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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 28, 2001

Clothes from heart shaping up for Golden Week

As dusk falls on an unseasonally cold and rainy Saturday, Michiyo Masago is bent over her computer. We meet at her atelier now because she is just returned from Yokohama, and tomorrow she flies to Okinawa -- direct to Ishigakijima, from where she will take a boat to Iriemote.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Companies predict 1.3% economic growth: survey

Major Japanese companies have predicted 1.3 percent real growth for the economy in fiscal 2001, topping 1 percent for the first time in four years, the government said Friday in releasing results of an annual survey.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

State held liable for Minamata disease

OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Friday ordered the central and Kumamoto Prefectural governments and a chemical company to pay 320 million yen in damages to people recognized as suffering from Minamata disease and the families of victims who have died.
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 28, 2001

Names for 2002 mascots unveiled

Organizers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which wil be cohosted by Japan and South Korea, announced Thursday that their trio of futuristic mascots will now be known as "Ato," "Nik" and "Kaz."
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Profits, group sales up for major firms

The five major electronics companies in Japan enjoyed increases in both group sales and consolidated operating profits in fiscal 2000, according to their earnings reports released Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Nomura profits up; Nikko, Daiwa suffered in 2000

Nomura Securities Co. on Friday reported strong earnings for fiscal 2000, while Nikko Securities Co. and Daiwa Securities Group Inc. suffered setbacks.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Hayami might resign in May

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami intends to resign as early as May after three years at the helm of the central bank, sources close to him said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Koizumi floats popular vote for nation's prime minister

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has broken the norm in his Cabinet lineups, on Friday called for revising the Constitution to introduce a popular vote for the nation's top leader.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Hiranuma reiterates themes toward economic revitalization

Reappointed Economy Minister Takeo Hiranuma said a comprehensive approach of combining the disposal of problem loans and assets, creating new businesses and implementing regulatory reforms is needed to revitalize the economy.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Jobless rate held at 4.7% in fiscal '00

The average jobless rate in fiscal 2000 remained unchanged from the previous year at 4.7 percent, the highest since comparable data on an annual basis became available in 1953, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Falling trend in output called 'very rare'

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Friday downgraded its assessment of industrial production activities for the fourth consecutive month, saying they are on a "falling trend."
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

People want social support, hope, economic stability from the Cabinet

Support for the victims of a volcanic eruption and economic stability are just two of the many things the public wants from the Cabinet of new Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2001

Fit punishment for tragic error

Cmdr. Scott Waddle, skipper of the USS Greeneville, the nuclear submarine that collided with the Japanese fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru, resulting in the loss of nine lives, has been found guilty of violating military law. Offered a choice between retiring or explaining his actions at another...
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Opinions split on Tanaka promotion

While Junichiro Koizumi's appointment of Makiko Tanaka as foreign minister took the nation by surprise, some experts warn she could be a mixed blessing for the new prime minister despite her strong popular appeal.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 28, 2001

Masumi Muramatsu

"Aka M.M.," laughed Masumi Muramatsu. In no time at all he introduces a lighthearted note into conversation.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Kan urges removal of war criminals from shrine

Naoto Kan, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, said Friday that Class-A war criminals enshrined at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to Japan's war dead, should be enshrined at a different location.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Household spending marks record decline

Salaried workers' households spent less in fiscal 2000 than the previous year for a record fourth straight yearly fall, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2001

Jospin still far from the top

PARIS -- Created 43 years ago by Gen. Charles de Gaulle, France's Fifth Republic has had 14 prime ministers but only five presidents. Most of these premiers have harbored an ambition to become head of state, but only two of them managed to fulfill this dream. Will Lionel Jospin be the third?
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Retail prices off a record 0.5%

Consumer prices dropped a record 0.5 percent in fiscal 2000 for the second successive year of decline, led by lower prices of fresh vegetables and industrial products, the government said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 28, 2001

Not your average garden-variety squabble

My garden is a mixture of potted house plants, herbs and flowers. I can't help but think that when I'm not home, they squabble. I don't think they're your average garden-variety squabbles, either.
EDITORIALS
Apr 27, 2001

Koizumi's uphill battle begins

Quixotic or not, Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, the newly elected prime minister of Japan, has largely succeeded in sticking to his maverick goal of forming a Cabinet untainted by factional politics. Both in his selection of executive officers of the Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday and in his appointments...
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

Japanese firm helping detect mines, restore villages

A Tokyo-based venture has played a key role in creating a new device to detect land mines that will soon be used on the Thai-Cambodia border.
COMMENTARY
Apr 27, 2001

Calls for change heeded

In his year as prime minister, Yoshiro Mori caused public disillusionment with the Liberal Democratic Party through his gaffes and incompetence. The LDP's presidential election Tuesday, in which former Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro Koizumi beat former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto by a wide...
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

Incoming economic ministers promise to work hard

Economic ministers in the newly formed Cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that they will try hard to pull the nation out of its long economic downturn and help accelerate the disposal of banks' bad loans.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb