The Asahi Shimbun recognizes that privacy is a matter that should be taken seriously.  This is why The Asahi Shimbun has formulated the following policies concerning the handling of personal information and adheres to these policies in its actions. 

1) This site will not collect personal information without the permission of the user.  Users may voluntarily provide personal information for the express purpose of enhancing/improving existing services and developing new services, when so stated in advance.  The Asahi Shimbun will not use the gathered personal information for any other usage. 

2) The Asahi Shimbun will not, without the agreement of the user, transfer personal information other than the results of statistical processing to third parties. 

3) This site will manage personal information provided by users under the strict control of supervisors. 

4) When personal information is provided by a user, notifications of new information on services may be sent to the user by The Asahi Shimbun or its business associates.  If the user wishes to be removed from the mailing list for such notifications, the user should send a request for removal to The Asahi Shimbun or its business associates and the user will be removed from the list. 

  This site contains links to other sites.  The Asahi Shimbun is not responsible for any collection of personal information or the use thereof made by the linked sites.  If you have any questions about how linked sites and advertisers handle personal information, please contact those sites directly. 

  The contents of this privacy policy may change in keeping with changes in service and technological trends. 

(Revised April 1, 2001)

Details of the Handling of Personal Information

  Use of Personal Information

If the user registers personal information, the use thereof will be clearly stated.  Information gathered will in principle be used within the scope indicated in advance to the user at the time the information was collected and will not be used for other purposes.  The Asahi Shimbun may, in some cases, send announcements to the registered e-mail address of the user. 

  Use of Personal Information for Statistical Purposes

Users of this site may freely view most pages without registering name, address, age, occupation, and other personal information.  This site will not collect the users' e-mail addresses or other personal information that identifies individuals without the permission of the users. 

The Asahi Shimbun will record the IP address of the terminal of users who visit this site.  These records, classified by domain name, will be analyzed to uncover trends in user composition and usage.  The results will be used to provide attractive content better suited to user needs.  However, The Asahi Shimbun will not track the access status of individually identifiable persons and raw personal information will not be provided as such to third parties without the agreement of the supplier of such personal information. 

  Management of Information by The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun will manage the individually identifiable personal information it gathers under the strict control of supervisors and will undertake measures to block leaks of data by preventing unauthorized access by external parties. 

Cookies

A cookie is a small, encrypted file (data string) written by a website server to the site user's hard drive.  It is a method of verifying user identity.  This website may make limited use of cookies to handle user registration with respect to site use, to manage services that require a subscription contract, and to develop new services.  It is possible to check whether the preferences of your browser are set to accept or reject cookies. 

The Asahi Shimbun is not responsible for the use that linked sites may make of cookies.  Either set your browser to your preferences for accepting or declining cookies, or check with each linked site. 

Copyright

Ownership of Copyright

Copyrights to the text and graphic content of this website including articles, photos, and illustrations are the property of The Asahi Shimbun or its content suppliers.  This information/data may not be reprinted, copied, broadcast, communicated publicly, translated, sold, lent, or used in other ways without the permission of The Asahi Shimbun, with the exception of instances of private use and citations recognized under copyright law.  When the owner of the copyright is an entity other than The Asahi Shimbun, the permission of that entity is also necessary.  In addition, copyright issues may arise in the case of excerpts and summaries of articles. 

Citations

"Citations," as recognized by copyright law, refers to the use of articles within the bounds of fair use for certain proper purposes, including the use of citations in reporting and research.  The scope of fair use requires that the citations name the source and comply with the following three conditions -- 1) there must be a need to use the citation from the copyrighted item within the scope of fair use, 2) in terms of quality and quantity, the user of the citation and the cited portion must stand in a "main" vs.  "subsidiary" relationship, and 3) there should be a clear distinction between the original text and the citation. 

  Trademarks

The names of real products and companies mentioned on this site are the property of the owner of the trademark or registered trademark. 

  Content

The Asahi Shimbun does not warranty in any way the content of the information, including software, documents, and other materials, carried by this website.  The Asahi Shimbun does not accept any responsibility for errors in the information nor does The Asahi Shimbun accept any responsibility for problems or losses that may ensue from the use of the information.  Please understand in advance that the information on this site may be changed or terminated at any time without prior notice. 

  Revision of Usage Conditions

The Asahi Shimbun may revise the conditions of use by changing the content of this website without prior notice.  In connection with the use of this website, customers are requested to regularly visit this page to check the latest conditions of use. 

  Software at This Site That Can Be Used

Copyrights to the software that can be downloaded from this site are the property of The Asahi Shimbun or its suppliers.  The use of such software by the users is subject to the provisions of the attached document entitled "Conditional Permission of Use." The users may not install or use such software without initially agreeing to all of the conditions of the "License" covering such software in accordance with the "Conditional Permission of Use."