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Japan Times
JAPAN / WORKING IT OUT
Feb 6, 2002

Middle-aged job seekers facing age discrimination

When Masao Suzuki heard his company was offering an early retirement program that paid out 2.5 times the regular amount, he figured it was time to move on. But first he has to find a new job.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2002

Ibaraki mayor arrested, suspected of bid-rigging

Public prosecutors Tuesday arrested the mayor of Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Prefecture, on suspicion of obstructing a public works tender by leaking information concerning a bid won by Toda Corp.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2002

Vocational aid to be more strict

The prolonged economic slump has, paradoxically, led to flourishing trade at a variety of vocational schools around the country.
OLYMPICS
Feb 6, 2002

Japanese join Olympic excitement

Japanese athletes, including moguls medal hopefuls Aiko Uemura and Tae Satoya, arrived in Salt Lake City on Monday as the excitement heightened prior to the kickoff of the 19th Winter Olympic Games on Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2002

U.S. Pacific Command chief decorated

Adm. Dennis Blair, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, on Tuesday received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun for his contribution to peace and stability in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Snow Brand looks to tieups to survive series of scandals

Snow Brand Milk Products Co. announced Tuesday that it is studying tieups with third party firms to overcome a series of scandals involving its subsidiary Snow Brand Foods Co.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Feb 6, 2002

TSE passing through crucial stage

Investor confidence has plunged to the lowest level in decades amid concerns over bleak economic prospects.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Tokyo stocks plummet to 18-year low

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed at an 18-year low Tuesday as investors fretted over delays in structural reform and a plunge in U.S. stocks.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Honda net profit jumped 73.8% in third quarter

Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday its group net profits in the October-December quarter shot up 73.8 percent from a year earlier to 82.26 billion yen on higher sales and a weaker yen.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 6, 2002

This could be Year of the Homer in PL

At first glance, you might think the new Japanese strike zone will benefit pitchers and be a hindrance to batters this coming season. The zone has been raised more than the diameter of one baseball, but I believe it will be the hitters -- not the hurlers -- who will get the most advantage out of the...
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Key economic index goes bust for entire year

Japan's key economic index came in below 50 percent in December -- its 12th consecutive month under the boom-or-bust line -- as weak consumption and severe unemployment continued to weigh down the economy, the government said Tuesday in a preliminary report.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2002

Failure of DASH release confirmed

The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science confirmed Tuesday that Japan's second successfully launched H-IIA rocket failed to release one of two experimental devices that it was scheduled to put into orbit Monday.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Japan Telecom goes with youth

Japan Telecom Co., in the nation's third-largest telecommunications company, has asked 20 of its younger managers to draw up a reform plan that will include the adoption of a personnel system based more on performance than seniority, the new president of the company said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Feb 6, 2002

'Doing your bit' isn't nearly enough

LONDON -- How to save the world: make sure your car tires are inflated properly. Eh?
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Feb 6, 2002

We've got high expectations

A while back, I was whingeing about how Japan needs a music awards show that has more popular input. Well, the good folks at MTV Japan have done something to help remedy that problem. On May 24, it will host the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards Japan.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Shiokawa says pressure likely at G7

Japan will probably come under pressure to fix its economic problems, including its dismal bad-loan situation, when top financial ministers and officials of the Group of Seven industrial powers gather in Ottawa for a two-day meeting, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 6, 2002

Celebrate the contemporary fusion of form and function

Modern design is as much about the toothbrush as it is about the airplane. It is, after all, the conception and realization of man-made objects. It has been with us since the Industrial Revolution and the dawn of mass production. A well-designed product is one that fulfills its basic function efficiently...
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Nissan to debut 'telematics' service

Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday it is preparing to introduce a "telematics" service that will allow drivers hands-free communication and access to various information by connecting their cell phones to an onboard device.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 6, 2002

From Dakota to Nagoya with a pirouette

Next week will see the great and the good of the ballet world descend on Nagoya for the Fourth Japan International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition. This triennial event, inaugurated in 1993, is unusual among leading international dance competitions in featuring simultaneous classical and modern dance...
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Moody's places ratings of insurers under review

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Tuesday it has put the financial strength ratings of seven Japanese life insurers under review for possible downgrade, citing the weak economy and high incidences of policy surrenders.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 6, 2002

The Japa-Rican Dream

NEW YORK -- From a New Yorker's point of view, young Japanese actor Masayasu Nakanishi definitely has chutzpah. How many other people would go out of their way to flash their dreams and frustrations in public, especially when the defeats equal or outnumber the successes?
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Feb 6, 2002

Color her beautiful

"Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways." So wrote Oscar Wilde in "The Critic as Artist." There are myriad theories on why and how different wavelengths in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum affect us in the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 6, 2002

Impressionist master of time and space

If the world seems like a dark place at the beginning of the present century, an exhibition of work completed at the beginning of the last may help put things back in a more optimistic perspective. "Monet -- Later Works: Homage to Katia Granoff," is on show at the Iwate Museum of Art till Feb. 11 and...
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Bond issuance may soar by fiscal 2005

The Finance Ministry said Tuesday that government bond issuance in fiscal 2005 could soar to 42 trillion yen to finance the state budget if the nation's economic growth remains sluggish.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2002

Transparency in margin-trading eyed

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is poised to tighten its rules on margin trading by demanding that brokerage houses disclose whether their orders are for margin trading or not.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 6, 2002

Diary of a not-so-mad man

"I'm not the Antichrist, I'm not the Iron Man, I'm not the kind of person you really think I am . . . I try to entertain you the best I can, I wish I'd walked before I ran," Ozzy Osbourne sings in "Gets Me Through," the opening track on his new album, "Down to Earth." It is at once a touching thank-you...
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2002

Mr. Bush's battles

American President George W. Bush's first State of the Union address, delivered last week, will be remembered for one striking phrase: his reference to Iraq, Iran and North Korea as "an axis of evil." It is a powerful notion and one that perhaps reveals more than was intended. Yet for all its simplicity,...

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