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Canon Chairman Mitarai to return as president

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2009, shows Canon Inc. Chairman Fujio Mitarai. Canon said Jan. 30, 2012, that the 76-year-old Mitarai, who was president of the company from 1995 to 2006, will return as president on March 29 to help it achieve its targets through 2015 amid uncertain business prospects stemming from the eurozone debt crisis.

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Kim Jong Un visit

BEIJING, China - This photo printed in the Dec. 22, 2010 edition of the Rodong Sinmun shows a sign at a factory in North Korea's Chagang Province indicating the country's leader-in-waiting visited there together with Kim Jong Il. The sign reads, ''A production facility visited by the venerable comrade Kim Jong Un on May 9, 2009.''

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'Steed' recycled bags prove hit at online market

OTSU, Japan - Members of the welfare facility Biwako Miminosato show off bags they crafted by hand from used saddle cloths of racing horses in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2009. Sold under the brand name Steed, the bags have proven so popular that many online shoppers have found themselves on a waiting list for the items.

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Kitajima ends year on high with a win

LONG BEACH, United States - Two-time double Olympic breaststroke champion Kosuke Kitajima of Japan (C) poses with participants in the California-Nevada Winter Championship at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, California, on Dec. 22, 2009, after winning the 100 yards breaststroke in 52.73 seconds at the short-course.

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Sato, Nixon talk in Washington in 1969

TOKYO, Japan - This Nov. 19, 1969 file photo shows then Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato (L) and U.S. President Richard Nixon meeting at the White House. Sato's son said Dec. 22, 2009 that a document signed by Sato and Nixon on a secret bilateral security pact has been preserved.

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Taiwan, China set stage for partial FTA

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - Chiang Pin-kung (R), Taiwan's top envoy to China, and his Chinese counterpart Chen Yunlin shake hands after exchanging a document containing three trade accords in Taichung, Taiwan, on Dec. 22, 2009. Chiang, who heads the Straits Exchange Foundation, and Chen, who heads the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, reached the agreements setting the stage for a landmark partial free trade pact.

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Taiwan, China set stage for partial FTA

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - Chiang Pin-kung (R), Taiwan's top envoy to China, and his Chinese counterpart Chen Yunlin raise their glasses after exchanging a document containing three trade accords in Taichung, Taiwan, on Dec. 22, 2009. Chiang, who heads the Straits Exchange Foundation, and Chen, who heads the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, reached the agreements setting the stage for a landmark partial free trade pact.

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Nagoya to cut local income tax by 10%

NAGOYA, Japan - Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura salutes citizens in the city's assembly room on Dec. 22, 2009, after the assembly enacts an ordinance sponsored by the outspoken leader to cut local taxes by 10 percent in fiscal 2010. Nagoya and Handa, both in Aichi Prefecture, are the first cities to pass ordinances for cuts in local income tax in the next fiscal year starting April.

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Taiwan, China set stage for partial FTA

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - Chiang Pin-kung (C, R), Taiwan's top envoy to China, and his Chinese counterpart Chen Yunlin shake hands after exchanging a document containing three trade accords in Taichung, Taiwan, on Dec. 22, 2009. Chiang, who heads the Straits Exchange Foundation, and Chen, who heads the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, reached the agreements setting the stage for a landmark partial free trade pact.

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Hatoyama, Fujii OK outline of tax reforms

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (R) shakes hands with Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii after being handed a report by a governmental tax panel at the premier's office in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2009. The Cabinet approved an outline of tax reforms the same day as part of the drafting process for the fiscal 2010 budget.

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Hatoyama, Kamei chat before Cabinet meeting

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (R) and Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei chat before a Cabinet meeting at the premier's office in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2009. The Cabinet approved an outline of tax reforms the same day as part of the drafting process for the fiscal 2010 budget.

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Japan bar hostesses form labor union

TOKYO, Japan - A former bar hostess (R), who uses the alias Rin Sakurai, attends a press conference at the labor ministry in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2009. Sakurai and around 10 other former bar hostesses formed a labor union the same day calling for better working conditions.

