P.M. BRIEFING : Tobacco, Liquor Moguls Honored
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<i> From Times wire services</i>
TOKYO — Emperor Akihito conferred one of the nation’s highest honors today on the leaders of Japan’s tobacco and liquor industries.
Akihito gave the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure to Kazuo Iwata, 79, chairman of Japan Tobacco Inc., the nation’s monopoly tobacco company, and Keizo Saji, 70, president of Suntory Ltd., the nation’s second-largest brewery of beer and whiskey.
A government spokesman said the award was meant not as a tribute to smoking and drinking, but as a recognition of the men’s contribution to Japan’s prosperity.
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