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Japan Times
JAPAN / BABY BUST
Sep 19, 2002

Birthrate suffers as women face unattractive choices

Mayumi Shinde, 40, has worked for seven years as a system engineer at a Tokyo firm, at one stage attaining a job capability assessment of S -- one special level higher than A, the normal top ranking.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2002

Temp work seen striking happy medium

According to Shinya Sato, an executive director at Japan Staffing Services Association, the CIETT meeting held in Tokyo in April provided momentum to help spur the Japanese temp industry toward further deregulation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2002

Kim admits abductions

PYONGYANG -- Four of the 11 Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and '80s are alive but six others are dead, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during their landmark talks on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 17, 2002

Bookkeeping reforms lead to surge in number of aspiring accountants

An increasing number of people are aspiring to become licensed public accountants as demand for accounting experts rises in line with ongoing reforms in accounting and bookkeeping rules.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2002

Political fundraisers collected record high 13.7 billion yen in 2001

Political parties and related organizations, including support groups for individual politicians, collected a record 13.7 billion yen through fundraising events in 2001, according to a government report issued Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Sep 6, 2002

Demographic shift prompts toy makers to reach out to adults

Faced with an ever declining number of children, Japan's toy makers have started courting their parents, alluring them with frothy beer dispensers and matchbox luxury sedans.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2002

Court nullifies coerced confession

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday nullified the confession of a Filipino woman accused of killing her live-in boyfriend in 1997, saying it was obtained through illegal police action, but nevertheless upheld her prison sentence for murder.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Sep 5, 2002

Unions build political power

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W. Bush spent Labor Day just like he did last year. He attended a union picnic in Pennsylvania. The difference is that last year he was courting the steelworkers. This year it was the carpenters. He and his advisers seem intent on improving his showing among union...
EDITORIALS
Sep 3, 2002

Mr. Tanaka's work begins anew

In Sunday's much-heralded gubernatorial election in Nagano Prefecture, former reformist Gov. Yasuo Tanaka made a triumphant comeback, dealing a heavy blow to anti-Tanaka forces and other conservative hardliners who have vehemently opposed his popular campaign against dam construction and other pork-barrel...
EDITORIALS
Sep 2, 2002

A welcome surprise

It came as a big surprise when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced Friday he will visit North Korea on Sept. 17 for face-to-face talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. "A summit meeting is essential to further progress," Mr. Koizumi told reporters. "I want to find clues for resolving outstanding...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 1, 2002

Reaching for the skyline

Sixty-nine-year-old British architect Sir Richard Rogers has been one of the world's foremost architects for the last 30 years. Awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1985, he was further rewarded for his outstanding achievements with a knighthood from the Queen six years...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Koizumi to visit Pyongyang Sept. 17

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will make a landmark one-day visit to Pyongyang Sept. 17 for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the government announced Friday.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 25, 2002

The decline and fall of biodiversity

In Johannesburg over the next few weeks, the biggest talk fest there's ever been will ensure that few people on the planet remain unaware of environmental issues such as global warming, sustainability and rapidly decreasing biodiversity.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 24, 2002

Mystery ailment fells Bunch

The Chunichi Dragons American pitcher Melvin Bunch left his team and returned to the United States on Sunday, Aug. 11, for examination and treatment for what has been described as a series of anxiety attacks. So said the 30-year-old right-hander earlier this week by telephone from his home in Texarkana,...
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2002

Osaka seminar clarifies provisions of U.N. crime convention

OSAKA -- Twenty-one nations from around Asia concluded a two-day seminar here Friday in which they learned from experts about the specific provisions of the United Nations Transnational Organized Crime Convention.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2002

Kato's concerts to push conservation at Earth summit

Tokiko Kato, a singer and United Nations Environment Program goodwill ambassador, will perform on two days later this month in South Africa to promote conservation efforts, organizers said Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2002

80% of 'baby hotels' fall short of government's guidelines

Almost 80 percent of the privately run nurseries in Japan that care for infants at night fail to meet government operational guidelines, according to a health ministry survey.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2002

Uncertainty overshadows Earth summit

The largest United Nations gathering in history is to start in Johannesburg in nine days' time, with nations reflecting on the progress -- or the lack of it -- toward achieving a more sustainable world over the past decade and wrangling over how to do a better job in the future.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2002

JETRO eyes networking role

To help revitalize the nation's economy, the Japan External Trade Organization must play a key role in supporting Japanese firms in building business networks in East Asia and invite foreign companies into Japan, the new JETRO chairman said.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2002

Indicted Foreign Ministry staff dismissed

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday dismissed Akira Maejima, a former assistant director in charge of aid projects for Russia, following his indictment late last month, a Foreign Ministry official said.
BUSINESS
Aug 14, 2002

Total direct investments lose 53% of their value

The burst of the information technology bubble and other trade deterrents halved the value of the world's direct investments in 2001 to $694.8 billion, the semigovernmental Japan External Trade Organization said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2002

Smog alerts in hot Kanto set to be worst in decade

Tokyo and surrounding prefectures, baking in intense summer heat, have been subject to almost daily smog alerts since the beginning of August and observers expect the number of alerts will be the highest in a decade.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?