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BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2003

Bridgestone's profits surge 161%

Bridgestone Corp., Japan's biggest maker of automobile tires, said Friday that its group net profit in the business year through December 2002 surged 161 percent to 45.38 billion yen.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 21, 2003

Sasano: A hidden gem of an izakaya

It's always a pleasure to revisit a favorite haunt after a gap of a couple of years, and even more so to discover that it's just as good as ever. In the case of Sasano, that doesn't just mean premium sake and fine quality provender -- after all, those are the sine qua non of any self-respecting izakaya...
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2003

The WTO's 'awesome challenge'

The success of the next round of trade liberalization talks depends on tackling the thorny issue of agricultural tariffs and support. That is no secret; agriculture has preyed on the minds of trade negotiators for decades, but they have successfully delayed consideration of the question for years. The...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2003

Smart cards seek smarter ideas

Way too busy to waste any time, on-the-go commuters stream through Tokyo train stations, chatting on mobile phones, listening with disc-player earphones, and flicking "smart cards" instead of stopping to pull out tickets.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2003

Overtime pay violations on Rengo's radar

Tomoru Yamaguchi, director of the working conditions division at the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), knew the situation was bad. He just didn't think it was this bad.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2003

SMFG to raise 300 billion yen from Cayman affiliate

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. unveiled a plan Monday to boost its capital base by the end of next month by issuing an additional 300 billion yen in preferred shares.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 18, 2003

A kind word, visa sponsorship and tax refunds

A kind word I was sitting in the NTT Telephone shop waiting to have a telephone repaired and a bit discouraged.
COMMENTARY
Feb 17, 2003

Korean stability matters most to China

HONG KONG -- "China should step up and defuse the situation," an American official in Washington said to me in December, referring to the North Korean nuclear issue. "That's what a great power would do -- exert its influence and defuse the problem."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 16, 2003

A world of fashion at your fingertips

Whether they're designers in search of inspiration, wardrobe masters or mistresses in the theater or movies, students, or just lovers of beautiful things, those interested in the history of women's clothing no longer have to beat a path to Kyoto to see the world's largest private collection of fashion...
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Nonaka opposes Arabian Sea operation

Hiromu Nonaka, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, expressed opposition Friday to a plan to expand the Self-Defense Forces' mission of refueling foreign warships in the Arabian Sea.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Shiga 'eco-village' lures many disciplines

HIKONE, Shiga Pref. -- Rooftop solar panels provide energy and heat water. Rainwater is collected and used for washing and toilets. Kitchen waste and leaves are composted into fertilizers for crops. People work on farms and community businesses.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 15, 2003

J.A. Stam

At the end of the 1960s, when Joop Stam was a student at Keio Kokusai Center in Tokyo, people used to say: "That young man from Holland will go a long way. He typifies the modern young scholar, who is eager and able to take advantage of today's opportunities."
EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2003

North Korea vs. the world

The International Atomic Energy Agency voted this week to bring North Korea's nuclear violations before the United Nations Security Council. The move increases the pressure on Pyongyang; for that reason, some governments are concerned that North Korea will only respond with more belligerent behavior....
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Ministry to discount bridge tolls in bid to lure motorists

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry will further reduce tolls on three bridges linking Honshu and Shikoku in a bid to get people to use the heavily indebted expressways, transport minister Chikage Ogi said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2003

Loan sharks feasting on ballooning number of people deep in debt

With the economy in the doldrums for years and unemployment at a record high, Japanese are racking up debts, falling prey to loan sharks and declaring bankruptcy by the thousands.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2003

BOJ tallies bank shares bought

The cumulative value of shares the Bank of Japan has bought from commercial banks under a special program to ease their exposure to falling share prices came to 527.1 billion yen as of Monday, the BOJ said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 14, 2003

Take your lover to Hevin and back

What is it about Japan and chocolate and Feb. 14? For the past two weeks and climaxing today, the entire nation -- or at least the female half of it -- has been engulfed in the annual chocomania. And, if anything, this year the Valentine's Day frenzy has reached new heights.
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2003

Helping 'refugees' from the North

North Korea is creating a new headache for the Japanese government: the plight of North Korean residents and their Japanese spouses who have now returned secretly to Japan from that impoverished communist state via China. The problem came to the fore last month when a Japanese woman who had gone to the...
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2003

METI aims to help sick firms beat bankruptcy

Changes to business regulations and special tax breaks will be considered to help ailing companies avoid bankruptcy and get back on their feet, according to government draft guidelines released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2003

Balance of loans racks up 61st month of decline

The balance of loans by banks fell 4.7 percent in January from a year earlier, marking the 61st consecutive month of decline, the Bank of Japan said Monday in a preliminary report.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 11, 2003

Stick insect

* Japanese name: Nanafushi * Scientific name: Phraortes elongatus * Description: Stick insects belong to the order of insects called Phasmida, which derives from phasma, the Latin word for phantom. It's easy to identify a stick insect, but it is seeing it in the first place that is difficult, because...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 9, 2003

Titillating tales from China's perfumed city

SHANGHAI: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City, by Stella Dong. Perennial/HarperCollins, 2001, 318 pp., $15 (paper) Great cities deserve the attentions of writers who combine the historian's pursuit of accuracy with the willingness to be swayed by impressions, prejudices, anecdotes and flawed opinions....
COMMUNITY
Feb 9, 2003

Hole in one: Hole in pocket

All golfers dream that -- be it only once in their lifetime -- they might, miraculously, achieve a hole in one.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 9, 2003

In search of lost worlds

Most Westerners have heard about the legend of Atlantis, but how many have heard about the lost kingdom of Nan Mador? Like Atlantis, Nan Mador was supposedly as big as a continent, and stretched from Micronesia in the South Pacific all the way to Easter Island off the coast of Chile.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 9, 2003

Yasukuni issue going to the dogs in Japan

When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was in Moscow last month to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he found he had a little time on his hands. According to reports in several weeklies, Koizumi originally planned to spend one day in the Siberian city of Khabarovsk talking to North Korean leader...
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2003

Aegis' lack of data separation may turn into legal problem

Data collected by a Japanese Aegis-equipped destroyer in the Indian Ocean cannot be divided into information relevant to the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan and information relating to a possible attack on Iraq, Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 8, 2003

Walk-in freezer homes breed brutes

If you have never been inside a Japanese house, just imagine throwing a bunch of furniture, your computer and your TV into a walk-in freezer. Inhabitants walk around in special thick socks and "chan-chanko," traditional Japanese-style overcoats made for wearing inside the house. Walk into the bathroom...
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2003

Home loan body to resell mortgages under draft law

The Government Housing Loan Corp. will be allowed to securitize and sell mortgages after buying them from private financial institutions, according to a proposal presented Thursday to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2003

METI to allow JNOC units to join operations

The government plans to let three Japan National Oil Corp. affiliates integrate operations as part of reforms to dissolve the money-losing state oil developer in two years, industry ministry officials said Thursday.

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