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BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2002

Public funds won't help banks, Mizuho exec says

A fresh injection of public funds would hamper, not help, Japan's banks, a banking official tapped to be the next president of the Mizuho Holdings Inc. banking group said Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 31, 2002

Learning their ways makes sharks much safer

During the blistering heat of last summer, which was accompanied by unusually warm waters to the east of the Philippines and the Nansei Islands, a juvenile hammerhead shark wandered into the Sea of Japan. After being sighted off Shimane Prefecture it was hunted ruthlessly -- but apparently never caught....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2002

Sumitomo, Mitsui announce tieup of construction arms

General contractors Sumitomo Construction Co. and Mitsui Construction Co. formally announced on Wednesday their plan to integrate their management but said the timing of the move and numerical business targets are still under discussion.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Snow Brand admits units in Kanto also in on scams

Snow Brand Food Co. acknowledged Tuesday that two of its Kanto-based meat units also misstated imported beef as domestic meat in early November in an attempt to reduce inventories and win government subsidies related to the outbreak of mad cow disease in mid-September.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Jobless rate in December rises to new high of 5.6%

Japan's unemployment rate climbed to a record-high 5.6 percent in December, pushing the average jobless rate for 2001 to a new high of 5 percent, the government revealed Tuesday in a preliminary report.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 30, 2002

The Dismemberment Plan

In addition to the usual semi-coherent tour diary and merchandising gambits, The Dismemberment Plan's Web site contains a list of the 10 greatest songs of all time that, apparently, changes on occasion. Though the idea of such a mutable list is seemingly contradictory, it sums up the aesthetic of the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 30, 2002

On the outside, but looking in

The Agora Theater is tucked away near Komaba Todaimae Station, just five minutes from the hurly-burly of Shibuya. It was here that I saw "Boken Oh (Kings of the Road)" performed by Seinen Dan, a youth theater-group led by Oriza Hirata, 39, who wrote and directed the play.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 30, 2002

Prizewinner who's passing on the torch

When I mentioned in a column last year that Lee U Fan had won the Japanese Art Association's Praemium Imperiale award for painting, this provoked a number of questions from readers.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2002

Keidanren, Nikkeiren still have hurdles to clear

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren) are putting the final touches on mandatory procedures for their much ballyhooed integration, scheduled for May 28.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2002

Snow Brand Food admits additional labeling fraud

Snow Brand Food Co., already hit by a scandal relating to mad cow disease and falsely labeled meat, on Monday admitted that two Snow Brand employees intentionally mislabeled beef originating from Hokkaido to pass it off as being from Kumamoto Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2002

METI official to visit China, inspect projects

Katsusada Hirose, vice minister of economy, trade and industry, will visit China later this week to attend a high-level meeting and inspect joint projects on information technology, it was announced on Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2002

Snow Brand's products taken off menus at schools

OSAKA -- Education boards in Osaka, Nara and Shimane prefectures as well as 10 cities across Japan have decided to remove Snow Brand group products from school meals in the wake of the beef labeling scandal at Snow Brand Food Co., according to a Kyodo News survey.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 27, 2002

Merchant's rich harvest

When Natalie Merchant was a member of 10,000 Maniacs, the seminal '80s folk-rock group, her songs betrayed a liberal social consciousness. In contrast, her 1995 solo debut, "Tigerlily," was willfully insular: a song cycle of love-gone-bad and a glum, some might say pissed-off, cover portrait. Characterized...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 27, 2002

Hi-Vision advocates display a lack of foresight

Being someone who isn't intimidated by purchases of electronics, I recently entered the digital age with an alarming lack of serious forethought. I bought a digital BS tuner. At less than 50,000 yen, it's hardly a huge investment by itself, but since being hooked up to my TV, it's caused me to reflect...
COMMUNITY
Jan 27, 2002

Crash diet with a soft landing

"That's impossible!" said my colleague. "Ten kilos in three months? That's . . ." "Don't say it!" I put my hands over my ears, but he continued anyway. "That's 100 grams a day."
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2002

IMF's Krueger says BOJ is on the right path

The No. 2 official of the International Monetary Fund urged the Bank of Japan on Friday to continue doing exactly what it has been doing in an attempt to curtail the country's deflationary spiral.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2002

Snow unit could face charges

Farm minister Tsutomu Takebe said Thursday he is considering filing a criminal complaint against Snow Brand Food Co. with investigative authorities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2002

Heightened fear of radicals gives Mahathir a big win

KANGAR, Malaysia -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has cleverly manipulated the Sept. 11 Islamic terrorist attacks in the United States and their aftermath to crush his political rivals in a crucial by-election in the north Malaysian state of Perlis over the weekend.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jan 24, 2002

A case for campaign finance reform

WASHINGTON -- Controversy is raging about the Enron collapse. Is it a political story? Is it a criminal story? Is it a business story? Is it a story about personalities? The Enron story is all three. The real question is which category is the most important. and that all depends on your perspective....
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2002

Ministry to admit explanation of public works is lacking

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has conceded in a white paper that its explanations of the need for and efficacy of public works projects have been inadequate, according to an outline of the paper obtained Wednesday by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2002

O'Neill against relying on weak yen for recovery

In an apparent move to step up pressure on Japan, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill warned Wednesday that Tokyo should not resort to a weak yen to revive the long-ailing economy.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2002

UNICEF aid head stresses Afghan crisis is not yet over

The head of a UNICEF emergency aid program in Afghanistan stressed Wednesday the humanitarian crisis is not over in the war-ravaged country despite the start of rehabilitation there, and urged continued international assistance.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 24, 2002

E.T. has left the building

The year was 1982. Steven Spielberg shattered all box-office records that summer with a movie called "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" about an ugly but good-natured space alien named E.T. who gets stranded on Earth.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2002

Japan preparing to salvage ship sunk in shootout

Japan is preparing to salvage the mystery ship that sank last month in a battle with coast guard vessels in the East China Sea, Chikage Ogi said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2002

Revisions weighed for laws dealing with attacks, POWs

The government unveiled on Tuesday a blueprint for proposed legislation for dealing with attacks on Japan, including a law to penalize inhumane handling of prisoners of war and injured people, lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2002

NGO says conference built walls around itself

A major international donor meeting on reconstructing Afghanistan, which wrapped up in Tokyo on Tuesday, should have been more transparent and accessible to nongovernmental organizations and the news media, the leader of a Japanese NGO said.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2002

Toto, Matsushita detail China deal

Toto Ltd. and Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. said Tuesday they will mutually supply housing materials parts in China as part of their tieup in the housing materials business.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2002

Foreigners play host at new home stays

A citizens' group working to promote mutual understanding between Japanese and foreigners living in Japan announced Monday that it will hold a one-day home stay program in which participants spend a night at the homes of non-Japanese residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes