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JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Politicians rethinking reliance on vote-gathering machinery

Staff writer It is election year in Japan again. About half of the seats in the Upper House will be up for grabs in the triennial election in July, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election -- often seen as an indicator of voting trends in national polls -- is expected in June.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Politicians rethinking reliance on vote-gathering machinery

Staff writer It is election year in Japan again. About half of the seats in the Upper House will be up for grabs in the triennial election in July, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election -- often seen as an indicator of voting trends in national polls -- is expected in June.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 14, 2001

Tokyo team plans memorial game

Local rugby team the Tokyo Crusaders will play a pair of memorial matches on March 4 for former player Gareth MacFadyen of New Zealand, who died late last year at the age of 24.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Minamata victims lose appeal

The No. 3 Petty Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by a group of Minamata mercury-poisoning victims and relatives of deceased victims who had accused the state and Kumamoto Prefecture of taking too long to provide them with recognition and benefits.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Minamata victims lose appeal

The No. 3 Petty Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by a group of Minamata mercury-poisoning victims and relatives of deceased victims who had accused the state and Kumamoto Prefecture of taking too long to provide them with recognition and benefits.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 12, 2001

Into the heart of darkness

What is it about deeply rural places and deeply strange religion and sex? In the United States, one has the stereotype of the hills of Appalachia as refuges for snake-handling preachers and cousin-marrying hillbillies. In Japan, one has the mountains of Shikoku in Masato Harada's "Inugami," where ancient...
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

4.4-magnitude quake rocks west

An earthquake measuring 4.4 in magnitude jolted a wide area of western Japan on Sunday morning, the Meteorological Agency said. No damage or injuries were reported immediately.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2001

Hints of thaw in Indo-Pakistani relations

ISLAMABAD -- When Pakistani military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke on the phone for a few minutes after the devastating earthquake that hit parts of India recently, many observers were relieved.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

LDP should return 'fees' from KSD affiliate: Kanzaki

The Liberal Democratic Party should return the money provided to it under the guise of party membership fees by an affiliate of the scandal-tainted industrial mutual aid organization KSD, the leader of the LDP's key coalition partner said Sunday.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

Police determine body found in cave to be Blackman's

Police have confirmed that the remains discovered Friday in a cave in Kanagawa Prefecture are those of Lucie Blackman, the 21-year-old British hostess who went missing last July.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2001

Give power to the people

The newly reorganized government ministries and agencies began operating Jan. 6. The administration of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, however, seems to be oblivious to the purpose of the reform.
EDITORIALS
Feb 12, 2001

A nation without a road map

The primary task of the ongoing ordinary Diet session is to present a credible picture of future Japan, a blueprint for the structural reforms needed to rebuild the nation. Plenary debates were held in both houses of the Diet earlier last week, followed by committee-level debates during the rest of the...
COMMENTARY
Feb 12, 2001

Destroying a fragile trust

In the semirural area near Tokyo where I and some others spend weekends, we have just suffered our first break-ins. Nothing serious. Someone, probably delinquent kids, going through unlocked parked cars looking for loose items. Far more interesting is why we have been able to leave our houses and cars...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2001

U.S. needs allies, not deputy sheriffs

Comments by new U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell have stirred some controversy in Australia. During his confirmation hearings, Powell said that the United States would let Australia take the lead in Indonesia, "as they have done so well in that troubled country." Critics saw this as evidence that...
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

Mori urges U.S. to raise Ehime Maru

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori urged the United States on Sunday to salvage the Japanese ship that sank after being hit by a U.S. nuclear submarine off Hawaii on Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

Mori urges U.S. to raise Ehime Maru

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori urged the United States on Sunday to salvage the Japanese ship that sank after being hit by a U.S. nuclear submarine off Hawaii on Friday.

Longform

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