yen in October, down 1.5 percent for the first year-on-year drop in five months, the Japan Department Stores Association said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

CD industry aims at aging music buffs

The Japanese compact disc market is finally showing signs of recovery, but only after manufacturers set their sights on a different demographic -- those aged between 30 and 60.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

No plan to allow female ascension: Aso

Taro Aso, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said he thinks it is too early to consider revising a male-only inheritance law for the Imperial family to allow a woman to ascend to the throne.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 16, 2001

Interleague play possible

Yomiuri Giants chairman of the board Tsuneo Watanabe on Wednesday said the Central League is willing to consider interleague play in Japan in the future, but suggested that 2002 may be too soon.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2001

JT sees interim net profit grow 4.2%

Japan Tobacco Inc. said Thursday its consolidated net profit for the April-September first half of fiscal 2001 rose 4.2 percent from a year earlier to 35.63 billion yen, thanks to strong growth in its food business, increased volume in international tobacco sales and favorable foreign exchange rates....
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 16, 2001

Stink bug

* Japanese name: Kusagikamemushi * Scientific name: Halyomorpha halys * Description: Most people call all insects "bugs," but strictly speaking, only one order of insect, those with piercing mouthparts, are true bugs -- the stink bug is one of them. It belongs to a family called shieldbugs, because...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

European historians give textbook tips

German, Polish, and French historians who have been working on compiling history textbooks that draw on the perspectives of both sides of the former warring nations stressed Thursday the importance of dialogue between the countries involved.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2001

Mitsubishi Heavy cuts interim losses

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Thursday that aggressive cost-cutting measures sharply reduced group net losses in the first half of fiscal 2001.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

Satellite may fall anywhere

A Japanese satellite that stopped operating in 1998 will probably enter the atmosphere and fall to Earth between Nov. 31 to Dec. 10, the National Space Development Agency of Japan has announced.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

Ministry urges companies to report greenhouse gas emissions

The Environment Ministry proposed Thursday establishing a mechanism to encourage companies to publicize their greenhouse gas emissions and a system of neutral third parties to evaluate and check reported emissions.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Nov 16, 2001

Coming to Japan with his eyes wide shut

Omar Karlin would be blind today if it weren't for that crazy, half-baked business scheme of his.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

Problems in U.S. delay replacement of weather satellite

The launch of an advanced multifunctional satellite scheduled for February 2003 will be put off by a few months due to production delays at its U.S. maker, government officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2001

Mitsubishi sees its operating profits climb

Mitsubishi Corp. said Thursday its group operating profits climbed 63.5 percent to 35.75 billion yen in the fiscal first half to Sept. 30 on the strength of robust earnings in its energy business and a weak yen.
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2001

The nuclear shadow lightens

The world took a giant step toward disarmament this week when U.S. President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, agreed to slash their nuclear arsenals. The deep cuts were the most significant outcome of a three-day summit that seems to herald a new era in relations...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Nov 16, 2001

Sewing and cookery aren't just for the girls

On a recent observation day at the Japanese public elementary school that my children attend, I wandered into unfamiliar territory. I saw a mother entering a classroom I had never noticed. I followed her in and got quite a surprise.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

NPA instructs local cops not to get trigger-happy

The National Police Agency has instructed prefectural police nationwide in charge of training and education to ensure their officers do not overuse their service revolvers.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji