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JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

Educators seek funds for computerization

The Education Ministry will ask for nearly double its previous share of tax money in fiscal 2000 to put more of the nation's schools online, according to its draft budget request for next year, released Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

'Zaito' for 2000 likely to decline 3.5%

Government-affiliated firms and local governments are expected to request 37.96 trillion yen for the fiscal 2000 investment and loan program, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

Kanzaki sees September start for coalition

The coalition government of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and New Komeito will start as early as late September, New Komeito head Takenori Kanzaki said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

Day laborers slam plans for tent city

OSAKA -- A group of local day laborers slammed the Osaka Municipal Government's plans to erect a tent village to provide evening shelter for the city's growing homeless population, citing insufficient conditions and limited capacity, it was learned Friday.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 1999

The beat keeps getting stronger for music personality Barakan

"Being on the radio was always what I had wanted to do," a sleepy Peter Barakan told me while sitting in the InterFM lobby. It was 11 a.m. on a Sunday. He had just finished his show, "The Barakan Beat," and after offering me coffee, we sat and talked about what brought him to Japan and his success here....
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

Budget requests likely to expand by 2%

Budget requests from government ministries and agencies for fiscal 2000 will total 83.54 trillion yen, 2 percent higher than the initial budget for the current year, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

IOC warns Osaka over bidding conduct

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 1999

Close the business loophole

During the last Diet session, the tripartite alliance of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and New Komeito voted a host of key bills into law on the back of their numerical strength. But not all major bills were cleared. Among them is a measure to ban corporate donations to politicians....
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Sendai hosts biotech, life science talks

A five-day international conference to cover a wide range of topics related to biotechnology and life science will be held in Sendai, starting Sunday, with noted scholars and researchers attending from around the world.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

LDP, Komeito agree to alter defense laws

Policy chiefs of the Liberal Democratic Party and would-be coalition partner New Komeito agreed Thursday that the two parties will push for defense legislation to cope with emergencies within Japan.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

DDI handy-phone firms plan to merge by 2000

DDI Corp.'s nine struggling personal handy-phone system firms plan to merge on January 1, 2000, creating an unprecedented single company to cover the entire nation, company executives announced Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Earthquake concerns Turkish restaurateur

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Transport to seek 1.2 trillion yen for 2000

The Transport Ministry will ask for 1.2 trillion yen in the government's general-account budget for fiscal 2000, up 1.09 percent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year, ministry officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Ward funds residents in suit against cultists

Tokyo's Toshima Ward has extended 3.8 million yen in loans to a group of residents who are preparing a lawsuit to have members of Aum Shinrikyo evicted from an apartment complex, ward officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Hatoyama declares entry into DPJ presidential race

Yukio Hatoyama, deputy secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, officially declared his candidacy Thursday for the DPJ's presidential election next month, seriously clouding the prospect of incumbent leader Naoto Kan's re-election.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Postal savings exodus expected

Japan's financial market will see a huge flow of funds in fiscal 2000 because 27 trillion yen is expected to be transferred from postal savings to other financial instruments, according to an estimate by the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Chiba car spotted in abduction case

A car with Chiba Prefecture license plates was seen parked in front of Aum Shinrikyo's Nagoya chapter building about 12 hours after a woman was set free in the city after being abducted in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, investigative sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Two die in apparent murder-suicide

OSAKA -- A man was found strangled in a parked car with another dead man nearby on a pier Thursday morning in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, according to local police.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Environment Agency to create nature database

The Environment Agency is requesting 70 million yen from the fiscal 2000 state budget to construct a database with information on and images of around 60,000 of the nation's animals, plants and fungi, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

East Timor monitor urges a bigger global presence

A member of the U.N. volunteer team to monitor the referendum in East Timor next week called for a stronger international presence in the violence-ridden territory as the historic poll approaches.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Testing of genetically modified food on rise

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 1999

The hidden war against Iraq

Last December, the United States and Britain launched Operation Desert Fox, a four-day bombing campaign on Iraq that effectively ended the inspections regime established by the United Nations after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The U.N. Security Council had been divided over the meaning and implementation...
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Kobe airport foes mull last-ditch options

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Students call for halt to child conscription

Twenty students on Wednesday called on the government to take concrete steps to outlaw the recruitment of child soldiers.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Sister of sarin gas attack victim abducted

The sister of a teenager who was killed in the 1994 sarin gassing in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, was abducted Tuesday morning in Chiba Prefecture but freed uninjured 12 hours later in Nagoya, police said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Obuchi says he is key to coalition

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi stressed Wednesday that the successful launch of a coalition government comprising his Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and New Komeito depends on his re-election as LDP president.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Ministries, agencies aim cash at endocrine disrupters

The Environment Agency will request roughly 3.13 billion yen in outlays in the fiscal 2000 budget to fight endocrine disrupters -- nearly double its allowances for the current fiscal year, agency officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

2000 budget requests to top 82 trillion yen

Government ministries and agencies are expected to ask for more than 82.5 trillion yen in budget requests for fiscal 2000 beginning next April, it was learned Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Exec nabbed in armored car holdup

Police apprehended a man Tuesday night after he allegedly assaulted three armored car guards who were picking up between 6 million yen and 7 million yen from an electrical appliance shop in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

NPOs hit ambiguous application procedure

More than 80 percent of nonprofit groups that have applied for corporate status under a new law said regulators asked them to make changes to their application documents, with some instructions criticized as being ambiguous, according to a survey by NPO support organizations released Wednesday.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji