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JAPAN
Aug 14, 2002

Koizumi restraint sidelines Yasukuni row

One year ago, a diplomatic row erupted over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 13 -- two days before the anniversary of Japan's surrender ending World War II -- in the face of protests from China and South Korea.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2002

Tokyu unit caught in label scam

A subsidiary of Tokyu Department Store Co. sold beef from cattle raised in Yamagata Prefecture after labeling it as coming from Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, where Japan's most prestigious cattle ranches are located, Tokyu Store Chain Co. said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 14, 2002

Food makers find an escape route

Not long ago, instant ramen from a prestigious noodle shop would have been an odd combination.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2002

Kobe Steel poised to transfer lead-frame operations to unit

Kobe Steel Ltd. said Monday it plans to place its copper lead-frame operations under the control of a subsidiary Oct. 1 in an effort to cut production and other operational costs.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2002

Beijing forcing Chen to take own road

NEW YORK -- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's posture toward China has undergone a significant change recently -- from showing infinite good will to proclaiming that Taiwan is an independent sovereign state and that Taiwan's future should be determined by the people of Taiwan. He now supports legislation...
COMMUNITY
Aug 11, 2002

Seeing is believing: Junichi Yaoi's experiences with the supernatural

Junichi Yaoi's otherworldly encounters took place decades ago, but in his memory, it's as if they happened yesterday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 11, 2002

Old Edo's many-splendored glories

The Tokugawa Shogunate may have been crumbling, and Commodore Perry's "Black Ships" may have been tearing aside the veil behind which Japan hid from the world for more than 200 years . . . but the commoners of eastern Edo were preoccupied with other matters: A craze for potted plants was sweeping the...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Nippon Food Inc. Osaka unit raided

OSAKA -- Farm ministry officials on Friday searched Nippon Food Inc.'s Osaka unit, which was implicated in the defrauding of a state-run beef buyback program, ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2002

BOJ to keep monetary policy as is

Amid a worldwide slump in share prices, the Bank of Japan announced Friday it will keep its monetary policy unchanged, maintaining its wait-and-see attitude as it continues to pump excess funds into money markets.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 10, 2002

For country, for Coca-Cola, for cool companies

Jud Taylor is not only George Taylor, but George P. Taylor IX. His father was a psychologist, his grandfather a doctor and (according to family lore) the generations stretch back to a blacksmith who signed the American Declaration of Independence, for Pennsylvania, in 1776.
EDITORIALS
Aug 9, 2002

A setback in fiscal reform

Earlier in his administration, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi projected an image of aggressive leadership as he called for "no pain, no gain" structural reform. His bold plans included streamlining the bloated government budget. With the economy still struggling to recover, however, he seems to have...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2002

Cities waging a new kind of bidding war

With Japan's public works projects having long been tainted by bid-rigging and bribery, the city of Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture is taking an aggressive approach toward curbing such corruption.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2002

Toyota sees pretax profit jump 51.2%

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday its group pretax profit in the April-June quarter was 449.94 billion yen, up 51.2 percent from a year earlier due to strong sales in North America.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 8, 2002

Rules with teeth required to save a natural splendor

Mikura Island, the southernmost of the Izu Islands south of Tokyo, which are administered by the metropolitan government, is a natural-history treasure house of global value.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2002

Suzuki bribe info faxed to property firm

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office mistakenly faxed a witness account about indicted lawmaker Muneo Suzuki's bribery case to a Tokyo real estate firm in June, a top official of the office said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2002

Airlines, railway firms fight to increase business in west Japan

The nation's two major airlines and the Japan Railway group carriers are engaged in a cutthroat fare war in western Japan.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2002

Complete privatizationof postal services sought

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's advisory panel on postal services is set to issue a report featuring proposals about their future management, such as full privatization, the panel chief said Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2002

False logic of 'Koizumispeak' hinders economic progress

"A cat has four legs. My dog has four legs. Therefore my dog is a cat." False logic cannot get much better than this. False logic is music to the ear of those who wish to be deceived and honey on the tongues of those who wish to deceive.
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Aug 4, 2002

Salaryman quits to devote time to family name: Tokugawa

Tsunenari Tokugawa drew a salary for more than 38 years, climbing the corporate ladder to become executive vice president of major marine shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 4, 2002

The world according to a certified oddball

Once you finally know them, most people are . . . nice. A rosy sentiment paraphrased from Atticus Finch in the fiction classic "To Kill a Mockingbird." Words I now twist to match my own barbed view of life in Japan.
COMMUNITY
Aug 4, 2002

Touched by the hand of the fire god

Akiko Amano says she once saw the God of Fire. It was around 10 years ago when she first started working as a hanabishi (professional fireworks setter). That night, she was working at a countryside fireworks festival.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 4, 2002

Finding a place in history

SENTO AT SIXTH AND MAIN: Preserving Landmarks of Japanese American Heritage, by Gail Dubrow with Donna Graves. Seattle: Seattle Arts Commission, 2002, 220 pp., $19.95 (paper) A lumber camp in Selleck, Washington; a sento at 302 Sixth Avenue in downtown Seattle; a bowling alley in Los Angeles's Crenshaw...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 4, 2002

Salsita: Just like they do it back in old Mexico

'The best Mexican food in town,' the hand-chalked sign outside Salsita proclaims. That's certainly a cocksure statement for a cantina of such modest dimensions. But, as we all know (in Japan better than anywhere else), when it comes to eating well, what matters is neither the size of the kitchen nor the length of the menu but quality, attention to detail and that plus-alpha personal touch. You'll find Salsita has that in spades.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 3, 2002

Theismann: 49ers one of top 3 teams in NFL

OSAKA -- "I think the 49ers are one of the top three teams in the National Football League," former Redskins quarterback and ESPN commentator Joe Theismann -- who has visited both team training camps this summer -- said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

New arrest in nuclear bribery case

The former president of a waste management firm was arrested Friday on suspicion of bribing a government official to obtain classified information relating to the nuclear power industry, police said.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Roadside land prices drop for 10th straight year

The average price of land facing main streets dropped for the 10th straight year in 2001, falling 6.5 percent to 129,000 yen per sq. meter, the National Tax Agency said Friday.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?