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BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2001

Household spending down 1.6%

Average household spending in July dropped 1.6 percent from a year earlier for the fourth consecutive month of decline, the government said in a report released Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2001

LDP formulates employment measures

The Liberal Democratic Party has drafted a set of employment measures to help those rendered jobless by corporate restructuring, officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2001

EPDC stops Niigata plant construction

Electric Power Development Co. announced Wednesday it will cancel a plan to construct a power plant in Niigata Prefecture.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2001

Consultations on domestic violence soar

More than 9,000 women visited prefectural counseling centers across Japan to seek advice on domestic violence in fiscal 2000, surpassing the number that sought counseling on divorce, according to a government survey released this week.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2001

Hourly wage gap spreads among female workers

The average hourly wage of female part-time workers was 67 percent that of female full-time workers in 2000, according to statistics compiled by the labor ministry. Female part-time workers earn an average of 889 yen per hour, while their full-time counterparts make 1,329 yen excluding bonuses and other...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 6, 2001

Evolution: Who's responsible?

The human impact on earth has been well-documented: There's climate change, environmental destruction and pollution. Today an American scientist says that humans are driving another, more subtle change that may have consequences that are just as damaging: Evolution in other species is speeding up, and...
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2001

Staffing imbalance reaches 15-month high, poll shows

Companies with excess labor outnumbered those with shortages in August by the widest margin since May 2000, according to a government survey.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2001

Tainted I.V. drip claims elderly man

A male patient in his 70s has died from blood poisoning after being infected with intestinal bacteria at a hospital in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, hospital officials said Tuesday.
Events
Sep 4, 2001

Plumber places hopes on fresh, natural water

OSAKA -- Drinking water has long been seen as something that comes for free. All you need to do is turn on a tap.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2001

Bureaucrats seek to keep grip on public corporations

Bureaucrats are opposed to a large portion of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's plans to privatize or abolish public corporations, according to government reports recently submitted to the Cabinet Office.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2001

Gas pipes ruled out as cause of Kabukicho blaze

An inspection of the gas pipes in the Meisei 56 Building in Shinjuku where 44 people died in a Saturday morning fire has ruled out the possibility the blaze was triggered by a gas explosion stemming from corroded pipes, Tokyo Gas Co. said Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2001

Nikkei hits postbubble closing low

An overnight tumble on Wall Street and investors' disappointment in what they see as lukewarm government action on structural reform kept Tokyo stocks weak Friday and again sent the key price index to a new postbubble closing low.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2001

IMF can't review Japan banks: FSA

The government cannot accept a request from the International Monetary Fund to conduct an assessment of Japan's financial system, Financial Services Agency chief Hakuo Yanagisawa said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2001

Overtime hours declined in July

Employees in Japan's manufacturing sector worked less overtime in July than a year earlier for the fifth straight month of decline, the labor ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2001

Government to build extra shelters for homeless

To cope with the steadily growing number of homeless people, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will build seven more shelters in fiscal 2002, raising to 12 the number of facilities the government will build in two years.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 30, 2001

We can't stay young forever, but why not age gracefully?

Following recent reports of a mammal able to regenerate after injury, science continues to imitate fiction, with a discovery in Boston that recalls the search for the philosopher's stone. The stone, the subject of the first Harry Potter book, was long sought after by medieval alchemists, who believed...
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2001

Study links care needs with age, income

Elderly people with little or no income tend to require more nursing care than those with higher incomes, according to a recent joint study by Japanese and British researchers.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Robot project seeks to give industry boost

The government has announced plans to launch a project to foster the robot industry, viewed as a possible dynamo for economic growth, with subsidies and related legislative measures in fiscal 2002.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Unemployment rate reaches 5% threshold for first time

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit a record high 5 percent in July, up 0.1 percentage point from June, according to government data released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Koizumi targets rising joblessness

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday told his Cabinet ministers to take additional steps to deal with rising unemployment.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

205.8 billion yen job safety net planned

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will seek 205.8 billion yen in budget requests for fiscal 2002 to help build a safety net for people expected to lose their jobs under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms, ministry officials said Saturday.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 26, 2001

Sips of high-grade tranquillity

In parts of Asia, tea is more than a mere beverage: It is a social lubricant, a sacrament of complex rituals and a vital part of national identity. Throughout history, farmers and philosophers alike have treasured a steaming cup of cha. While there is some evidence of tea's health benefits, there is...
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

Ministry to boost child-care support for working moms

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to earmark 700 billion yen for measures to boost child-care support for working parents within its fiscal 2002 budget request, according to ministry officials.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 25, 2001

Focus sharpens on Japan-U.S. economic relations

Staff writer While Japan and the United States exited the 20th century as the world's two largest economic powers, Tokyo and Washington had little to celebrate when they crossed the threshold into the new century.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2001

Security alliance redefined after end of Cold War

Staff writer In August 1990, when then Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu telephoned U.S. President George Bush to offer a $1 billion contribution to the U.S.-led multinational forces in the Persian Gulf, Bush offered a disappointed-sounding "Thank you" before hanging up.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2001

Contractors may get job subsidies to hire engineers

The labor ministry may subsidize construction companies as part of a program to create jobs for construction engineers forced out of work as banks strive to dispose of their bad loans, ministry officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2001

Courts' shift giving hope to war redress claimants

Kyodo News There is a change in the air as lawsuits filed by Asian victims of Japanese wartime conquest are receiving a more sympathetic hearing, but the government and Diet have been slow to respond.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2001

Obituaries: Junichiro Itani, Sumiko Takahara

Junichiro Itani, an internationally renowned anthropologist and professor emeritus at Kyoto University, died of pneumonia at a Kyoto hospital Sunday, his family said Monday. He was 75.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes