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JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Okinawa to host Pacific island talks

Japan will host the third summit of Pacific island nations to enhance cooperation among its Pacific neighbors, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

New Cabinet ministers' assets average 36 million yen

Six ministers who were appointed in a September Cabinet reshuffle have an average of 36 million yen in assets, excluding stockholdings and savings in ordinary deposits, according to a Kyodo News survey based on Diet report released Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2002

Shiokawa wants 'major cuts' in national capital gains tax

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday the capital gains tax should be significantly reduced -- although not to zero, because that would cause problems for the tax system.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2002

High-level talks planned on future of North Korea reactors

Japan, the United States and South Korea will hold high-level talks Saturday in Tokyo on whether to continue a project to build light-water reactors in North Korea, now that Pyongyang has admitted it has been working to develop atomic weapons in defiance of its pledge not to do so.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2002

Official tasked with reviving ailing industry

The government on Thursday said National Public Safety Commission Chairman Sadakazu Tanigaki will assume a new ministerial post in charge of revitalizing the nation's sluggish industrial sector.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 8, 2002

Matsui the hot topic for MLB All-Stars

Ichiro Suzuki doesn't want him to listen to the naysayers. Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams showed immense interest in the possibility of him in pinstripes. And Barry Bonds didn't bite, saying, "You probably want to ask the Yankee players."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2002

Locals start fund to stop demolition

A group of local residents said Thursday they will start raising money to buy the former family home of Empress Michiko to prevent it from being torn down by the government this month.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2002

Seoul reluctant to hold antipiracy talks

The South Korean counterpart of Japan's Cultural Affairs Agency is apparently reluctant to hold bilateral discussions over widespread product-piracy concerns in Asia, according to agency officials.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2002

Sumitomo Forestry eyes Dominance

Sumitomo Forestry Co. said Wednesday its two subsidiaries in Australia will acquire Dominance Industries Pty Ltd., a fiberboard manufacturer in Australia.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 7, 2002

Zico reveals his plans for Japanese team

In an exclusive interview with The Japan Times, Brazilian soccer legend and newly appointed Japan national team coach Zico aired his views on his philosophy and plans for the future of Japanese soccer.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2002

Work insurance costs on the rise

The government on Tuesday proposed raising the monthly employment insurance premiums 0.2 percentage point to 1.6 percent to help rebuild the deteriorating national unemployment benefit system.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 6, 2002

Hillman takes Fighters' helm

Anyone hoping the Nippon Ham Fighters' new American manager will shake things up may be in for a disappointment.
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2002

Mr. Sharon on his own

I srael's "Unity" government has collapsed. The marriage of the Likud and Labor parties ended when Labor Party members followed their leader, Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, out of the Cabinet in a dispute over the budget. While the stated reason for the departure was fairness to the poor and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2002

Akashi, veteran of Cambodia effort, vows to work for peace in Sri Lanka

Yasushi Akashi, who oversaw the U.N. transitional administration in Cambodia in the early 1990s, vowed in a recent interview with Kyodo News to try his best as Japan's representative to Sri Lanka to help broker peace and reconstruction there.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2002

Next April to see 2,364 elections at local level

April 13 and 27 will witness a combined 2,364 elections covering governors, mayors and prefectural and municipal assemblies, according to a Kyodo News study.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2002

53 of top 100 firms have whistle-blower section

Fifty-three of the nation's top 100 companies have created sections for accepting in-house whistle-blowers' reports about wrongdoing in their companies, according to a Kyodo News survey released Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 5, 2002

Need a franchise player? Top scout says take Matsui over Ichiro

A year of speculation was brought to a sudden end on Friday when superstar slugger Hideki Matsui announced he was ending his 10-year career with the Yomiuri Giants and heading to the major leagues in search of a bigger challenge.
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2002

Economy linked to security

The fight against terrorism emerged as the top issue at the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, whose original aim was to promote sustainable economic growth. This reflected awareness among participants at the summit -- held Oct. 26-27 in Los Cabos, Mexico -- that terrorism affects...
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2002

Market approach to intimacy

LONDON -- The front page of Wednesday's Daily Mirror said: "Angus Deayton is a coke-snorting, hooker-hiring, three-in-a-bed love rat . . ." The front page of the Daily Mail said: "John Leslie is a vile, arrogant man who despises women . . ." Both men were sacked by their TV employers the same day.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 3, 2002

Ashkenazy signed to direct NHK Symphony Orchestra

Pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy has signed a contract to serve as musical director for the NHK Symphony Orchestra for three years, starting September 2004.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2002

Takenaka hopes bank rules will be drawn up this month

Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka said Friday he hopes to specify the government's approach to changing accounting rules for calculating major banks' capital in a timetable to be drawn up in November.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2002

North Korea refused to allow reunion between abductees, family members

Pyongyang earlier this week refused to allow the families of the five surviving Japanese abductees now in Japan to leave North Korea and be reunited with them in a third country, as requested by Tokyo, sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2002

Targets for debt ratios to be part of rescue deal

The government is considering setting debt-ratio targets that companies in danger of folding will be required to meet before getting government help securing further financing, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2002

Tax revenue shortfall worse than anticipated: Shiokawa

The shortfall in tax revenue will be worse than expected for the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday, without clarifying whether additional government bonds will be issued to make up the shortfall.
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2002

Mazda hikes group earnings forecast

Mazda Motor Corp. said Thursday it has revised upward its group earnings forecast for the first half that ended Sept. 30 and for the full year to March 31, mainly because of a weaker yen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Nov 1, 2002

Gathering closes summer's curtain

HIWADAKOUGEN, Gifu Pref. -- I was inside my tent changing from damp clothes to dry when the whooshing thuds of a low-flying helicopter took the campsite by surprise. I thought little of it until the commotion started. News travels fast in a village of nylon walls. Clearly something was amiss.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2002

Talks on hold until Pyongyang affirms family reunions

The government on Thursday said it will not set a date for another round of normalization talks with North Korea unless the reclusive state indicates when the family members of five Japanese abducted decades ago and currently on their first homecoming can also come to Japan.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan