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BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2001

State seen stalling on international labor standards

HISANE MASAKI Staff writer Japan may not be as enthusiastic about implementing international labor standards as widely thought.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2001

Tanaka isn't the true target

HONOLULU — Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka has been engaged in a very public battle with Foreign Ministry officials since her appointment in April. While the controversy has focused on Tanaka's gaffes and her seeming inability to serve effectively as foreign minister, the real clash is more...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2001

Ogata likely to be named joint chair of Afghan conference

Sadako Ogata, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's special envoy on Afghan affairs, is likely to be the Japanese chair of a multinational conference to discuss the reconstruction of Afghanistan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda hinted Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 22, 2001

Thomas L. Wright

Part of the enduring fame of architect Frank Lloyd Wright stems from his having designed the old Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. His reputation was significantly enhanced when the Imperial Hotel, shortly after its 1923 opening, withstood the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that devastated Tokyo and Yokohama. Wright's...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2001

Children of suicide victims seek help in alleviating social discrimination

Children who have lost one or both parents to suicide met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi earlier this month to appeal for measures to curb the growing number of parental suicides, according to a private nonprofit group.
COMMUNITY
Dec 22, 2001

Book by 'Japagaijin' gives abused women shelter

Right now, Diane Brown is shoveling snow. She lives 10 km from the center of Sapporo, where she finds it both amusing and annoying that so much of the drudgery of local life has been officially labeled women's work. "The shovel I use is called a 'Mamadump' because it's mums who mostly clear the white...
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 22, 2001

Huge financial windfall predicted from World Cup

Next year's World Cup soccer finals, to be cohosted by South Korea and Japan, could generate economic benefits of up to 3.6 trillion yen if Japan wins the tournament, two private research institutes said Thursday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 22, 2001

Finally, English made simple!

It would be nice if learning a foreign language were as simple as learning to drive. We ought to be able to buy a language manual, study the rules, practice a few weeks, and pass a test. But learning a foreign language, especially English, is far more complicated. Therefore, I propose we simplify the...
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2001

Public servants untouched by economic woes

On Dec. 10, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's winter bonus was 5,692,492 yen this year, and other Cabinet members received 4,155,717 yen. These are huge sums in these harsh economic times.
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2001

Public-sector reforms move forward

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's efforts to streamline inefficient public corporations have been largely successful so far. But he has suffered a setback in one important category of these corporations: state-run financial institutions. Faced with stiff resistance from both inside and outside the government,...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2001

Assault on India's symbol could fan new winds of war

T he Dec. 13 terrorist raid on India's Parliament in New Delhi has understandably drawn parallels with what happened in New York and the Pentagon on Sept. 11.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 21, 2001

Kataoka to join Tigers

Free-agent and veteran infielder Atsushi Kataoka said Thursday he has agreed to join the Hanshin Tigers for next season after completing four rounds of talks with the Osaka club, although details of the deal were not disclosed.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2001

Koizumi should have tried to cap deflation instead

While the Finance Ministry's draft budget for 2002 features significant structural changes, its central reform pillar of limiting government spending has aggravated concerns about the economy.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2001

Thailand's FTA idea has bureaucrats troubled

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's recent unexpected proposal for a free-trade agreement has Japanese policymakers tearing their hair out.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Dec 21, 2001

Seeking the broader picture

On a flight to Japan, the British writer Lesley Downer was surprised when her seat companion started berating her, mid-conversation. He was upset when he heard that she was writing a book on geisha. Better she write about the real Japan, rather than promote foreign stereotypes, the Japanese businessman...
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 21, 2001

Japan sets eight matches to prepare for World Cup

FUKUROI, Shizuoka Pref. -- Japan will play a total of eight friendlies, starting with Ukraine in March at home, before heading into the World Cup, the Japan Football Association announced Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 21, 2001

Ant spider

* Japanese name: Ari-gumo * Scientific name: Myrmarachne japonica * Description: This spider looks like an ant, but it is an arachnid, not an insect. You can tell because it has eight legs. The ant spider mimics ants, and sometimes flutters its forelegs like the antennae of ants, because it has no...
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Dec 21, 2001

Children learn life's hardest lesson

On a recent Friday, I swung open the gate to my daughter's school yard. I was expecting to find the usual crowd of mothers milling outside in the garden. But I knew something was dreadfully wrong when a teacher solemnly ushered me toward a full, but silent classroom. Inside, the mothers sat, wiping their...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2001

Fastest roller coaster a study in G-force

FUJIYOSHIDA, Yamanashi Pref. -- The world's fastest roller coaster opens today, propelling riders at 172 kph and putting them through the G-forces that astronauts endure.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2001

Police toughen measures against drunken driving

The National Police Agency has drafted tougher measures to crack down on drunken driving, including plans to lower the minimum amount of alcohol that can be consumed before driving and to make it impossible to get a license again if a driver kills someone while under its influence.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 20, 2001

League dates set

The J. League's executive board met Tuesday and finalized dates for next season's two First Division stages, as well as deciding on a new format for the 2002 Nabisco Cup.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2001

Up to three years sought for former LTCB execs

Prosecutors sought on Wednesday prison terms of up to three years for three former top executives of the failed Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, the predecessor of Shinsei Bank, for falsifying financial statements for the 1997 business year to conceal 313 billion yen in bad loans.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 20, 2001

Sports world fails to confront fear

It's very interesting to see how people react to crisis. Some embrace it and confront it. Some try to fight it and overheat. Others just run from it altogether.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2001

Osaka-based drugstore penalized for undeclared income

OSAKA -- Osaka-based drugstore firm Daikoku and its affiliates failed to declare about 200 million yen in corporate and personal income for five years up to 1999, industry sources said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2001

War 'back home' divides Jordan's Chechen community

ZARQA, Jordan -- When the wounded Chechen fighters arrived in Jordan in 1994, everything changed for Younis Ashab.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2001

China puts forth new proposal regarding trade rift

Japan and China failed to reach a breakthrough at vice-ministerial talks Wednesday on the trade row stemming from Japanese import curbs on three farm products, but agreed to resume talks.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2001

BOJ to further ease its monetary policy

The Bank of Japan decided Wednesday to further ease its ultra-loose monetary policy, despite its past assertions that the move will do little to allay fundamental fears about the economy.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years