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Takahashi in motion on comeback to Hiroshima

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Veteran left-hander Ken Takahashi shows off his pitching form on the mound of Mazda Stadium in Hiroshima on Dec. 22, 2009. Takahashi, who was released by the New York Mets at the end of the 2009 season, rejoined the Hiroshima Carp.

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Tani re-signs with Yomiuri for 240 mil. yen

TOKYO, Japan - Yomiuri Giants outfielder Yoshitomo Tani speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2009, after re-signing with the Japan Series champion baseball club on a one-year deal for 240 million yen, up 20 million yen from 2009.

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Spanish man given 100-km walker certificate in Japan

TAKAMATSU, Japan - Ivan Cuello Guillemes (L) and his wife Maria Garcia Marques, both wearing traditional-style Japanese hats, show their certificates after walking a 100-kilometer route on the 88-spot Buddhism ''ohenro'' tour in Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture, western Japan, on Dec. 22, 2009.

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Panasonic completes new plasma panel plant in Amagasaki

OSAKA, Japan - Reporters and photographers visit Panasonic Corp.'s new plasma display panel plant in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2009. Panasonic held a ceremony to mark the completion of its third Amagasaki plant, which is capable of producing the world's largest plasma display panels measuring 330 cm by 190 cm.

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Gov't adopts action plan against human trafficking

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama speaks during a meeting of Cabinet members on crime control at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2009. The meeting adopted an action plan to prevent human trafficking and also decided to set up a working team to tackle child pornography.

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Taiwan, China set stage for partial free trade agreement

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - Chiang Pin-kung, Taiwan's top envoy to China and the head of Taipei's Straits Exchange Foundation, attend talks on Taiwan-China economic cooperation on Dec. 22, 2009, in Taichung, Taiwan. Chiang held talks with his Chinese counterpart Chen Yunlin as part of a new round of negotiations that have set the stage for a partial free trade agreement between the two sides.

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Taiwan, China set stage for partial free trade agreement

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - Chen Yunlin, China's top envoy to Taiwan and the head of Beijing's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, attend talks on Taiwan-China economic cooperation on Dec. 22, 2009, in Taichung, Taiwan. Chen held talks with his Taiwanese counterpart, Chiang Pin-kung, as part of a new round of negotiations that have set the stage for a partial free trade agreement between the two sides.

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Panasonic completes new plasma panel plant in Amagasaki

OSAKA, Japan - This photo, taken on Dec. 19, 2009, shows Panasonic Corp.'s new plasma display panel plant (front) in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. A ceremony of completion for the company's third Amagasaki plant, which is capable of producing the world's largest PDPs, measuring 330 cm by 190 cm, was held on Dec. 22, 2009.

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Taiwan, China top envoys meet

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - Chiang Pin-kung (R), Taiwan's top envoy to China and the head of Taipei's Straits Exchange Foundation, and Chen Yunlin, China's top envoy to Taiwan and the head of Beijing's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, shake hands during a meeting on economic cooperation on Dec. 22, 2009, in Taichung, Taiwan.

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Winter solstice sunrise off Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - The sun rises over Minamitori Island far off Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2009. The stone reads: the easternmost Japanese island of Minamitori.

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Winter solstice sunrise off Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - People watch the sun rising on the winter solstice on the easternmost Japanese island of Minamitori far off Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2009.

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Santa Claus coming to Japan

NARITA, Japan - Santa Claus waves on arriving at Japan's Narita airport, east of Tokyo, from Finland on Nov. 22, 2009. Santa Claus will take part in Christmas events in Japan during his tour through Dec. 24, and give gifts to children at nurseries and kindergartens.

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Santa Claus coming to Japan

NARITA, Japan - Santa Claus waves on arriving at Japan's Narita airport, east of Tokyo, from Finland on Nov. 22, 2009. Santa Claus will take part in Christmas events in Japan during his tour through Dec. 24, and give gifts to children at nurseries and kindergartens.