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JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Record numbers avoiding school

A record 138,696 elementary and junior high school students were absent from school for at least 30 days without good reason during the school year that ended in March, according to the results of an education ministry survey released Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2002

Aum grows again, guru still revered

Several of its senior members have been convicted of heinous crimes, including two deadly nerve gas attacks. It has been placed under tight surveillance and wherever its members try to settle, local residents and municipalities turn out to keep them away.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2002

New car, truck, bus sales off 5.8% for July

Sales of new cars, trucks and buses in July fell 5.8 percent from the same month in 2001 to 367,902 units, marking the 11th consecutive month of decline, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2002

Nation at crime and punishment crossroad

Eight inmates share a cell designed for six in Fuchu Prison in western Tokyo, following a recent explosion in the ranks of the incarcerated.
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 23, 2002

Zico takes charge, offers his vision

Former Brazil international and Kashima technical director Zico formally signed on with the Japan Football Association on Monday to coach the national team.
COMMENTARY
Jul 22, 2002

Tokyo, Seoul narrowing gap

The Japanese people's sense of Japan-South Korea friendship has heightened following the World Cup soccer tournament cohosted last month by the two countries. After South Korea advanced to the semifinals, many Japanese cheered the team on to an extent that puzzled some South Koreans.
EDITORIALS
Jul 22, 2002

A nuclear conundrum

The world is increasing its reliance on nuclear energy. For many people, that is a dangerous development. For many others, it is the only responsible choice. The truth is energy-policy decisions are becoming increasingly difficult. A national debate -- in Japan and elsewhere -- is a necessity. Ultimately,...
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2002

Cabinet to have ministries cut their emissions by 7%

In an effort to lead by example, the Cabinet approved a plan Friday that commits the national government to cutting greenhouse gas emissions at ministries and affiliated bodies by 7 percent of fiscal 2001 levels by fiscal 2006.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2002

Asset-backed securities enjoying surge of popularity in Japan

Since British rock star David Bowie surprised Wall Street in 1997 by selling his old song royalties in bulk by issuing bonds, asset securitization has attracted greater public attention in Japan.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2002

Japan to push WTO members to scrap industrial goods tariffs

Japan is preparing to call on members of the World Trade Organization to scrap tariffs on various industrial goods as part of its proposals to spur a new round of global trade talks on cutting tariffs on nonfarm products, government sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2002

NTN to set up China auto parts unit

NTN Corp. said Friday it will set up a subsidiary in China in August to produce components for constant-velocity joints for use in cars.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Benetton to open more megastores

Apparel giant Benetton Japan Co. announced Thursday it will open megastores in Sapporo and Tokyo in the fall as part of moves to increase its worldwide chain of large-scale outlets.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Improved conditions needed to draw ASEAN brains: panel

An informal government panel basically agreed Thursday to seek improvements to Japan's immigration and social environments to attract more experts and engineers from Southeast Asia, the panel's chairman said.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2002

EU trade chief seeks overhaul of U.S. steel industry

European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy called Tuesday for a bold restructuring of the U.S. steel industry to resolve the global trade row prompted by Washington's imposition of emergency steel import tariffs.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2002

JAL joins international air cargo alliance

Japan Airlines Co. formally announced Friday it has joined international cargo alliance WOW.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2002

RoboNavigator to offer accurate parts assembly

Trading house Marubeni Corp. said Wednesday it has developed with two business allies a control system capable of recognizing the spatial location of industrial parts to be picked up and assembled by robot arms.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 29, 2002

Oceania assured of one spot at future World Cup finals

YOKOHAMA -- Oceania will be awarded one spot at the 2006 World Cup, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Friday at a press conference following a FIFA executive committee meeting held earlier in the day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 29, 2002

Cheering on Special Olympics, seeking volunteers

It is confusing to discover that Kayako Hosokawa has three offices in a building in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki. Two are neighbors -- "so convenient," she observes, nipping to and fro. The other is on the fifth floor, below. It is even more confusing to learn she has a fourth office, in Kumamoto, close to the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2002

Preventing a new dark age

On May 8 an American citizen with alleged ties to the al-Qaeda terror network was arrested on suspicion of plotting to build and detonate a radioactive "dirty" bomb in the United States. On May 31, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda of Japan -- the emotional touchstone of antinuclear sentiments for...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

New Kansai runway faces delay

The transport ministry on Friday sharply lowered its forecast for passenger demand at Kansai International Airport off Osaka, indicating that the scheduled opening of a second runway in 2007 could be delayed.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Report to put heavy pressure on airport execs

OSAKA — The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry's downward revision Friday of the projected number of takeoffs and landings at Kansai International Airport is likely to increase pressure on officials here to postpone the completion date for the second runway beyond 2007.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2002

Consumer empowerment key to saving energy, expert says

Japan should reduce energy consumption and establish an environmentally sustainable society, according to a Danish energy conservation expert.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2002

Broadband seen buoying Japan over U.S.

Japan could overwhelm the United States economically by focusing on broadband technology, Sony Corp. Chairman Nobuyuki Idei said Wednesday.

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