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BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2003

Exports to Asia help account surplus grow

Japan's current account surplus rose in February for the first time in three months due to strong exports, particularly to other parts of Asia experiencing robust economic growth, the Finance Ministry said Thursday in a preliminary report.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2003

Japan fetes Matsui grand slam

Japan wasted little time in celebrating Hideki Matsui's first home run as a Yankee.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 10, 2003

Field cricket

* Japanese name: Enma korogi * Scientific name: Teleogryllus emma * Description: The field cricket is a black to dark-brown insect, about 25 mm long. Crickets are orthopterans, in the same group as grasshoppers. They have large heads and wings that are folded flat against the back, except when the...
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2003

SARS behind hospital reshuffle

The government will upgrade the classifications of some medical institutions that have low air-pressure sickrooms to deal better with any outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, health minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2003

Foreign-exchange reserves at record $496.18 billion

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves at the end of March hit a new record for the fourth straight month, rising $10.92 billion from a month earlier to $496.18 billion, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 8, 2003

Cancer testing, Takkyubin and foreign appliances

Testing for cancer Jeremy S. is seeking a dermatologist with a lot of experience working with Caucasians. Being exceptionally light-skinned, he has been told by dermatologists in America that he needs six-monthly check-ups to catch any possible cancer early.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2003

Fans celebrate Astro Boy's 'birthday' in Tokyo parade

Wearing red boots and pointy black hats, Japanese revelers paraded down a Tokyo street Sunday as a brass band played "Happy Birthday" in honor of a fictitious robot boy.
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2003

A sensible option in Iraq War

With U.S. forces closing in on Baghdad, internecine street-to-street fighting remains a possibility. One can only hope this does not happen. The war reached a decisive stage on Friday when the 3rd Infantry Division seized control of Saddam Hussein International Airport on the outskirts of the capital....
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

State duped over 104 tons of beef

Around 104 tons of beef the government purchased through a program to help farmers cope with mad cow disease did not meet eligibility requirements, farm ministry officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

New environment tax to begin in fiscal 2005

The Environment Ministry hopes to introduce a temporary tax on coal, gasoline and other fossil fuels in fiscal 2005 in an effort to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, ministry sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2003

A legend from Kyoto to Kerouac and way beyond

Gar Snyder is a legendary figure. The real-life original of Japhy Ryder -- traveling companion, friend and spiritual inspiration to the novelist Jack Kerouac -- he appears in that guise in Kerouac's 1959 novel, "The Dharma Bums." There, speaking as Ryder, he announces that, after study in the East, he...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 6, 2003

The grand illusions

Since celebrity is more a matter of exploiting opportunities than exploiting talent, this week's "Friday Showtime" (NHK-G, 8 p.m.) can be seen as an object lesson in cross-disciplinary synergy. Billed as an "astonishing entertainment" program featuring "music, comedy and illusion," the show brings together...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Apr 6, 2003

Will Hussein go out quietly?

MOSCOW -- Last week a number of American officials were saying that the war in Iraq was not unfolding as quickly as had been hoped. The remarks sound like excessive modesty because the war has actually proceeded much more smoothly than its opponents predicted.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003

Combat SARS with emergency loans: Ogi

Transport minister Chikage Ogi said Friday her ministry is considering having governmental financial institutions extend special emergency loans to airlines, travel agencies and other industries that face fallout from the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome that apparently started in China....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 5, 2003

Tokyo's fastest copywriter on the run for TELL

Bob Poulson is a runner. He runs for fun, and when a good cause comes along that he believes is worth running for, he will run for that too.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2003

Victim of prison guards angry at being ignored

After witnessing guards at Nagoya Prison frequently bullying inmates -- particularly the elderly or physically disabled -- a male prisoner sent a written complaint in October 2000 to then Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2003

Kansai robots on march amid Astro Boy hoopla

OSAKA -- The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, is witnessing a surge in visitors ahead of the April 7 "birthday" of Astro Boy, the humanoid robot for which the late cartoonist is probably best known.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2003

U.S. confidence not enough

LONDON -- America's notion of its national sense of "manifest destiny" has been a mainstay of its internal expansion and then its involvement with the world in the past century. This has frequently been of enormous benefit to the rest of the globe. But it can lead the most powerful nation on Earth into...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Apr 3, 2003

Indy Jones excavates action

"Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb," LucasArts' new game for Xbox, PC and PlayStation2, marks the triumphant return of the world's most famous adventurer/archaeologist.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Not all prefectures testing for mad cow

A special law requiring nationwide testing of dead cattle for mad cow disease went into force Tuesday, but more than a third of prefectural governments failed to comply, citing a lack of manpower and facilities.
COMMENTARY
Apr 2, 2003

Caught between Iraq and a North Korean hard place

When the war between the U.S.-British coalition and Iraq finally began on March 20, a Japanese magazine put out a special issue headlined "The Realization of Justice or Arousal of the Devil?" to stress the importance of looking through to the essence of the war.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 2, 2003

Romane

No European jazz musician looms as large as Django Reinhardt. Born into a Gypsy family of musicians in 1910, Reinhardt transformed acoustic guitar playing with brilliantly fast harmonic changes and a joyous swing. Along with violinist Stephane Grappelli, he formed the Quintet of the Hot Club of France,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Professor's high-tech coat turns him into 'invisible' man

Kazutoshi Obana's gray hooded coat doesn't just keep him dry in a downpour. It can also make him seem invisible.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Japan suspects missile launch by North

Japan said Tuesday it had obtained information that North Korea fired into the Yellow Sea another Silkworm antiship missile earlier the same day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2003

Oshima steps down over aides' scandals

In another blow to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, tarnished farm minister Tadamori Oshima stepped down Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2003

ANA to raise discount fares on domestic flights

All Nippon Airways said Monday it will raise its discount fares for domestic flights beginning in June to offset a deteriorating business environment amid the war on Iraq.

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