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COMMUNITY
Sep 16, 2001

Can blood type determine character?

If you're a recent arrival to Japan, don't worry if a new friend asks "What's your blood type?" Your inquisitor is unlikely to be a vampire. Here, blood type is believed to tell a lot about a person in just a letter or two: A, B, O or AB.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Sep 16, 2001

Good things come in simpler packages

A Ministry of Education and Science directive that takes effect next spring will require public schools to teach a Japanese instrument in junior-high-school music classes; up to now the focus has been entirely on Western music.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2001

Travelers return from U.S.

OSAKA -- Planes from Guam and Saipan began arriving at Kansai International Airport on Saturday following the resumption of flights to and from the United States.
COMMUNITY
Sep 16, 2001

Fortunetelling traditions thrive on indecision

Runes, tea leaves and chicken innards. A strange group, perhaps, but all have a place in fortunetelling tradition as aids to seeking insight and resolving indecision. Now, though, soothsaying aids are growing even more motley, with recent additions including Shinjuku Station, koalas, eggplants and squid...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 16, 2001

Technology improves the old grinding stone

Over the years, every step in the brewing process has been subject to a barrage of so-called technical advances. More often than not, though, these modern technologies are not as good as the traditional methods they replace.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2001

Bones of mad cow disease suspect in animal feed

The bones of a milk cow suspected of having contracted mad cow disease have been processed into meat-and-bone feed for chickens and pigs, according to the agriculture ministry.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2001

Arroyo woos investors, urges continued aid flow

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo stressed on Thursday her nation's efforts to improve competitiveness in the global market and to alleviate investors' worries over safety.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2001

Japan prompted to drop test-ban pact deadline

The government is expected to omit the 2003 deadline for ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty when it submits a new resolution to the U.N. General Assembly this year, well-placed sources said.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2001

U.S. Embassy set to reopen today

The U.S. Embassy in Minato Ward, Tokyo, was to reopen today after being closed Wednesday for security reasons following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2001

Fear, shock push Nikkei below 10,000

Tokyo stocks fell sharply Wednesday, as shock and fear pushed the benchmark Nikkei average of 225 leading stocks below the psychologically sensitive 10,000 mark for the first time in 17 years, closing at 9,610.10.
BUSINESS
Sep 12, 2001

January eyed for stock tax reform

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday he hopes to implement securities tax reforms in January after discussing them during the extraordinary Diet session to be convened this month.
BUSINESS
Sep 12, 2001

Household savings lower than last year: survey

Households have an average 14.39 million yen in savings and other financial assets, down 90,000 yen from a year ago, according to an annual survey released Tuesday by a semipublic organization.
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2001

Nikkei hits 10,195 in lowest close since 1984

The Nikkei stock average plunged to a fresh 17-year low Monday after Friday's tumble on Wall Street and a negative report on domestic machinery orders erased a rally sparked by a Finance Ministry comment out of Shanghai.
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2001

Patent confab kicks off in Tokyo

A meeting of patent office chiefs from 12 Asian countries started today in Tokyo, the Patent Office said Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2001

Core machinery orders down for third month

Core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in July from the previous month to 931.5 billion yen, the third monthly drop in a row, the Cabinet Office said Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2001

Arabian Oil reaches basic agreement with Kuwait

Japan's largest oil producer, Arabian Oil Co., has reached a basic agreement with Kuwait on extending its drilling rights in the Khafji oil field, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2001

Japan ready to lift sanctions on India

Japan is considering lifting economic sanctions on India, imposed in 1998 to protest nuclear tests by New Delhi, before the end of the year in order to get bilateral relations back on a normal footing, government sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 9, 2001

For your regular viewing pleasure

Those who believe young people don't have proper peer models should check out TBS's "Sekai Ururun Taizai (World Sojourn)," which, every Sunday at 10 p.m., features a young celebrity traveling to a distant corner of the globe and living with a local family while learning a local skill or craft.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2001

Steel firms drop earnings outlook

Five major steelmakers on Friday revised downward earnings forecasts for the year to March due to decreased profitability springing from flagging demand and product prices.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2001

Tokyo fails to stem suspected oil exploration

After two hours of nothing but the vast expanse of the East China Sea, a steel structure topped by a streak of flame and a helicopter pad appears on the horizon, growing rapidly in the window of a Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C patrol plane.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2001

0.8% contraction in GDP underlines Koizumi's task

Japan's economy shrank a real 0.8 percent in the April-June quarter, the government said Friday, underscoring the challenges ahead for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as he juggles structural reform and the weakening economy.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2001

Matsushita says it will postpone issue of IT-linked stock

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. said Thursday it will postpone its plan to issue special stocks linked to the performance of electronics-related business divisions due to the ongoing slump in the information technology sector.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2001

Gartner reports steady server sales

Gartner Japan Ltd. said Friday that domestic demand for servers during the first half of this year remained steady despite a slump in the global information technology market.

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