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JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Sales agents for Snow Brand go bankrupt

Approximately 30 of the 500 sales agents for Snow Brand Milk Products Co. in six prefectures in western Japan have effectively been put out of business by the June 29 outbreak of food poisoning linked to milk made at the company's Osaka plant, government officials said Monday.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 18, 2000

Personal relationships are everything

STAKEHOLDING: The Japanese Bottom Line, by Robert J. Ballon and Keikichi Honda. Tokyo: The Japan Times, 2000, 240 pp., 38 tables, 6 figures. 3,000 yen (cloth). One year, an acquaintance recalls, her family started getting an unusually large number of "oseibo" (yearend presents) and "ochuugen" (midyear...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2000

Raising taxes invites economic catastrophe

Newspaper reports indicate that Japan's Tax Commission has used its role as an advisory panel to the prime minister to propose lowering the minimum taxable individual-income level. Raising taxes on the poor is justified by attempting to share the income-tax burden more widely. A wide range of allowable...
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2000

Japan sets up advisory panel to review assistance to China

The Foreign Ministry has set up an advisory panel to make recommendations on reviewing Japan's official development assistance to China, with its inaugural meeting scheduled for Wednesday, the ministry said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2000

Mindanao's nightmare continues

It is easy to be disheartened about the violence that is sweeping across the Philippine province of Mindanao. It was thought to have been settled four years ago, but it has erupted once again. The government has had recent successes on the battlefield, but the rebels are not likely to be subdued.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2000

Fiscal 2001 budget to focus on recovery, Nakagawa says

The size of the fiscal 2001 budget will exceed that for the current fiscal year and focus on bringing about a full-scale economic recovery, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa said Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2000

Animistic rituals run deep in Okinawa

KUDAKA ISLAND, Okinawa Pref. -- When the gods arrived by boat at the Okinawan islands during the fourth and ninth months of the Chinese calendar, they first set foot on the shores of Ishiki Beach, say residents of Kudaka Island.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2000

Long life spans attributed to Okinawa diet

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- Legend holds that an ancient Chinese emperor dispatched a mission of explorers to find Horai, a heavenly island believed to exist in the ocean, with orders to find the elixir of life and bring it to him.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 17, 2000

Jojima, Hawks snuff Buffs

All-star catcher Kenji Jojima singled home Arihito Muramatsu with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday to give the Daiei Hawks their fifth "sayonara" victory of the season, 4-3 over the Nippon Ham Fighters at the Fukuoka Dome.
COMMUNITY
Jul 17, 2000

No breakfast needed, say health heretics

Many people worship breakfast. They believe it is the most important meal of the day, and that skipping it causes various problems, such as fatigue, inefficiency at work and poor academic achievement in children.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2000

Niijima begins work to repair quake damage

Restoration work on Niijima Island began Sunday, a day after a powerful earthquake rocked the Izu Island chain and injured 10 people.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 17, 2000

Scope for universal understanding

It seems that Silicon Valley in California, that hotbed of blazing computer development, is now giving birth to technology for the search for origin of biological life in the stars.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 17, 2000

Dioxin found deadly for sure -- and they're pumping it out

First, the good news.
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2000

One last chance for Japan

A quarter of a century has passed since the world's seven industrialized democracies held their first summit meeting in 1975 under the initiative of French President Giscard d'Estaing. In its earlier years the G7 forum moved the world somewhat, providing a sense of unity and direction that was not available...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2000

G8 must act to save forests

There are few losses more profound than a forest laid waste and vanished.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2000

Private sector CCP's double-edged sword

BEIJING -- It is not often appreciated that accession to the World Trade Organization is a one-sided process: The applicant country has to make a series of concessions to existing members in return for gaining access to the trade concessions that existing members have extended to each other over a period...
EDITORIALS
Jul 16, 2000

The reliable magic of Harry Potter

It's been a bit of a Quidditch match this week in bookstores across the English-speaking world as children from 8 to 80 scrambled for their copies of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the latest book in the series that has become the biggest publishing phenomenon of the decade.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2000

Romance is in the air: tour the city by helicopter

Tomoko Suzuki's boyfriend gave her a special birthday present this year -- a night view of the Tokyo metropolis from an altitude of 600 meters and at speeds up to 200 kph.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 16, 2000

Carp's Lopez back where he belongs

One of the happiest foreign players in Japan pro baseball these days is Hiroshima Carp first baseman Luis Lopez. The 1996 and 1997 Central League RBI leader is obviously back where he belongs; hitting .300 and driving in those runs like he did three-four years ago for the Red Helmets.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2000

The unrivaled madness of Shinjuku

When it comes to congestion, JR Shinjuku Station is king. This station is the Yamanote Line's undisputed champion of traffic, rowdy customers and sheer bedlam and confusion.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2000

Okinawans must look beyond crossroad for future success

Staff writer CHATAN, Okinawa Pref. -- The music meandering from Rinken Teruya's sea-front live house is a catchy, vibrant blend of sing-along pop and Okinawan folk song.
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 16, 2000

FC Tokyo goes top after beating S-Pulse

FC Tokyo moved to the top of the J. League first division -- at least, for a few hours -- on Saturday after a 2-0 victory over Shimizu S-Pulse in Kagawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2000

Kobe welcomes giant panda pair

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2000

Lower 6-level temblor shakes Izu Island chain

A strong earthquake jolted the Izu Island chain south of Tokyo Saturday morning, measuring a lower 6 on the Japanese intensity scale of 7, as recorded on Niijima Island, the Meteorological Agency said.

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