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BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2002

Toyota workers ask for less

The labor unions of the manufacturing firms in the Toyota Motor group submitted demands to management Wednesday seeking lower monthly pay hikes than they sought during spring wage negotiations last year.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2002

Government says economy is continuing to deteriorate

The economy is continuing to deteriorate, the government said in a monthly report released Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 14, 2002

Call for a 'paradigm shift' to eco-economy

As Japan's economy sputters to a halt, the rest of the world looks on incredulously, wondering if this nation is up to the task of an overhaul.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2002

Ex-Chogin boss delays entering plea

A former head of the defunct Chogin Tokyo Credit Union postponed entering a plea Wednesday to charges of embezzling 837 million yen but pleaded guilty to obstructing an inspection of the credit union's books.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2002

January beer shipments down 2.2%

Shipments of beer and "happoshu" -- a low-malt, beer-like sparkling liquor -- fell 2.2 percent in January from a year before to 360,539 kiloliters, according to data released Wednesday by Japan's five top brewers.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2002

Mitsui firms buy rights to Omani oil concession

Mitsui & Co. and Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. said Wednesday they have agreed with Finnish energy company Fortum Oyj to acquire its subsidiary for about 20 billion yen to obtain concession rights in Oman's second-largest oil field.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2002

Antideflation steps to be devised

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday formally instructed his Cabinet ministers in charge of the economy to compile a comprehensive package of antideflation measures, following the launch Tuesday of such discussions by a key government policy panel.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2002

Moody's eyeballs Japan for two-notch downgrade

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Wednesday it will review for possible downgrade the Aa3 rating of yen-denominated domestic securities issued or guaranteed by the Japanese government.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Feb 14, 2002

Art appreciation as commodity fetishism

For the next three months, the Tokyo Opera City Gallery is devoting its large exhibition space to "JAM: Tokyo-London." Born of a cross-cultural happening in England in 1996, this second installment of JAM focuses on art, fashion and music. Premiered at the Barbican Gallery in London last summer and now...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Feb 14, 2002

Utah host to more than Olympics

With the 2002 Winter Olympics happening in Salt Lake City, the world will recognize that Utah is America's greatest mecca for skiing. But Utah is also an exporter of video games.
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
Feb 14, 2002

Lawmakers' views of past still plague relations

An education ministry panel's approval last April of a history textbook, which critics denounced as attempting to glorify Japan's wartime past, drew a quick response from South Korean politicians.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2002

Aioi expects greater loss after terror attacks

Aioi Insurance Co. will likely incur a loss of 126.1 billion yen from reinsurance claims on its U.S. agent in the fiscal year to March 31, or 28.2 billion yen more than it expected.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2002

North Korea: signs of trouble but no evil

CAMBRIDGE, England -- I have just returned from a week visit to North Korea, one of the countries on U.S. President George W. Bush's "axis of evil." I was one of three British academics running a workshop under a new technical assistance program inaugurated when the two countries opened diplomatic relations...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Feb 14, 2002

Take time to savor Ryoanji's splendors

The stone garden at Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto is perhaps the most famous of all Japanese gardens, and in 1994 it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 14, 2002

Of arms races and sex battles

On Valentine's Day, what better subject to tackle than sex? Well, maybe love, but that's not what gets evolutionary biologists all hot and bothered. Sex is where it's at -- the battle between the sexes. Males and females interact like two superpowers engaged in an arms race -- each escalation in arms...
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2002

Kinden Corp. penalized over evaded taxes

OSAKA -- Electrical contractor Kinden Corp. failed to declare about 900 million yen in corporate income in the three business years to March 31, 2000, and has been ordered to pay 300 million yen in back taxes and penalties, industry sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2002

Refiners face crackdown on sulfur in diesel and gas

The industry ministry plans to cut the legally allowable density of sulfur in diesel oil to one-fiftieth of the current limit around fiscal 2008, ministry officials said.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Feb 14, 2002

Investors must beware the tides of March

The specter of hard times toward the March end of the business year looms large.
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2002

Reading between the lines

According to the financial mandarins of the Group of Seven, the global economy has turned the corner. Despite recession in Japan and the United States, the world's leading economies, and the shock created by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the international outlook has improved. The statement released...
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2002

Prosecutors seek death for Aum's sarin maker

Prosecutors demanded the death sentence Tuesday for a former senior member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult charged with murder, including the deaths resulting from the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2002

Imperial Couple to visit Poland and Hungary in July

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will make a two-week official goodwill visit to Poland and Hungary in July, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday.

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