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JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

How long must the guilty wait to hang?

Sentenced to death for killing a farmer to claim an insurance payout in 1963, Tsuneki Tomiyama played his last card in early December when he and his support group filed a clemency plea.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Housing starts collapse to 19-year low

Housing starts fell 1.9 percent in 2002 to 1,151,016, the lowest figure in 19 years, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Public pension benefits to be cut by 0.9%

The government will cut public pension benefits by 0.9 percent in fiscal 2003 to reflect the same rate of decline in consumer prices in 2002, officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

Government appeals ruling on Monju nuclear reactor

The government appealed on Friday a ruling by the Nagoya High Court nullifying its approval for construction of the trouble-plagued Monju experimental nuclear reactor, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Bond buying spree expected to continue

The recent buying spree of Japanese government bonds that has pushed the key long-term interest rate to a record low will continue for at least several months, as an end to the deflationary trend is nowhere in sight, economists and analysts say.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Jobless rate returns to 5.5%

A drain on retail and restaurant jobs that hit women particularly hard pushed the unemployment rate in December back up to a record 5.5 percent for the third time in a year.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

U.S. Navy inks deal with kin of Ehime Maru dead

The families of two of the nine people who died in the sinking of the high school fisheries training ship Ehime Maru by a U.S. submarine in a collision off Hawaii two years ago signed a settlement with the U.S. Navy in Tokyo on Friday.
SUMO
Feb 1, 2003

Asashoryu officially becomes sumo's 68th yokozuna

Mongolian sumo wrestler Asashoryu was formally inducted as the sport's 68th yokozuna on Friday, performing the "dohyo-iri" ring-purification ritual at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Feb 1, 2003

New course track takes aim at language barrier

KYOTO -- The term "internationalization" has come into everyday use in the last decade, but Japanese people still face language barriers when it comes to implementing the concept behind the word.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 1, 2003

Need a guide to Japan's flea markets? Here it is

Rather, here he is: Theodore Manning, whose book "Flea Markets of Japan: A Pocket Guide for Antique Buyers" was published last month. He no longer lives here, having returned last year to America after a 10-year stretch, so I call him in his new home base of Chicago and we talk by phone.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Feb 1, 2003

Crystal Skulls: 'hatsumode' for the groove generation; Yokosuka joins the party

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- We plowed our way into the mass of humanity packing the Makuhari Messe event hall moments after the cheers rose to ring in the new year.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

Over half of nation's cities plan to merge

Most of Japan's cities, towns and villages have set up or plan to set up consultative panels with likely partners to examine the possibilities of mergers, according to the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications.
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2003

Changing Pyongyang's ways

The response to my Jan. 10 article "Pyongyang is the real victim," which blames the United States for its mishandling of the North Korean nuclear problem, tells me two things: First, Japan Times articles are followed abroad much more widely than I realized; second, many believe firmly in the incorrigibly...
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Shiokawa happy with increase in unemployment

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, who has a history of putting his foot in his mouth, blundered again Friday by stating that the unemployment rate's rise to a record 5.5 percent in December was "good news."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 1, 2003

Would you send a poor fly to the U.S.?

I walked into the dentist office, and sitting at the table was "Dude." Dude is a 22-year-old dental technician who wears black concert T-shirts under his lab coat. He also wears an earring and a black leather bracelet with silver studs. I know Dude because he dropped out of my "Dental English" class...
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Panel to discuss how to shift funds

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday that the Finance Ministry and a key policy-setting council will establish a joint panel tasked with promoting a shift of funds from the public to the private sector.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

Kawaguchi criticizes Iraq over violations

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi condemned Iraq on Friday for failing for more than a decade to carry out its obligations under United Nations resolutions, and urged Baghdad to clear suspicions over its possession of weapons of mass destruction.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

Ibaraki wants North Korea to shift ship, pay up

The Ibaraki Prefectural Government on Friday called on the Foreign Ministry to negotiate with Pyongyang over the removal of a North Korean freighter that ran aground near Hitachi port in December.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Honda saw record sales, profits in third quarter

Honda Motor Co. reported record sales and record profits on a consolidated basis for the October-December period, thanks to thriving car sales in overseas markets, company officials said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

Burst water pipe floods streets in central Osaka

OSAKA -- A water pipe burst under an intersection in the Nakanoshima district of Kita Ward here on Friday morning, flooding streets and forcing the area to temporarily shut down, according to local police.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PREFECTURAL FARE
Feb 1, 2003

Hiroshima's long-neglected cuisine brought to the fore at Shinjuku store

Hiroshima Prefecture's natural beauty and abundance of marine life are almost always upstaged by the tragedy that befell its capital in 1945.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Economy top priority: Koizumi

Admitting that the Japanese economy is struggling to find a way out of the recession, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made clear Friday that reviving the economy will be his top priority for this year, declaring he will take "all available policy measures" to fight deflation.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell