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BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2002

JICA mission to look into Havana Bay cleanup project

After nearly three years of preliminary research, Japan will dispatch a mission of aid experts to Cuba as early as this summer to begin full-scale work on the development of a project to clean up heavily polluted Havana Bay, government sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Apr 16, 2002

Economic panel wants to go its own way on FTAs, farm trade

In a rather belated move aimed at giving the languishing Japanese economy a badly needed shot in the arm, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's key economic panel has put yet another sacred cow on its reform agenda: agriculture.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2002

Banks not short of capital: Hayami

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Monday said he does not think Japan's major banks are short of capital, but cautioned they need to make further efforts to increase profitability.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 14, 2002

It's spring and renewal is in the air

English teachers will definitely want to check out Sunday's two-hour "SmaStation Spring Berabera Festival" (TV Asahi, 6:56 p.m.). "SmaStation" is the latest SMAP-related hit variety series, normally broadcast Saturday nights at 11 p.m. Taking its name from TV Asahi's influential nightly news program,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 14, 2002

Pop stars set an example for us all

The permanent five-day school week that goes into effect this month has given rise to a great deal of discussion in the government and the media as to whether or not Japan can afford to cut back on classroom time. This discussion, however, has not addressed the question of what education is supposed...
COMMUNITY
Apr 14, 2002

Designers unveil new looks to fall for

As the weather warms up and the days get longer, memories of summer's trial-by-heat again begin to send shivers down the collective spine.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2002

MSDF 'preparatory' power eyed

The government is considering legal revisions to allow for "preparatory" action by Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels that would enable them to deal quickly with suspicious ships spotted off Japan, Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2002

Zoellick proposes WTO ministerial talks

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick told Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Thursday that a four-way ministerial meeting should be held next month in Paris under the World Trade Organization, according to a ministry official.
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2002

Steel-trade row's global jolts

With the world economy globalizing as never before, the possibility is growing that trade disputes may also assume global dimensions, with dire implications for the world's free-trade system. A case in point is the current international trade dispute sparked by the U.S. decision last month to impose...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2002

Online music service to shut down

The Tokyo District Court has ordered an online music file-swapping service to shut down. It is the first legal decision in Japan against such a service, which record companies claim infringe on copyrights.
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 10, 2002

Hooliganism won't disappear without a fight

Hooliganism won't disappear without a fight
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2002

Africa aid forum searches for solutions

In an attempt to find solutions to Africa's persistent poverty and low economic growth, regional leaders and experts recently met in Tokyo to discuss ways to remedy the continent of its problematic governments.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2002

World Cup travel fares discounted for foreigners

The transport ministry on Tuesday unveiled special transportation discounts for overseas tourists during the World Cup soccer championships, which start May 31.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2002

Hiranuma to urge U.S. to give up steel tariffs

Trade minister Takeo Hiranuma said Tuesday he will urge the United States to drop its emergency tariffs on a range of steel imports in a meeting Thursday with visiting U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 10, 2002

Nanta on the cutting edge of comedy

From the back of the theater sounds a regular beat, quiet at first, then mounting in volume. In dances a slender woman wearing a tight chef's jacket and hat. She is holding aloft a frying pan and, well, playing it. Three men follow her, also in white chef's uniforms, bearing -- and beating -- a plastic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 10, 2002

Tracing the Eastward footsteps of Indian gods

Toshio Yamanouchi's job took him to India in 1951 -- but it wasn't simply work that kept him there for the next 25 years. What kept him based in New Delhi and took him traveling all across the subcontinent and Southeast Asia was a single-minded search: for the artistic trail blazed by religion on the...
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2002

High-tech titans open solution center

OSAKA -- IBM Japan Ltd. said it opened an "IT Solution Center" in Osaka on Tuesday by teaming up with five other high-tech firms, including Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Oracle Corp. Japan and Microsoft Co., the Japan arm of Microsoft Corp.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2002

Bills covering emergencies presented

The government has moved forward on draft versions of bills to govern Japan's response to a foreign military attack, with Cabinet endorsement eyed for April 16, according to government sources.
SOCCER / J. League / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 9, 2002

J. League to help newcomers and retirees

The J. League this season has launched two new projects. The first is to help players look for a job when they retire from the game. The second is the J. League Academy -- a developing program for players aged five to 21.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2002

Extra engine to give H-IIA boost

Japan plans to develop a more powerful version of its H-IIA rocket to increase its payload for flights to the International Space Station by attaching an extra main engine to the craft, sources in the government and the National Space Development Agency of Japan said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002

The trickle-down effect

It's late in Tokyo's Yurakucho district, and the pachinko parlors clustered here have shut off their garish neon signs. The consoles through which the game's trademark metal balls are sent cascading have gone quiet, and the hard-core players who hang on until closing time are scurrying out onto the pavement...
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2002

Suzuki used hostage case to increase his influence

House of Representatives lawmaker Muneo Suzuki instructed a Foreign Ministry official to secretly make contact with Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 1999, in an effort to secure the release of four Japanese engineers who had been abducted by Islamic rebels in Kyrgyzstan that summer, it was learned Saturday....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Female entrepreneurialism a budding industry

About 20 ambitious women in their 20s and 30s, some from as far afield as Hiroshima and Miyagi prefectures, gathered one Saturday at a Women Entrepreneurs School course in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Tokyo, Seoul poised to sign landmark extradition treaty

Japan and South Korea will sign an extradition treaty Monday that they plan to put into force ahead of the World Cup soccer finals, which are to be jointly hosted by the two countries between late May and late June, government officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2002

METI plans rebuttal to U.S. trade claims

The Ministry of Economy,Trade and Industry will address Japan's auto and steel market practices when it compiles a rebuttal to the recent U.S. annual report on trade barriers, the ministry's top bureaucrat said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2002

Official hoping for U.S. compensation over steel curbs

A senior trade official voiced hope Thursday that the United States will shortly offer to compensate Japan for damage inflicted upon its steel industry in the wake of Washington's recent decision to impose import tariffs on a range of steel products.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / THE WRITERS' SPIN
Apr 3, 2002

Tokyo should be more wary of remarks by fickle economists

Economists always disagree on how to mend Japan's flagging economy.

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