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JAPAN
Oct 7, 2001

Municipalities not ready for mad cow disease tests

Comprehensive testing for mad cow disease is unlikely to start simultaneously nationwide on Oct. 18, as scheduled, because some municipalities need more time to prepare the new testing methods, health ministry sources said Saturday.
COMMUNITY
Oct 7, 2001

Going with the furo

Sitting in a tub of clear, near-scalding water up to your neck might not instantly appeal to those new to Japan who are used to stretching out in a warm sea of suds and playing with their plastic ducks. However, taking a bath that way is more than a hygienic chore for the people of these islands; it's...
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Farmers angry at ministry foot-dragging

NODA, Chiba Pref. -- It is worse than the market collapse during the economic slump triggered by the 1973 oil crisis, when beef prices plunged by two-thirds.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2001

Tokyo study links fatalities with vehicle exhaust output

Researchers from the National Institute for Environmental Studies have found a direct correlation between the death rates of Tokyo residents and the density of suspended particulate matter emitted in exhaust fumes from diesel cars and factories.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2001

Disclosure law struggling to live up to its name

A landmark information disclosure law has failed to live up to its promise of increasing the transparency of the nation's scandal-tinged bureaucracy, citizens' groups claim.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2001

Meat-and-bone meal ban expected

Japan could introduce a total ban as early as Monday on imports of meat-and-bone meal, an animal feed suspected of transmitting mad cow disease, the nation's agriculture minister said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2001

Jobless rate still entrenched at 5%

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August remained at a record-high 5 percent for the second month in a row, with corporate restructuring taking effect, the government said Friday in a preliminary report.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2001

New cases of TB declined in 2000 to about 39,000

About 39,000 new cases of tuberculosis were reported last year in Japan, down some 4,400 from the previous year, the first decline in four years, the health ministry has reported.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2001

Temperatures push new heights in Tokyo

Tokyo is becoming more of a jungle every year -- meteorologically speaking. As metropolitan temperatures continue to climb annually, there are signs that temperate Tokyo is becoming more tropical.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Minister begins blood supply drive

Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi urged the nation Friday to participate in an initiative aimed at securing the supply of blood products for hemophiliacs.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Disposal of risky offal eyed

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering measures to ensure the disposal of the cow body parts that pose the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease, ministry sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2001

BSE tests target a million cattle

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to test all of the nation's 1 million cows aged 30 months and over for mad cow disease by adopting screening methods used by the European Union, ministry officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2001

Draft solid reform plan, Koizumi tells Cabinet

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi instructed his Cabinet on Friday to devise concrete reform measures on priority areas such as education, urban renewal, job creation within the public sector and deregulation of health care.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2001

Number of centenarians nears 15,500

The number of Japanese aged 100 or older at the end of this month will probably hit a record 15,475, with women accounting for more than 80 percent of the number, according to a survey released Tuesday by the health ministry.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2001

Ministry looks into growing suicide problem

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has begun compiling measures to stem the growing number of suicides in Japan, according to ministry officials.
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2001

Unemployment demands quick action

Japan's unemployment rate hit 5 percent in July, the highest level since 1953, when the government started taking regular jobless surveys. Official data announced Tuesday show the jobless figure for men climbed to 5.2 percent and that for women to 4.7 percent. The number of people out of work has followed...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

METI to launch 'smart house' pilot project

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to launch a project in the next fiscal year linking about 50 households to a high-speed data network that will improve their security systems and monitor their occupants' health, ministry officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2001

Domestic violence shelters to see rise in number of counselors

The government plans to provide better support for victims of domestic violence by dispatching psychotherapists to shelters and women's centers across the country from April, according to health ministry sources.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2001

Less imported rice rejected last year

Of the 700,000 tons of rice imported in fiscal 2000, 0.08 percent was dumped or sent back due to decay or mold, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 18, 2001

Iron your troubles away and keep taking herbs

My local Japanese doctor was blunt: Bad knees? It's osteoarthritis, and can only get worse. Forget cycling, yoga -- all forms of exercise.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2001

Fruits of U.S. economic expansion eluded many American families

FREDRICKSBURG, Virginia -- We're supposed to remember the 1990s as a period of economic expansion unlike anything the United States had ever seen. But to Oya Oliver and the rest of the staff at the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank, that decade always looked a little different than the official story that...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 12, 2001

Treat your feet

Be they fashion- or health-related, there are products galore to answer our every foot need. In Japan, many are wrapped up in trends, traditional culture and daily habits.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2001

Authorities forced to slash water intake

Record-breaking temperatures and scant rainfall have prompted authorities across the nation to cut water intake, with the government warning that water shortages in the Kanto, Chubu and Shikoku areas could match those during Japan's worst recorded drought eight years ago.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2001

Suicides abate, but still over 30,000

The number of suicides in Japan in 2000 fell 3.3 percent to 31,957 for the first annual drop in six years but stayed above 30,000 for the third straight year, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Aug 8, 2001

Nanotechnology is seen having a massive future

AKO, Hyogo Pref. -- In many ways a typical science lab, it is difficult for an outsider to see what goes on at Himeji Institute of Technology's Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry -- at least with the naked eye.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2001

Commuters fume over train temperatures

Frustration levels are running high among train and subway commuters amid a spell of uncomfortably hot weather this summer, driving many to demand cooler trains.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past