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JAPAN
May 31, 2002

Ministry to reprimand top prosecutor over underling's gangland dealings

The Justice Ministry decided Thursday to reprimand the public prosecutor general over a bribery and fraud scandal involving a former senior official of the Osaka High Public Prosecutor's Office, Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
May 31, 2002

Tourism offers one path to better understanding

The pamphlets lined up at tourist centers scream, "Experience the real Korean-style aesthetic treatment and make your skin smooth!" "Spend three full days in Seoul sightseeing and shopping!"
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 31, 2002

Encouraging kids to think for themselves

"Is it really OK for school to be this much fun?"
Japan Times
BUSINESS / THE WRITERS' SPIN
May 31, 2002

Keio professor applies soccer tactics to business

Watching World Cup soccer games may give corporate managers a good clue about productive organization. Shunsuke Takahashi, an expert on human resources management, said that in a "soccer style" organization, team members work autonomously and flexibly. Even defenders can take shots on goal.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

Cyclical upswing no time to relax reforms: Hayami

BOJ Gov. Masaru Hayami said Thursday that Japan should not relax its efforts to promote structural reforms and dispose of banks' nonperforming loans despite the recent economic uptick.
JAPAN
May 30, 2002

Personal data leaked on 3,500 Web-site users

Personal information on about 3,500 users of Web sites at two companies and a university has been leaked via the Internet, company and university sources said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
May 30, 2002

The only way to clear debt burden

Stock prices for Japan's top banks have been rising lately despite the huge deficits they have suffered in the business year that ended March 31. Increases in loan losses are good news in the sense that they reflect progress in bad-debt write-offs. In the same year, the nation's seven banking groups...
BUSINESS
May 30, 2002

Corporate consolidation rises by 4.5%

Corporate consolidation in Japan rose 4.5 percent in fiscal 2001 due mainly to more frequent use of such new tools as equity swaps and transfers, the Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 30, 2002

Kyodo News photographed, videotaped asylum seekers

Kyodo News announced Wednesday that widely used photographs and videotape of the incident involving five North Koreans seeking asylum at a Japanese consulate in China earlier this month were taken by its reporters.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2002

Aozora expresses fear over foreign investment

Softbank Corp. may sell part of its stake in Aozora Bank, raising the possibility of a tussle should a leading stake fall into foreign hands, Aozora Bank President Hiroshi Maruyama said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 30, 2002

The fuss-free way to get you and your stuff home

We were wondering how many inquiries would be coming in and we are all pleasantly surprised at how many we have. It is going to be a big job to reply to them all but that's what we are here for. Remember, we rely on you, the reader, to not only send in questions but help us with the answers. Please let...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CUP COUNTDOWN
May 30, 2002

Volunteers welcome Cup-goers

In and around the host cities of the World Cup soccer games, volunteers have been preparing in earnest to welcome spectators from abroad.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 30, 2002

Finding the neurons that say: 'let's just do it'

Ever wondered why some people are full of "get up and go" and why others drag their heels? Why some kids at school charge enthusiastically around the running track, while others prefer to go for a smoke behind the bike sheds? If work published in Science this week fulfills its promise, there might soon...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 30, 2002

Concrete -- modern Japan's blockhead obsession

They invented it, didn't they?
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
May 30, 2002

Puzzling over monkeys' many ways of life

It was a faint and far-off sound, barely audible, like the distant rumbling of thunder. Something about it triggered memories, and I asked skipper Mike to cut our outboard motor. Even with the engine off and my hands cupped behind my ears, head turning like a radar dish, I was still not absolutely sure....
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
May 30, 2002

Rebuilding over restoration

Art, architecture, and classic cars should be restored, just about everything else deserves rebuilding.
EDITORIALS
May 29, 2002

The odd couple's African tour

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Irish rock singer Bono have just concluded a four-nation tour of Africa. During their visit to Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia, the two men studied ways to help the world's poorest continent. They bring two very different approaches to this pressing problem....
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2002

An opportunity for peace in Indo-Pakistani faceoff

Once again, India and Pakistan are drifting toward war. New Delhi and Islamabad could, however, convert the present crisis into an opportunity to work toward a genuine peace.
JAPAN
May 29, 2002

Chinese cops not told of treaty violation

A Japanese vice consul in Shenyang, China, did not warn local police -- who entered the consulate compound to remove five North Korean asylum seekers earlier this month -- that they were violating an international treaty, the Japanese government said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CUP COUNTDOWN
May 29, 2002

Hotels vie for World Cup windfall

As the Friday opening of the 2002 FIFA World Cup approaches, hoteliers in and around Tokyo are making last-minute efforts to get their slice of the hoopla that will carry on through the next month.
COMMENTARY
May 29, 2002

Guns alone won't bring victory in America's fight against terrorism

LOS ANGELES -- What do Irish rock group U-2's lead singer Bono and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill have in common with currency-exploiter and philanthropist George Soros? A major obsession: that, in the long run, poverty, deteriorating global public health and declining economic development can...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 29, 2002

Top business lobbies tie knot, hope to better sway politics

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren) merged Tuesday to become the Japan Business Federation, hoping the more powerful business lobby can wield greater influence over government policies.
JAPAN
May 29, 2002

Day-care centers' online cameras keep tots in view

Sakura Kindergarten in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, is one of a growing number of day-care centers hoping to use the Internet and other information technology to keep parents happy and worry-free.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 29, 2002

Star's role derails Streetcar classic

Demons inhabit the live-performance stage. Nobody can judge the success of a production until after the curtain has risen and fallen. This is what gives drama -- and musical and dance performances -- their peculiar zest. And when the director of a production is a titan of the international theater world,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 29, 2002

Wilco: 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'

On the new Wilco album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," frontman Jeff Tweedy muses that his mind is filled with "radio cures." Looks like his old label didn't think so. Citing a lack of commercially viable tracks on "YHF" and the band's refusal to rework them, Warner/Reprise Music showed Tweedy and company the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
May 29, 2002

And the 'nice try' award goes to . . .

It is my sad duty to report that the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards Japan, held May 24 at the Tokyo International Forum, was a less than spectacularly successful affair.
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2002

Japan's diplomacy at stake

Corruption at the Foreign Ministry has come to a head following the arrest of two assistant division directors earlier this month on suspicion of breach of trust. Last year, three assistant division directors and a clerk were arrested on suspicion of embezzlement and fraud. Several senior ministry officials...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear