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JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Finance firm searched over illegal loan scam

OSAKA -- Police searched on Friday the offices of an Osaka financial company suspected of improperly collecting at least 3 billion yen loaned by its affiliates to the elderly at illegal interest rates.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ENERGY EQUATION
Sep 21, 2002

Public role key to green-energy foothold

OSAKA -- While nuclear power provides about one-third of Japan's electricity, the government's goal for raising the share of alternative energy sources is a modest one -- from the current 1.2 percent to a mere 3.2 percent by 2010.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Abductee may have been executed after tutoring plane bomber

Yaeko Taguchi, one of the Japanese abductees whom Pyongyang admitted died in North Korea, may have been executed after serving her purpose as a language instructor for the female agent who blew a Korean Air jetliner out of the sky in 1987, relatives said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Koizumi hints rice aid to North Korea may resume

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Friday that Japan may resume rice aid to North Korea before normalization of bilateral relations.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Woman left off list of abductees probably nurse

The Japanese woman abducted to North Korea who was not on Tokyo's official list of 11 is probably a nurse from Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture who vanished along with her mother in 1978, sources said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 21, 2002

Ian Bailey

SHROPSHIRE, England -- A plaque over the porch of a remarkable black-and-white house in a small hamlet in Shropshire gives the date 1636. This records the age of the front of the house. Parts of the rest are older. Owner Ian Bailey has documents that are dated 1589, when the first known inventory was...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2002

Testing times for the U.N.

In finally taking the vexed issue of war with Iraq to the United Nations, U.S. President George W. Bush has presented the organization with a double-edged test of credibility. Will it lift its performance and remain relevant to U.S. foreign policy on Washington's terms, or in doing so will it be seen...
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2002

Part-timers top 10 million, account for 26% of workforce

The number of part-time workers topped 10 million last year, accounting for one in every four workers in Japan, according to a survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
JAPAN / ENERGY EQUATION
Sep 20, 2002

Energy goals, needs, realities not in sync

OSAKA -- It was another sweltering summer day in Den Den Town here, with the temperature expected to climb above 30 and humidity at nearly 80 percent.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2002

Political lull comes to an end

This past summer was rather quiescent both politically and economically. About the only big story was former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's resignation from the Diet over allegations that she misused the state-funded pay of her legislative secretaries.
EDITORIALS
Sep 19, 2002

The Pyongyang achievement

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on Tuesday achieved a breakthrough, although a qualified one, in ending decades-long mutual enmity between Japan and North Korea. In fact, the outcome of the talks between the two leaders at the historic summit in Pyongyang was more...
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2002

Pro-Pyongyang residents receive death threats

The National Police Agency on Wednesday ordered police nationwide to prepare for possible attacks by ultranationalists against facilities related to North Korea in the wake of the signing the previous day of an agreement between Tokyo and Pyongyang to resume normalization talks, NPA officials said.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2002

Association helps end the health insurance limbo

Pressed by an ever-increasing number of people working as temps, both the government and temp agencies are trying to increase measures to make life more secure for the workers in this category.
Japan Times
JAPAN / BABY BUST
Sep 19, 2002

Birthrate suffers as women face unattractive choices

Mayumi Shinde, 40, has worked for seven years as a system engineer at a Tokyo firm, at one stage attaining a job capability assessment of S -- one special level higher than A, the normal top ranking.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2002

Baby-products firm pushes male child-care leave

In a society where raising a child is perceived as more of a burden than a joy, what can a corporation do to change this mind-set?
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2002

Ishihara joins critics over Pyongyang 'deceptions'

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara on Wednesday strongly criticized North Korea over its response to the abductions of Japanese nationals and other issues.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2002

Full time oft tough balancing act

For three young women, working as temps matches both their career plans and their private lives.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2002

Koreans in Japan react to revelations, fret over compensation

Korean residents in Japan have expressed dismay at the fate of some of the Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea and at the obscuring of the issue of compensation from Japan for its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Sep 19, 2002

Watching the river's flow

In the best-selling 19th-century guidebook, "Edo Meisho Zue (Famous Places of Edo)," there are many prints showing the picturesque scenery and ancient shrines in the vicinity of Oji in present-day Kita Ward. Robert Fortune, the Scottish botanist who was in Japan in 1860 and 1861, enjoyed his visit there,...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 19, 2002

Reproduction is no laughing matter for hyenas

In some ancient African cultures, the skulking hyena was considered to have special powers. Some of those powers, it was thought, could be attained by consuming a specific part of the hyena's body. The nose, for example, was believed to be a source of wisdom and intelligence. While attributing "special...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 19, 2002

Check-up costs, parking perils, and 'quake advice

Health check-ups I'm not feeling well and feel I need to get a complete checkup or physical. It is my understanding that the national health insurance only covers diagnosed illness but not such preventive care. What can I do? -- Phillip in Tokyo
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Sep 19, 2002

Shine on you crazy plumber

Mario, Nintendo's world-famous plumber/mascot, may be the oldest active character in video games, but he's certainly not washed up. Neither is "Super Mario Sunshine," Mario's latest adventure.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 18, 2002

Cruise: "The Art of Being a Girl"

It's hard to think of Julee Cruise without conjuring up images of cursing madmen or midgets in red-curtained rooms. Ever since her ghostly lullabies hovered eerily over the movie "Blue Velvet" and the '80s bizarro hit TV series "Twin Peaks," people assumed that she was just another character from the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 18, 2002

Two dimensions good, three dimensions better

I got some positive feedback on my review last week of the Doug Aitken show at the Tokyo Opera City Gallery. My remark, "I just don't like visiting galleries to sit on the floor and watch videos," struck a chord with a number of readers. Not that I don't like video and new media art, but most galleries...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Sep 18, 2002

Talk about the passion . . .

Can Kiyoshi Hikawa save enka?
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2002

Comic book on Hiroshima A-bombing translated into Korean

OSAKA -- A Korean translation of "Hadashi no Gen" ("Barefoot Gen"), a long Japanese comic book about the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, has been completed by a lecturer at Kinki University in Osaka.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji