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BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

Garment makers target Uniqlo with import ban

Domestic garment manufacturers will formally ask the government to impose an import curb on inexpensive clothing that is fueling the rapid growth of the wildly popular Uniqlo chain, industry officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Ex-MITI chief Horiuchi to lead 'anti-Kato' faction

Former International Trade and Industry Minister Mitsuo Horiuchi was named Monday as the leader of a new faction in the Liberal Democratic Party formed by breakaway members of the faction headed by Koichi Kato, lawmakers said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

New century fails to lift stock market gloom

The decline in the Tokyo stock market continues despite the fanfare of entering the new century.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2001

Lock, stock and instant noodles

Here's a word association game for you. What comes to mind when you hear "Thai cinema?" A blank? Don't worry -- in Japan, you're hardly alone.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2001

Mr. Kim's tutorial

Mr. Kim Jong Il's "secret" trip to China was one of the worst-kept secrets in recent history. Although the Chinese government refused to officially confirm the visit by the reclusive North Korean leader, the news was out as soon as Mr. Kim's special train crossed the border into China last week. If much...
SUMO
Jan 23, 2001

Injuries force Akebono into retirement

Yokozuna Akebono, sumo's first foreign-born grand champion, indicated Monday at a meeting with Japan Sumo Association Chairman Tokitsukaze that he will retire from the ring.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Bill to target diesel emissions

The Environment Ministry plans to submit a bill to the Diet to amend the current vehicle emissions law by imposing tougher controls on commercial users of diesel-powered vehicles, ministry sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Release of human genome thesis criticized

The Science Council of Japan has complained to the U.S. journal Science about its decision to print a U.S. biotech company's thesis about the human genome, saying the company has not shared its data with international researchers.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Official spent 170 million yen on racehorses

A senior Foreign Ministry official who is suspected of embezzling money from a special state fund spent about 170 million yen to buy 14 racehorses and keep them since 1997, sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Hokkaido retiree gets new start as teacher

As a boy, Ichio Yachimukai wanted to become a teacher out of gratitude for the kindness of his junior high school teacher, but he never imagined that he would one day venture to Vietnam to realize his ambition.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

Panel promises five-year plan to put Japan in IT lead

A new government panel on information technology said Monday it will compile an action plan by the end of March specifying the areas that need to be prioritized in order to give Japan one of the world's most advanced IT infrastructures in five years, government officials said.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Nukaga informs LDP he quits over scandal

Scandal-tainted Cabinet minister Fukushiro Nukaga informed senior officials of his Liberal Democratic Party on Monday that he will step down to take responsibility for his involvement in a scandal that has already claimed two lawmakers.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

Sumitomo Trust to liquidate London unit

Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. said Monday it will liquidate its London subsidiary, which deals mainly in the underwriting and selling of Eurobonds, as part of the group's restructuring plan.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

Ministry to cut loan interest rate

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry will cut the standard rate on loans from Housing Loan Corp. to 2.7 percent from 2.8 percent, Vice Minister Kunihisa Ono said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Family may sue hospital over fatal jaw-bone operation

The family of a young woman who died in 1997 after surgery on a broken jawbone is considering filing a damages suit against a Tokyo hospital, claiming she died from a mistake on the operating table, sources close to the family said Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 23, 2001

Korean baseball season saved by compromise

After much soul searching on both sides, the Korea Pro Baseball Players Union and the KBO's member teams have finally reached a compromise to save the 2001 season which the owners had canceled the month before.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2001

Give aid to China, but remain vigilant

The 21st Century Committee for Japan-China Friendship held its 14th meeting on China's Hainan Island Dec. 24-25, and I was among those present. Former Chinese Ambassador to Japan Yang Zhenya, the conference chairman, said he was pleased that the Chinese and Japanese governments were promoting regional...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Hashimoto off on three-nation trip

Ryutaro Hashimoto, minister in charge of administrative reform, departed Monday on a six-day trip to Switzerland, Turkey and France.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

Export decline portends slowdown for recovery

A decline in exports will slow the pace of economic recovery by slowing industrial production, the Bank of Japan said Monday in a monthly report.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Japan's conformist culture attacked

Hayao Kawai, one of Japan's leading clinical psychologists and the former head of a government advisory panel, emphasized the importance of fostering individuality among Japanese while admitting it is a difficult task in light of the nation's conformist culture.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

Economic indexes sink below 50%

The government said Monday its leading, coincident and lagging economic indexes all slipped below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in November for the first time in 23 months.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 23, 2001

Okinawa's fate through women's eyes

WOMEN OF OKINAWA: Nine Voices from a Garrison Island, by Ruth Ann Keyso. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000, 168 pp., $16.95 (cloth). Ruth Ann Keyso traveled to Okinawa in 1997 to write a history of the island's postwar past. Following conversations with various people on the island, she decided...
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 23, 2001

Keeping it all in the family

The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is starting 2001 with special programs to celebrate the succession (shumei) of Yasosuke Bando, 45, to the prestigious stage name Mitsugoro Bando X, left to him by his father Mitsugoro IX on his death in April 1999.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Lottery proceeds to fund local projects

The Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications on Monday announced the launch of a new lottery, the proceeds of which are to be distributed among local governments to be used to finance revitalization projects.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

China parents said top task masters: poll

While the development of children's skills and interests is a primary concern among Japanese parents, the majority of Chinese moms and dads attach greater importance to the education and discipline of their offspring, according to the results of a recent survey.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Obituary: Soko Koike

Soko Koike, founder of the magazine that provides Japan's leading music chart rankings, died Saturday of a cerebral hemorrhage at a hospital in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, his family said Monday. He was 68.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Global warming danger rises for Northern Hemisphere

Evidence that human-induced global warming is occurring is stronger than ever and Japan, along with other Northern Hemisphere countries, could see the most drastic rises in temperature as a result, according to a new report released Monday.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan