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BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2001

State likely to cut stake in Japan Tobacco

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's special committee on the tobacco and salt industry endorsed a Finance Ministry proposal Tuesday to cut the government's mandatory stake in Japan Tobacco Inc. to 50 percent from the current 66.7 percent in fiscal 2002 or later, LDP officials said.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2001

Walking a fine line between silly and smart

Monkeybone Rating: * * * Director: Henry Selick Running time: 93 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 12, 2001

Kyogen with a twist

KYOTO -- What do kyogen, noh, nihon buyo, the works of Samuel Beckett, W.B. Yeats and Woody Allen have in common?
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 11, 2001

Jubilo scoops top two J. League awards

YOKOHAMA -- Jubilo Iwata may have missed out on the J. League Championship but Jubilo's efforts did not go unrewarded when midfielder Toshiya Fujita and manager Masakazu Suzuki were named the J. League's Player of the Year and Manager of the Year, respectively, on Monday.
JAPAN / LAST CALL FOR SAKE
Dec 11, 2001

Bell tolls on last sake class

NIIGATA -- Yoshikawa High School in Niigata Prefecture is the only high school left that teaches students how to brew sake. But the current class will be the last to learn this ancient art.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2001

Obituaries: Chieko Hara / Edoya Nekohachi III

Chieko Hara, a pioneer Japanese pianist who performed throughout Europe, died of old age at a suburban Tokyo hospital Sunday, her family said Monday. She was 86.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2001

Mental health challenges remain unmet

NEW YORK -- One aspect not frequently considered of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center tragedy, the anthrax scare, and thousands of people fleeing in terror from Afghanistan is that these events may create or exacerbate mental health problems. Unless they are properly treated, many among those involved...
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2001

Bush praises Japan for war on terrorism

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush praised Japan's cooperation in the campaign against terrorism Friday, the 60th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 9, 2001

And they call it puppy love

H igh on the cuteness scale this week is TBS's "Dobutsu Kiso Tengai (Unbelievable Animals)" (tonight, 8 p.m.), a variety-cum-quiz show that covers animals both wild and domesticated.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 9, 2001

Drivers wary of the troll who collects the toll

With new highway construction suspended and the prime minister pledging to abolish public corporations, the business of the Japan Highway Public Corp. at the moment is anything but business-as-usual. As both the overlord of the nation's vehicle-choked intercity expressways and the troll who collects...
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2001

A first step toward Afghan peace

Afghan factions and the United Nations have managed to sign an agreement stipulating the composition of an interim administration, or Cabinet, to replace the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The official inauguration of the interim administration on Dec. 22 -- after the Ramadan month of fasting ends --...
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2001

Chinese activist expresses delight at refugee status

A Chinese democracy activist who has been granted refugee status expressed his joy Friday at the Justice Ministry's decision, 11 years after he first applied following the Chinese government's crackdown on demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2001

Reduction in state's JT stocks sought

The Finance Ministry said Friday that the mandatory percentage of shares held by the government in Japan Tobacco Inc. should be cut to 50 percent in fiscal 2002 from the current 66.7 percent.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2001

International transition team works out details of global AIDS fund

With a yearend target date approaching, the multibillion-dollar Global AIDS and Health Fund is taking shape through discussions among major countries and international organizations.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 8, 2001

Kazuko Honjo

When she speaks, Kazuko Honjo sets off an avalanche of words. She has ideas and energy, inborn talent and developed skills, insights and understanding. Now that she is taking stock and formulating plans, she has reached, she says, her turning point.
COMMENTARY
Dec 8, 2001

Look of Japan belies reality

LONDON -- A recent, short visit to Japan made me doubt whether there was much sense of an economic crisis threatening Japan's future and how far the recession has affected ordinary people.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2001

Peacekeeping bill clears final panel

A House of Councilors panel approved a bill Thursday to expand the scope of Self-Defense Forces participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 7, 2001

Black mountain ant

* Japanese name:Kuroyama-ari * Scientific name:Formica japonica * Description: Like all ants, the black mountain ant has three clearly defined body parts: a capsulelike head with strong jaws; a thorax to which the three pairs of legs are joined; and an abdomen. There are also three different types,...
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 6, 2001

Soft touch advised with unruly fans

The key to controlling English soccer fans at the World Cup will be to understand the cultural differences in behavior of fans from different countries and to not put too much pressure on the English fans, an English security expert said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2001

Mad cow probe turns to fish in cattle-feed mix

Livestock farmers widely gave cows a type of feed made from a mixture of powdered fish meal and meat-and-bone meal until the government prohibited the use of meat-and-bone meal in September because of its suspected link to mad cow disease, industry sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2001

Revised code limits liability of executives

The Commercial Code was revised Wednesday to make it easier for firms to limit the damages corporate executives must pay in lawsuits brought by shareholders.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Dec 6, 2001

Bush scores high leadership marks

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush continues to enjoy the support of the American people for his prosecution of the war against terrorism. His job rating on the war effort remains just under 90 percent, where it has been since it all began. The military successes in Afghanistan have quelled concerns...
COMMENTARY
Dec 6, 2001

Taiwan's Lee 'flexes strength'

TAIPEI -- "The KMT is still the biggest opposition party in the legislature." With these words, Kuomintang party chairman Lien Chan tried, unconvincingly, to put a positive spin on the former ruling party's disastrous showing in last weekend's legislative elections in Taiwan.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2001

Women call on Crown Princess to do it her way

The 37-year-old Crown Princess, who gave birth to a girl Saturday, should be free to raise her child in any manner she sees fit, according to several of her female contemporaries across the country.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2001

Koizumi says he stands by pledge to shift road funds

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday he stands by his pledge to shift national auto tax revenues from road construction to more general usage starting next fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2001

Cabinet approves budget plan modified to please coalition

The Cabinet has endorsed guidelines for the fiscal 2002 budget, in which a 30 trillion yen cap on new government bonds for that year forms the centerpiece of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms.
LIFE / Travel / FLOWER WALK
Dec 6, 2001

Stroll under pines where shoguns took their ease

Pines belong to the traditional Japanese landscape, as olive trees belong to the Mediterranean.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2001

Forests eyed for bulk of greenhouse cuts

The government is intent on achieving nearly two-thirds of the greenhouse gas cuts it has pledged under a U.N. climate accord by using the carbon dioxide-absorbing properties of the nation's forests, The Japan Times learned Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 5, 2001

Koizumi and LDP square off

With the government's decision to scrap or privatize seven key public corporations, including four highway corporations, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has cleared a major hurdle on the road to "structural reform with no sanctuary." Now his battle against the "resistance forces" -- the old guard of...

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