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JAPAN
Nov 25, 2002

Joblessness could push 7% in '07

Projections obtained Sunday from the health ministry show that Japan's unemployment rate could rise to almost 7 percent in 2007.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2002

HIV contracted in hospital

The wife of a man with the human immunodeficiency virus contracted the virus through artificial insemination at a university hospital in western Japan several years ago, a hematologist at a Tokyo hospital said Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 24, 2002

Eagle Cafe sprints to JC Dirt title

FUNABASHI, Chiba Pref. -- Italian ace Frankie Dettori helped stage an upset in the Japan Cup Dirt Saturday as he brought the Japanese-based Eagle Cafe home a length ahead of Regent Bluff for the win at Nakayama Race Course.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 24, 2002

Designed to deceive

The next time you visit a department store, head over to the luxury-goods section, stop in front of a leather bag by Louis Vuitton or Gucci, and just reach out and touch it.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 24, 2002

Faking it

Fakes and copies -- the words conjure up images of brand-name goods that aren't; trademarks purloined; forged money and passports; pirated CDs, software and videos . . . and even archaeological finds that weren't as historic as they were purported to be.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2002

U.S. has learned from Japan's inaction: Quayle

As the United States keeps an eye out for signs of deflation there, it has learned one lesson from Japan's battles.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 23, 2002

Dodgers closer Gagne would rather be chasing a hockey puck in NHL

Eric Gagne is a 25-year-old pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After three rather unspectacular years as a starting pitcher with the Dodgers, the Montreal native was converted to a closer prior to this past season.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

Pressures of infertility exact toll

The women sit in a circle in a silent room.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

Clinton airs concerns on North Korea

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton expressed concern in Tokyo on Thursday about the geopolitical situation on the Korean Peninsula.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

More and more homes going with solar power

Solar panels on roofs and verandas are becoming a more familiar sight in Japan as people acquire the systems with help from subsidies amid government efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions and combat global warming.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2002

GDP likely to drop over 7% from slack birthrate

The gross domestic product is expected to decrease between 7.8 percent and 8.6 percent in 2025 from 533.7 trillion yen in 2001 due to a decrease in the labor force caused by the falling birthrate, labor minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Study sees more elderly, more troubles

A recent study by a university research institute forecasts not only a more significant rapid aging of Japanese society than had initially been anticipated, but also an increase in the number of elderly people needing nursing care and assistance.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2002

Survey highlights lack of interest in disaster maps

Half of the 2,150 adults surveyed by the Cabinet Office in September said they have not seen or heard of disaster-prevention maps, while more than two in five said they don't know if there are disaster-prone areas in their neighborhoods.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2002

Major automakers increase profits

Despite a stagnant domestic economy, the nation's major automakers managed to boost consolidated profits for the April-September period, thanks to a weaker yen and cost-cutting efforts, according to earnings reports released by Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2002

Painter and powerbroker to the shoguns

Throughout history, powerful regimes have used art to reinforce their control and shore up their claims to legitimacy.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Nov 19, 2002

Seeking spiritual succah in the Negev desert

The largest natural crater in the world has a past almost as awe-inspiring as its present.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2002

Emission-trading market to be tested in January

Japan is preparing for the test-run from next January of an emissions-trading market designed to combat global warming.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Movers and shakers behind the scenes

For journalists and valued customers, the Tokyo Collections are all about the spectacle of the shows. For buyers from Tokyo's department stores and boutiques, they are epic spending sprees -- business gambles founded on knowledge and experience laced with intuition.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Skeletons in the academic closet

"Those who have put out the people's eyes reproach them of their blindness'' -- John Milton (1608-74)
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 17, 2002

A guide in wine is a friend indeed

It's a story we've heard dozens of times before, in slightly varying versions. An acquaintance who does much corporate entertaining decided to treat a few office-mates to a late meal in Daikanyama. After an under-10,000 yen bottle of red, the sommelier suggested that they might like an unlisted Shafer...
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 16, 2002

Big, bad Wolf devours Japanese All-Star team

After giving up 29 runs in the last four games, the major league pitchers finally put on an All-Star display.
COMMENTARY
Nov 16, 2002

Dark days for Britain's Tories

LONDON -- The once-mighty Conservative Party, which dominated the British political scene for most of the 20th century, has now fallen on very bad times.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

Executives of top banks say everything is fine

Seeking to reassure markets of their financial stability, top executives of the nation's four biggest banking groups insisted Friday they do not require another injection of public funds.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 16, 2002

'Oba-chan' mutiny brings funeral chaos

There was so much activity on Shiraishi Island, it was almost seismic. Elderly women grouped outside their houses whispering. The Buddhist priest was so busy, he wasn't answering his cell phone. Ferries kept bringing more people dressed in black.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2002

Indians starve while grain is exported

MADRAS -- Hunger still stalks India. Fifty-five years after the British gave the country its freedom, 200 million Indians -- a fifth of the population -- still go to bed hungry. What makes this situation even more tragic is the fact that the government plans to export million tons of rice and wheat....
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2002

Economic foolishness deepens

We knew that Japan's economic debate was fairly foolish when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told us that structural reforms such as privatizing highway corporations and the post office would somehow revitalize the Japanese economy. But even that looks sensible compared with the latest proposed "reform"...
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT THE JUNCTION
Nov 15, 2002

Affiliates are cashing in on cozy ties with Japan Highway

Last spring, an employee at a road maintenance company smelled a rat as his firm prepared to bid for an expressway-related project by the semi-governmental Japan Highway Public Corp.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight