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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2003

Composer Joji Yuasa awarded Otaka Prize

Veteran composer Joji Yuasa has received the 51st Otaka Prize, which is presented to Japanese composers in recognition of outstanding orchestral pieces.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2003

Food freshness labels to be unified

Study panels set up by the agriculture and health ministries agreed at a joint meeting Tuesday to unify freshness labels on food products to avoid confusing consumers, government officials said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Feb 19, 2003

Mary Lorson and Billy Cote: "Piano Creeps"

Aside from a newborn and an overlooked body of work, Mary Lorson and Billy Cote share a passion for film. After their band, Madder Rose, died from a bad case of under-appreciation in 1999, they began to compose music for motion pictures whenever they weren't wandering through each other's solo efforts....
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2003

Police arrest six over deadly Kabukicho fire

Six people were arrested Tuesday for alleged professional negligence in connection with a fire that claimed 44 lives in an unsafe building in Tokyo's Kabukicho nightlife district in 2001.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2003

Bandai to adopt holding firm system

Toy maker Bandai Co. said Tuesday it will adopt a holding company structure by March 2006 as part of a new three-year business plan that will be implemented in April.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2003

I am what I play -- live

Internationally acclaimed DJ Karsh Kale has spent the last three months carrying a laptop loaded with ProTools recording and editing software through the chaos and inspiration that is India. Relishing both the miracles of technology and the wonders of the ancient, Kale stopped in Madras, Delhi and Bombay,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 19, 2003

Celebrating kabuki's 400th birthday in style

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of the birth of kabuki, this month the Kabukiza in Ginza offers "Yoshitsune Senbonzakura (Yoshitsune and 1,000 Cherry Trees)" in its entirety. Performed by an excellent cast, the program runs for eight hours.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2003

Iwama to head Sapporo holding firm

Tatsushi Iwama, 63, president of Sapporo Breweries Ltd., will head a new holding company, tentatively called Sapporo Holdings Inc., to start up July 1, company officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2003

Showa Shell profits increase

Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. chalked up a consolidated net profit of 18.67 billion yen in the business year that ended in December, up sharply from the previous year's 2.61 billion yen.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2003

Fukuda calls for calm after Pyongyang threat

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda called for calm Tuesday following North Korea's threat to abandon the Korean War armistice if the United States imposes sanctions on it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2003

A new home for world-class art

With the opening of "The Romantic Tradition in British Painting, 1800-1950," The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art seems set to take its place as an art institution of international standing.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2003

Tokyo Sowa execs guilty of fraud

Five former executives of bankrupt Tokyo Sowa Bank were found guilty Tuesday of falsely making it appear the bank had adequate capital reserves through a bogus capital increase scheme worth 18.9 billion yen.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2003

Businesses told of fossil fuel tax plan

Environment Minister Shunichi Suzuki on Tuesday officially told the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) of the ministry's plans to introduce a tax on fossil fuels that generate greenhouse gases.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2003

North Koreans enter Japanese school in China

Four asylum seekers from North Korea entered a Japanese school in Beijing on Tuesday, officials in Japan said, confirming earlier reports out of the Chinese capital.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2003

Agency admits errors in reactor inspections

The government's nuclear inspections agency admitted Tuesday it failed to identify cracks in the core shroud of the Hamaoka No. 4 reactor operated by Chubu Electric Power Co., even though it detected telltale signs in 2001.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2003

When utopia went to hell

Although the 1920s and early 1930s were turbulent years indeed in the new Soviet Union forged out of 1917's October Revolution, despite civil war, famine, purges and mass deportations, many still clung to the dream of a workers' paradise promised by the revolutionaries who overthrew the Czarist regime....
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2003

ISPs see a drop in number of dial-up subscribers

Most of Japan's major Internet service providers are starting to see a leveling off in the growth in the number of subscribers to their services.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2003

Stylish somethings for the boys of Edo

Accessories used to adorn men's clothing in the Edo Period (1603-1867) are currently showing in an exhibition at the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, titled "Tsuba, Inro and Netsuke."
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2003

Heed the voice of the people

Last weekend, more than 6 million people demonstrated worldwide, pleading for peace and protesting U.S. plans to wage war against Iraq. The demonstrations, the largest since the Vietnam War, are proof that U.S. President George W. Bush has not convinced the world that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein poses...
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2003

Aid for workers of Japanese ancestry

The labor ministry plans to strengthen support for foreign workers of Japanese ancestry to help them find jobs and better settle in the country, ministry officials said Monday.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2003

Failures down in January but liabilities rose

The number of corporate bankruptcies fell 11.4 percent in January from a year earlier, but liabilities left behind rose 14.2 percent to 1.22 trillion yen, the largest January figure in the postwar period, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Monday.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2003

Iraq is expected on G7's agenda

Finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of Seven industrialized countries may discuss how a U.S.-led attack on Iraq could affect the world economy when they get together Friday in Paris, according to the government's chief spokesman.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 18, 2003

Japan to face Portugal

Japan to face Portugal Japan will likely play EURO 2004 host Portugal at home in June and away in October as a part of its build-up program under national team coach Zico, the Japan Football Association announced Monday in Tokyo.
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.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2003

Kyowa Hakko sets up U.S. unit

Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., a Japanese biotechnology and pharmaceutical company, announced Monday the creation of a new unit in the United States to develop and market monoclonal antibodies and other biological technologies and businesses.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2003

Koizumi attacks global antiwar rallies

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday condemned rallies staged worldwide over the weekend against a threatened U.S.-led attack on Iraq, saying they could send the wrong message to Baghdad.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2003

U.S. firm to buy up Nippon Conlux

Mars Inc., a leading U.S. maker of automated payment systems for vending machines, will buy all the shares of Nippon Conlux Co., a major Japanese producer of coin mechanisms and note validators, through a tender offer from Tuesday to March 13, company officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2003

236 sue over visits to Yasukuni

OSAKA -- A group of 236 people, including 124 Taiwanese, filed a lawsuit Monday seeking 2.36 million yen in damages over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's controversial visit to Yasukuni Shrine in January.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2003

Asao confirms he will not run race on LDP ticket

Keiichiro Asao, a House of Councilors member of the Democratic Party of Japan, said Monday he will not run for governor of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji