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BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2003

Genome breakthrough prompts scramble in pharmaceutical sector

With the task of unscrambling the human genome complete, Japanese pharmaceutical companies are trying to produce new medicines to fight diseases for which effective drugs don't yet exist.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2003

June eyed for SDF-Iraq bill

Legislation that would allow the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to Iraq for postwar reconstruction will probably be submitted to the Diet in June, a senior member of the ruling coalition said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2003

Koizumi promotes Okamoto to top foreign policy aide

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday appointed Yukio Okamoto, the Cabinet's foreign policy adviser, as his top foreign policy aide.
BUSINESS
Apr 15, 2003

Small firms get loan-guarantee help

The government said Monday it will expand special loan-guarantees for small and midsize travel firms to help them counter the effects of the Iraq war and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 13, 2003

SARS can't stop world of rugby's grand wake for fallen mates

Thursday, March 28, 2003, and noted Australian commentator Chris "Buddha" Hardy asks for quiet from the players and spectators gathered at the Hong Kong Football Club for its annual tens tournament.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Homes for seniors not all created equal

Matsudo Nissei's Garden of Eden is a private seniors' home located in a natural environment near Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 28, 2003

Afternoon Tea Baker and Diner: More than just a pour

What's in a name? Since last year, and especially over the past month, the most in-demand dining spot in Ginza has been the one with the most unwieldy misnomer. Afternoon Tea Baker and Diner hardly trips off the tongue. It also disguises the fact this is no mere tea room: It's a proper restaurant, contemporary...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2003

Robot Winter Games on horizon?

It might not be ready for the Olympics, but Masaya Takahashi's skiing robot can take on the slopes with grace, and he hopes this inspires people to do likewise.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 23, 2003

Women on top

Shows about and for women will highlight the second week of Japan's pre-spring TV specials. Fuji TV will present the eighth in its occasional series of talk shows, "Ganbare! Onna Bakari no Jinsei Tatenaoshi Hitori Mi, Issho Kenmei Special" (Monday, 7 p.m.), in which a dozen or so single female celebrities...
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2003

Delegates press severity of African water situation

Participants at a special session of the ongoing World Water Forum voiced satisfaction Monday that Africa's water crisis is firmly on the agenda of the Group of Eight industrial nations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2003

Modern-day swordsmith forges perfection

Yoshindo Yoshihara is not looking forward to his trip to the United States this month. Ever since Sept. 11, Yoshihara, a master swordsmith, has had difficulty checking his baggage through U.S. airports. For security reasons, United Airlines has insisted that his chest of four swords, each one worth about...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 16, 2003

Sitting here in limbo

This week, commercial television networks enter that twilight zone between seasons where they trot out the same variety standbys: real-life police documentaries, musical impersonation contests, blooper shows, etc.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 13, 2003

Singing frog

* Japanese name: Kajika gaeru * Scientific name: Buergeria buergeri * Scientific name: * Description: The Japanese singing frog, known for its "fififi" call, is brown or gray-black. Other frogs merely croak or call, but this frog sings. In Japan it was once common to keep the singing frog in a special...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 12, 2003

Charlie Watts: The beat goes (40 years) on

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, 61, has sunk into a deep leather chair in a huge hotel room in Toronto. In the corner hundreds of jazz CDs cover the walls. The table is strewn with old snapshots. Watts coughs and straightens his brown jacket.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2003

MSDF ship refuels French vessel

A Maritime Self-Defense Force supply ship in the Arabian Sea refueled a French vessel for the first time Sunday as part of its logistic support for U.S.-led antiterror operations in and around Afghanistan, the MSDF said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2003

Japan's nation-building role

Amid escalating tension over the Iraqi situation, the international community, including Japan, has again pledged contributions toward reconstructing war-torn Afghanistan. The pledges came at the Tokyo Conference on Consolidation of Peace on Feb. 22, attended by officials from 34 countries, including...
COMMUNITY
Mar 4, 2003

Japan gets keen on green for Paddy's Day party

The great, the good and the goths of trendy Harajuku are in for a shock on March 16, when the chic shopping district will be taken over by Tokyo's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2003

Koizumi envoy heads for Iraq in peace effort

A special envoy for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left Saturday for Iraq with a letter calling on Iraq to fully cooperate with weapons inspections.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 2, 2003

Tours into mystery

Recently, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced a government plan to attract 10 million overseas tourists a year by 2010, which would be twice as many as presently visit Japan.
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Feb 25, 2003

Shipping news, foreign movies and medical bills

Shipping On the subject of shipping goods from the U.S.A. to Japan as unaccompanied baggage, reader Carol says that if you fly on United Airlines, they can provide you with the unaccompanied baggage forms.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2003

Donor nations pledge $50.7 million to Karzai

Japan and three other major donor countries pledged Saturday to continue to support Afghanistan's efforts to rebuild at a conference in Tokyo.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 16, 2003

Notes from the front

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Hokkaido Television, Asahi TV will present a special installment in its Human Vision series of social-historical video documentaries. "Kiri no Nikki: Aryushan kara no Dengon (Diary in the Fog: A Message from the Aleutians)" (Feb. 16 at 2 p.m.)...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 15, 2003

Local boy with a liking for the finer things in life

Living in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "furusato" (hometown), it seems likely that Hisataka (Issa) Koizumi is related.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2003

Boutiques feast on Valentine's frenzy

St. Valentine's Day is a key occasion for confectioners as consumers snap up an estimated 50 billion yen worth of sweets to give to friends and loved ones on Feb. 14.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 9, 2003

Role models for a changing nation

One welcome exception to the gloomy news in Japan last year was the unexpected awarding of a Nobel Prize in chemistry to an apparently ordinary company worker. Koichi Tanaka's steadfastness, lack of personal ambition and open, nice-guy persona were a refreshing throwback to a less cynical age, and his...
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2003

Foreign reserves soar to $478 billion

Japan's foreign reserves hit a new record for the second straight month at the end of January, rising by $8.87 billion to reach $478.59 billion, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2003

Five prefectures call for end to casino ban

Tokyo and four prefectural governments delivered a petition to the national government Thursday calling for a ban on casinos to be lifted, saying it would generate income and create jobs amid the nationwide economic slump.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 1, 2003

Need a guide to Japan's flea markets? Here it is

Rather, here he is: Theodore Manning, whose book "Flea Markets of Japan: A Pocket Guide for Antique Buyers" was published last month. He no longer lives here, having returned last year to America after a 10-year stretch, so I call him in his new home base of Chicago and we talk by phone.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell