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BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2003

A chance to catch the latest meows

Toy maker Takara Co. on Friday launched what it claims to be a "cat translator," the latest in a series of gadgets aimed at aiding human-animal communications.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Mysteries of pension system unraveled

With Japan's society aging at a rapid rate, pension reform has become a hot topic.
EDITORIALS
Nov 29, 2003

Competitive threat to insurers

Japan Post, a mammoth public corporation that provides mail, savings and insurance services, is under fire from private life insurers here as well as from U.S. and European insurance industries and government authorities. Their object of criticism is the new life insurance policy that JP plans to sell...
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2003

Japan to focus scope of FTA negotiations

Japan has prioritized Mexico, South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in its strategy for negotiating free-trade agreements, a trade ministry official said Friday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Nov 29, 2003

Coup ushers in uncertain era

MOSCOW -- A former Soviet republic, Georgia, is in the limelight again. Outraged by an allegedly fraudulent parliamentary election, protesters toppled the government of President Eduard A. Shevardnadze and installed an interim administration led by a number of opposition leaders.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2003

Growing jobless ranks rain on recovery parade

Japan's jobless rate was 5.2 percent in October, edging up 0.1 percentage point from the previous month.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2003

Certificates issued to 72 special zones

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued certificates Friday to 72 newly approved special economic zones that will receive preferential deregulatory treatment as part of a structural reform drive.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2003

Sensible plan for South Korea

WASHINGTON -- Even those who admire U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld rarely consider his diplomatic skills among his strongest suits. Capable of being charming and engaging in person, he tends to come across less well when sniping at allies across oceans over the chief foreign policy issues...
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Ashikaga Bank faces government bailout

Ashikaga Bank appears to be on the brink of becoming Japan's second bank this year to receive an injection of taxpayer money, sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Cloning panel at odds over stem cells

The Council for Science and Technology Policy failed Friday to reach a consensus on lifting a ban on the production of human stem cells for research.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Japan to study ties between raw food, listeriosis

An estimated 83 people a year become seriously ill in Japan with listeriosis, a potentially fatal encephalitic disease caused by listeria bacteria found in soil and rivers, according to a recent study by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2003

Shinsei Bank reports net profit rise

Shinsei Bank said Friday its group net profit rose 28.6 percent in the fiscal first half of 2003 from a year earlier to 34 billion yen.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Troops to be dispatched to Iraq in 2004

Japan will dispatch some 550 ground troops to southern Iraq in four waves starting in early February and ending in late March.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2003

Gamers said turned off by overly elaborate content

Industry insiders have a theory about why Japan's home video-game market continues to contract -- the games are too difficult.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 29, 2003

Carol Smith-Wright

This year the International Ladies Benevolent Society marks its half century of uninterrupted philanthropic activities on behalf of organizations and people in need, mostly in Japan. Principally through its annual ball and its Christmas Fair, ILBS raises money that it donates to approved institutions...
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Japan may put abductions on back burner: official

Japan might accept North Korea settling the dispute over its nuclear program before resolving other major issues of concern to Tokyo, a Foreign Ministry official said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 29, 2003

East lies down with West in hotel room

Western-style hotels in Japan are a curious mix of East and West, leaving people feeling like their body has been pulled all the way to the East and back to the West several times.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Japan consulate in Turkey to move to the Hilton Hotel

The Japanese Consulate General in Istanbul will be temporarily moved to a hotel Monday following recent fatal bomb attacks in Turkey.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Saitama governor's daughter admits funds donation scam

The eldest daughter of former Saitama Gov. Yoshihiko Tsuchiya pleaded guilty Friday to misappropriating 116 million yen in political funds donated to her father between 1998 and 2002.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2003

Industrial output rises for second month in a row

Industrial output grew in October for the second straight month, with the index registering its highest level in 2 1/2 years, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Expressway privatization proposals may defeat the purpose

The land ministry put the ball back in the government's court Friday, delivering three proposals for privatizing four debt-ridden expressway public corporations.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Are Japanese ready for bioengineered 'natto'?

A venture company in Hokkaido is challenging Japanese consumers unwilling to buy genetically modified food.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Foreign workers at record 274,145

The number of foreign workers in Japan hit a record high of 274,145 as of June 1, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 29, 2003

Modern feng shui offers clarity in work, at home

Mark Ainley has the coolest Web site. Simple, clear and concise, it is designed (by Spin the Moose Media) in three sections: Clear Space (about feng shui), Clear Body Mind (a one-brain system based on the ancient belief that body and mind are connected) and Clear Spirit (the inspirational and meditative...
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 28, 2003

Giants, Uehara ink 300 million yen deal

Yomiuri Giants right-hander Koji Uehara re-signed with the Central League club on Thursday for an annual salary of 300 million yen.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2003

Blackman pities 'pathetic' Obara

Tim Blackman emerged from the 24th session of the trial of a Japanese businessman feeling "a kind of pity" for the man accused of causing the death of his daughter, Lucie, nearly 3 1/2 years ago.

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’