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JAPAN
Oct 7, 2001

SDF planes leave for Pakistan with supplies

Six Self-Defense Forces transport aircraft left Saturday for Pakistan carrying relief supplies for refugees from neighboring Afghanistan, Japan's first "visible" contribution in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Defense Agency officials said.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2001

Macedonia historian delighted at award

Macedonian historian Dr. Kosta Balabanov has expressed his delight at receiving this year's Japan Foundation special prize for his contribution to introducing Japanese culture to the Balkan country.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Visa offices to extend service time

The Foreign Ministry will extend the service hours of its visa consultation center and offices dealing with consular matters starting Tuesday, ministry officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Japan's response satisfactory, Baker says

The United States is "satisfied" with Japan's response in supporting U.S. antiterrorism efforts in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon last month, the U.S. ambassador to Japan said Friday.
SOCCER / World cup
Oct 6, 2001

Senegal stifles Japan

LENS, France -- Japan bowed to Senegal, a World Cup qualifier from Africa, 2-0 in a friendly on Thursday night at Stade Felix Bollaert in Lens, France.
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2001

Key economic health gauge hit zero in August

The key gauge of economic health came to zero in August, remaining well below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent for the eighth straight month, the government said Friday in a preliminary report.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Farmers angry at ministry foot-dragging

NODA, Chiba Pref. -- It is worse than the market collapse during the economic slump triggered by the 1973 oil crisis, when beef prices plunged by two-thirds.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2001

NPA says assault team braced for terrorism

The National Police Agency is prepared to mobilize its special counterterrorism unit in the event that U.S. facilities and other designated locations in Japan come under threat of terrorist attack, NPA officials said Wednesday. Should concrete information about a potential attack become known, the Special...
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2001

Elementary schools hit by chaos: survey

Nearly one in three elementary schools suffer from "classroom collapse," in which disruptions occur because students refuse to follow teachers' orders, according to a recent survey by the National Institute for Educational Policy Research.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2001

German Embassy puts news on Web

The German Embassy in Tokyo launched a Web site Wednesday that offers news about the country in Japanese accessible by those with Internet-capable mobile phones.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2001

Firms flock to voice-command future

Building on the dramatic improvements in voice-recognition technology, software development companies are competing to create voice-activated products and services.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2001

South Africa forum touts cooperation

Japanese and South African business leaders agreed at a forum in Tokyo on Wednesday that they will further cooperate to promote investment and trade in the natural resource, automobile and information technology industries.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2001

JETRO launches new Web site

The Japan External Trade Organization will launch a Web site today offering trade and investment information on 61 economies, officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2001

Long, costly effort to enrich uranium with laser tech will now be scrapped

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will shelve its research on and development of laser uranium-enrichment technology used to produce fuel for nuclear power, a project that was launched in the 1980s and has cost billions of yen.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2001

Age limit for blood donors may drop

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is reviewing the minimum age for blood donors to make it possible for 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to donate 400 ml -- the same amount as donors above 18.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2001

Survey on nursing-fee reductions planned

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will survey municipalities that are reducing or waiving premiums for nursing-care insurance for low-income senior citizens, ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2001

NSK slashes forecasted earnings

Bearings maker NSK Ltd. said Wednesday it now expects to report only a quarter of its earlier projected consolidated net profit for the 2001 business year due mainly to declining demand from information technology firms.
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2001

Future competitive gains to be limited to high-tech sectors: DBJ

Any competitive gains Japan is likely to make in the next five to 10 years will only occur in the information technology and high-tech chemical products sectors, the quasi-governmental Development Bank of Japan said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2001

Oki revises '01 earnings estimates

Oki Electric Industry Co. said Tuesday it has downwardly revised its net balance forecast for fiscal 2001 to an 8.5 billion yen loss on a group basis. It previously forecasted a 9 billion yen profit.
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2001

Japan considering aid for Afghan refugees in Iran

Japan may provide humanitarian aid for a tide of Afghan refugees escaping to Iran in fear of military retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2001

'Tankan' shows mood darkening across the board

Business sentiment among large manufacturers fell for the third consecutive quarter amid increased fears of a global economic downturn, according to a key economic survey released Monday by the Bank of Japan.
Events
Oct 2, 2001

Nara Station spared wrecking ball

NARA -- After three years of fuss, Haruyuki Chichibu felt relieved -- the Nara Prefectural Government announced last month that it would not demolish the 67-year-old JR Nara Station building.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2001

Advance Japan team goes to Pakistan

An advance government team left Narita airport for Pakistan on Saturday to prepare for the dispatch of Air Self-Defense Forces aircraft to transport relief supplies to refugees fleeing neighboring Afghanistan.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 30, 2001

Book Bites

KODANSHA'S ROMANIZED JAPANESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY, edited by Timothy J. Vance, et al. Kodansha International, Tokyo, 2001, 666 pp., 3,500 yen (paper) A completely rewritten and expanded version of Kodansha's 1990 "The New World Japanese-English Dictionary for Juniors," a popular reference work among...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 30, 2001

Kame no O dreamin'

Kame no O is a sake rice that has recently become popular with a number of brewers around the country. While it may not lead to the elegant, refined and lively fragrances and flavors derived from that most hallowed (yawn) of sake rices, Yamada Nishiki, Kame no O lends sake a definite character and solid,...
COMMUNITY
Sep 30, 2001

We are here to help you

The British archaeologist Howard Carter was excavating in the Valley of the Kings in 1922 when he found a wall bearing the seal of Tutankhamen from the 14th century B.C. He made a small hole and peered through. From his journal:
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2001

Meat-and-bone meal ban expected

Japan could introduce a total ban as early as Monday on imports of meat-and-bone meal, an animal feed suspected of transmitting mad cow disease, the nation's agriculture minister said Friday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami