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SOCCER / World cup
Jun 1, 2001

Japan debuts with 3-0 victory

NIIGATA -- Japan got off to a good start in the Confederations Cup, beating Canada 3-0 in a Group B game Thursday night at Big Swan Niigata Stadium.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2001

Sick building chemical haunts recently built homes

About 37 percent of homes built four to five years ago have a higher concentration of a chemical that apparently causes the so-called sick building syndrome, according to the results of a study conducted by the Infrastructure Ministry.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2001

Lawmakers pushing for day-care center in Nagata-cho

A nonpartisan group of lawmakers is calling for a day-care center to be established in or near the Diet building for the benefit of politicians and government officials with kids. The day-care center should also be set up for mothers with small children who want to sit in on Diet sessions or lobby politicians,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2001

Chances for new trade round grow dim

GENEVA -- With only a few months left before the go or no-go decision has to be made, it is looking less and less likely that a new round of international trade negotiations will be launched when world-trade ministers meet in November in Doha, Qatar.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2001

Koizumi urges adoption of 'e-voting' in local polls

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged a government information technology panel Thursday to consider ways to introduce electronic voting in local elections, officials said.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2001

Drugstore goes to court to lift supplier's embargo

OSAKA -- Drugstore chain Daikoku said Thursday it has asked the Tokyo District Court to issue a provisional ruling to get drugmaker Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. to resume supplying products to its stores.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2001

Shiokawa eyes abolition of capital gains levies

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa plans to call on the ruling parties to consider an early abolition of the withholding tax on stock transactions.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2001

Soon-to-merge insurers report increased profits

Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co. -- two major nonlife insurers scheduled to merge in October -- on Wednesday reported higher group profits for fiscal 2000.
JAPAN
May 31, 2001

Italy wants Japanese to take in its countryside

The Italian tourism industry hopes to bring more Japanese visitors to less-traveled destinations in the country's rural areas, a senior official of the Italian State Tourism Board said.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2001

IMF chief urges expanded disclosure of bad loans

International Monetary Fund chief Horst Koehler encouraged the Financial Services Agency on Wednesday to step up disclosure of its assessments of banks' problem loans.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2001

Balance of shares on credit rises for third week in a row

The balance of shares bought on credit rose for the third consecutive week last week.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2001

Kamisu picked as fifth LPG site

The governmental Japan National Oil Corp. said Wednesday it has picked the town of Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture, as the site for a storage tank it will build to store liquefied petroleum gas under the nation's 1.5-million ton LPG stockpiling program.
JAPAN
May 31, 2001

Work of Canada's 'tragic historian' now regaining spotlight in Japan

The life and work of Edgerton Herbert Norman, a Canadian diplomat and researcher of modern Japanese history who committed suicide in the 1950s amid allegations that he was a communist sympathizer, is now being spotlighted.
JAPAN
May 31, 2001

Time ripe for collective defense: panelists

Panelists at a symposium on Japan-U.S. relations held in Tokyo this week agreed that Japan should lift its ban on engaging in collective defense as both nations seek to strengthen security ties.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2001

Kumagai Gumi stays in red despite loans being forgiven

Struggling construction firm Kumagai Gumi Co. said Wednesday it remained in the red for the year ended March 31, with a group net loss of 2.65 billion yen after the previous year's loss of 4.62 billion yen.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2001

Disappointing euro's effect on markets has been tangible

While the beleaguered euro has been a real letdown, there can be no denying that its January 1999 launch has had a significant impact on the world's currency markets.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2001

U.N. forum cautions against globalization's impact on poor

The advance of economic globalization should improve the life of people in developing countries and bring about sustainable development, according to Carlos A. Magarinos, director general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2001

NHK enjoys 11th straight profit year

Japan Broadcasting Corp. reported Wednesday its operations in fiscal 2000 were in the black for the 11th consecutive year, with revenue exceeding costs by 22.3 billion yen.
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
May 31, 2001

Globalization leaves too many casualties in its wake

The forces and processes of globalization -- increased trade liberalization, improved environmental standards and "universal" human rights -- have disillusioned a majority of the world's population. Thanks to the Seattle fiasco and street demonstrations in Prague, it is clear that no matter how hard...
JAPAN
May 31, 2001

Cultist gets life for role in deadly '94 gas attack

The Tokyo District Court sentenced an Aum Shinrikyo figure to life imprisonment Wednesday for his part in four crimes, including a 1994 nerve-gas attack that killed seven people in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2001

Computer firms embrace Linux

IBM Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp. said Wednesday they have agreed to develop a computer operating system for corporate use by enhancing the open source Linux operating system.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2001

Smokers' deadly paradise

For Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Hal Boyle, it wasn't too difficult to tell a man from a woman. "If it always offers you a cigar, it's a man," he quipped. "If it always is asking for a cigarette, then waits for a light, it's a woman."
JAPAN
May 31, 2001

Tanaka family villa seized in '99, asset report shows

The government in December 1999 seized a villa owned by a firm operated by the family of the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 31, 2001

NGOs urge allegiance to Kyoto pact

In a rare meeting Wednesday with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, representatives from environmental organizations urged the government to go ahead with an international agreement to cut greenhouse gases with or without the participation of the United States.
COMMENTARY
May 31, 2001

India reverses course again

DELHI -- With its continuing "war of a thousand cuts" against India, military-ruled Pakistan poses the single biggest challenge to Indian foreign policy. Yet Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has changed course on Pakistan often in the past three years. The unending policy dance, with its monkey-like...
JAPAN
May 31, 2001

DoCoMo launches trial of high-speed service

NTT DoCoMo Inc. on Wednesday launched a trial run of its third-generation mobile phone service that promises to eventually allow users to watch video transmissions on their handsets.
JAPAN
May 31, 2001

Tobacco industry 'Insider' takes his campaign to Japan

Educational and grassroots activities will be crucial if Japan is to successfully reduce the nation's relatively high number of smokers and incidence of lung cancer -- one of the leading causes of death in this country, said scientist and tobacco educator Jeffrey Wigand.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear