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BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
Aug 28, 2001

Market may yet escape U.S. slowdown

Tokyo stocks are threatening to take the key Nikkei average into a range between 10,000 and 11,000.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Rengo calls on Koizumi to curb job losses

The nation's largest labor organization called on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday to help stave off joblessness via a special law and a supplementary budget for fiscal 2001.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 28, 2001

Carmakers had shaky start until oil shock hit market

Staff writer In 1957, Toyota Motor Corp. shipped two samples of its Toyopet Crown sedan to the United States as the first Japanese cars exported to that market. Nissan Motor Co. followed with Datsun compacts in 1958.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 28, 2001

The sea bottom is a wreck

I'm not doing it by the book. Instead of descending feet-first, I am spread-eagled and trying to make out the two massive wrecks that lie in more than 30 meters of water below me. Exhaled air pulses past my ear. A mercury- silver bubble is trapped under my mask as I fall through the water.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

1% contraction predicted

Private economic research institutes and financial institutions expect Japan's economy in the April-June period to show a contraction of around 1 percent in real terms from the previous quarter, marking the first shrinkage in three quarters, according to forecasts released by Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Mycal to unveil revised restructuring program

OSAKA -- Ailing supermarket-chain operator Mycal Corp. will announce a revised restructuring plan by the end of the week aimed at slashing its debts, company officials said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 27, 2001

Lessons of the Yasukuni visit

Settlement has been reached, at least temporarily, on two thorny issues that sparked criticism both at home and abroad: a junior high school history textbook edited by the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2001

Immigrants' uphill battle to learn English

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- The Asian immigrant was described as speaking in "halting English" even after 20 years of living in the United States. The reporter of the Central California newspaper seemed to suggest that 20 years of living in the country should have resulted in a strong command of the language....
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2001

Police officer killed in scuffle with armed man

A police officer attacked by a knife-wielding man Sunday in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward shot and killed his assailant before dying of his wounds.
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2001

Euro could dent dollar this week

The U.S. dollar is likely to move in a narrow range against the yen this week in trading expected to lack a strong sense of direction.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2001

Missing fisherman rescued off Chiba

50-year-old fisherman aboard a small boat was rescued in the Pacific on Sunday, about a month after he went missing following engine trouble, the Japan Coast Guard said.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

Toshiba to slash 20,000 jobs worldwide amid IT slump

Toshiba Corp. will slash 20,000 jobs from its group workforce of 190,000 to cope with deteriorating earnings in its semiconductor business amid the worldwide slump in the information technology sector, company officials said Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2001

Musharraf moves to rein in Islamic schools

ISLAMABAD -- The order from the government of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, to impose the syllabus of mainstream schools upon Islamic ones, known as "madrassah," is yet another attempt by a Pakistani regime to rein in what many consider to be the first stop for militant...
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2001

Living on the edge

It's 6 a.m. on Saturday, and Teruyuki Kato is woken at home by the beeping of his government-issued pager. The University of Tokyo professor of geophysics knows he must act fast. He calls the local police, who arrive within minutes and transport him, sirens howling, red lights whirling, to the Meteorological...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2001

Hope for the best . . .and prepare for the worst

Think about how difficult it would be if all our lifelines -- water, gas and electricity -- were suddenly cut off. In the event of a major earthquake, we would have to do more than just ponder these hardships. And it would go on for longer than you might think. After the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2001

Hell on earth in '23

"The pillars of the house made groaning sounds and began to crack. An earthquake! The wall clock stopped, and the electric fan went flying." That was how Hisamatsu Yamato, then an 18-year-old living in Tokyo's Honjo district, recalled the moment.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2001

Europe, the euro and you

Remember the runup to Y2K? The predictions of catastrophe? The hand-wringing over unpreparedness? It's happening all over again, on a smaller scale, with the runup to the cash launch of the euro. Although the new European currency will not be legal tender until New Year's Day, armored trucks will start...
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2001

Don't panic: Know what to do

As long as you are in Japan, which has about 1,500 active faults, you are at risk of experiencing a major earthquake at any moment. It could come while you're at home or at your workplace, at a movie theater or in a subway. Wherever you are, you must stay calm and determine what to do next.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

Digital copyright protection test set

Two bodies promoting digital commerce and copyright protection will start large-scale testing in December of a "digital watermark" system to prevent piracy, officials with the bodies said Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

205.8 billion yen job safety net planned

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will seek 205.8 billion yen in budget requests for fiscal 2002 to help build a safety net for people expected to lose their jobs under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms, ministry officials said Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 26, 2001

Intimidation, deception -- and that's just the cops

Earlier this summer, when an American serviceman was accused of raping a Japanese woman on Okinawa, the U.S. military authorities were put in a difficult position.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

Truck-car crashes kill six, hurt six

Six people were killed and six injured in two similar traffic accidents on expressways in southwestern and northeastern Japan on Friday night and early Saturday, highway patrol officials said.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Aug 26, 2001

Between Sonic rock and a hard place

At first glance, the biggest thing happening in Makuhari last weekend was the sale at the local outlet mall. No banners. No bullhorns. No hype. Just a silent, eerie cityscape of hotels and empty family restaurants. In short, there was nothing to indicate that Summer Sonic, Japan's second-biggest music...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 26, 2001

Dogs and penguins and affairs, oh my!

If you have a dog who doesn't do what you say, you might want to tune in this morning to Asahi TV's Sunday talk show "Tokusuru TV (Beneficial TV)" (9:30 a.m.), where actors Masayuki Watanabe and Wakako Shinozaki play-act at being a couple who entertain guests with interesting tips for everyday life....
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.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 26, 2001

Shaping the future:the politics of language

LANGUAGE PLANNING AND LANGUAGE CHANGE IN JAPAN, by Tessa Carroll, Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 276 pp., 40.00 British pounds (cloth) Most countries consider their official language to be an area of state responsibility requiring "planning" by government agencies or special institutions. Language, from...
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2001

Millions stranded with no way home

A major earthquake hits. Just as you've practiced in disaster drills, you evacuate. Making it to a safe place, you let out a small sigh of relief.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 26, 2001

Sips of high-grade tranquillity

In parts of Asia, tea is more than a mere beverage: It is a social lubricant, a sacrament of complex rituals and a vital part of national identity. Throughout history, farmers and philosophers alike have treasured a steaming cup of cha. While there is some evidence of tea's health benefits, there is...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2001

Tuvalu: first casualty of climate change

HONOLULU -- It's too late for Tuvalu, a small island nation in the Pacific. Ten thousand people, Tuvalu's entire population, are packing their bags as their homes among nine low-level atolls are being swallowed by the rising sea. These are the facts of life: The Earth is warming, sea levels are rising,...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’