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JAPAN

Oct 20, 1997

Foreign students bring new life to traditional dances

By Mick Corliss

Staff writerKimono-clad Ang Chooi Kean floats gracefully along, accompanied by 1,400 years of Japanese tradition. Performing the "kokiriko," a traditional Japanese dance, the Malaysia native, 5,300 km from home, seems an unlikely candidate to be preserving and spreading Japan's ancient arts.Ang is one...

JAPAN

Oct 20, 1997

Carmakers hope drivers rally to environment-friendly push

By Sayuri Daimon

Staff writerAutomakers have long tried to impress customers with design and driving performance, but now they are paying homage to the latest in added values: environmentally friendly technology.Stranded by lackluster domestic demand, automakers are hoping to stimulate sales by displaying a number of...

JAPAN

Oct 20, 1997

Canada plans to enliven APEC with infrastructure center

By Hisane Masaki

Staff writerThe Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will agree next month to establish a center to promote private-sector investment in public infrastructure projects of the group's developing economies, according to government officials.The agreement will be made at the ninth annual talks of the...

JAPAN

Oct 20, 1997

Brief slump, then recovery will resume, BOJ chief says

The economy will regain its recovery pace after a temporary slowdown, Bank of Japan Gov. Yasuo Matsushita said Oct. 20.Presenting the central bank's half-year assessment of the economy during a two-day meeting of BOJ branch managers at the bank's head office in Tokyo, Matsushita said export and fixed...

JAPAN

Oct 20, 1997

Hashimoto hints at ditching reform proposals

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto indicated Oct. 20 that to accommodate demands from the Liberal Democratic Party, he may sacrifice some of the streamlining proposals suggested in an interim report drafted last month by a blue-ribbon government panel, which he heads.During the first meeting of a House...

JAPAN

Oct 17, 1997

U.S. congressman urges more help for Pyongyang

Food aid by the international community is helping avert a disaster in North Korea, but the famine-threatened communist country needs more food and medicine, U.S. Congressman Tony Hall said Oct. 17 in Tokyo.

JAPAN

Oct 17, 1997

Finance execs' fear of 'sokaiya' may have been physical

Fear of physical danger to management and employees from a corporate extortionist, rather than possible chaos at stockholders' meetings, must have played a bigger role in driving corporate executives to engage in illegal payoff scandals, the reform-minded head of the Nomura Securities Co. said Oct....

JAPAN

Oct 17, 1997

Poverty forum suggests Japan refocus ODA strategy

Speakers at a poverty and development symposium raised calls Oct. 17 for Japan to reorient its official development assistance to facilitate human development toward eradicating poverty.The Open Symposium on Poverty Eradication and Human Development, held at the United Nations University in Tokyo, featured...

JAPAN

Oct 17, 1997

Ministers set to cooperate at COP3 in Kyoto

Four ministers involved in the upcoming international conference on global warming agreed Oct. 17 that they will cooperate closely with each other to make the meeting successful.Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said that he and the heads of the Environment Agency and foreign and trade ministries...

JAPAN

Oct 17, 1997

Industrial output fell 3% in August

Industrial output in August dropped 3 percent from the previous month, a downward revision from a preliminary decrease of 2.2 percent, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said in a report released Oct. 17.The production index for the nation's mines and factories, which takes 1990 as a base...

JAPAN

Oct 17, 1997

Pitfalls seen in plan to reduce JNR debts

Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka announced Oct. 17 his opposition to the idea of issuing special bonds with tax benefits to help dispose of the huge debts left behind by the Japanese National Railways.Mitsuzuka said a bond-issue would run counter to the principle of fairness in taxation. Taxes needed...

JAPAN

Oct 17, 1997

Bulgarian president to visit Nov. 16

Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov is scheduled to visit Japan from Nov. 16 to 20 as a state guest to discuss bilateral and international issues with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, Foreign Ministry officials said Oct. 17.The visit is intended to help strengthen relations between the two nations,...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.

What comes after 100?

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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