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JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Santen blackmail suspect questioned

OSAKA — Police questioning a 56-year-old man arrested Friday afternoon for alleged attempted blackmail of Santen Pharmaceutical Co. found the suspect had no personal ties to the leading eyewash maker.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 25, 2000

BlueWave handle Matsuzaka, Lions

Kida gets first save since return
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

MRA law planned for EU standards

Japan plans to institute a law to meet requirements in implementing a mutual recognition agreement with the European Union on standards and inspections for such goods as electronic appliances.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Aum-staffed PC shop opens after week delay

A personal computer shop run by two human rights activists and staffed by eight followers of Aum Shinrikyo opened for business Saturday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, one week after the scheduled opening.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

800 campaign workers to be grilled by police

But violations down significantly from 1996 general election Police will question about 800 campaign workers on suspicion of buying votes and other violations of the Public Offices Election Law after polls close for the Lower House elections tonight, the National Police Agency said Saturday.
COMMUNITY
Jun 25, 2000

Don't run for cover, go Zurich Insurance!

Sitting on the swishest sofa ever -- an L-shaped signature design in scarlet leather -- in the lobby of Zurich Insurance, I picked up a book from the sea-green plate-glass coffee table and began reading up on "The Swiss." What should I expect of the president of such a company? Having met any number...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Osaka seen as new way station for illegal aliens

OSAKA — In the back streets beside Osaka's Kyobashi Station, pachinko parlors, massage parlors, or "soap lands" (brothels), restaurants and karaoke rooms are packed together in an area not more than two square blocks.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Blanket-toting 'Knock' denies intent to grope

OSAKA — Former Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama's molestation trial will be concluded Thursday with the defense's final statement, following prosecutors' demand last Tuesday for an 18-month prison term.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Good news: a week in the tropics energizes your brain

The brain functions of several middle-aged and elderly people from north and northeastern Japan become more active after they spend a week in Okinawa in the winter, according to a study conducted by a Tohoku University research institute.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

DIC to buy, waive loans from Shinsei to Sogo Co.

The state-run Deposit Insurance Corp. will buy loans from Shinsei Bank to Sogo Co. and then waive a substantial portion of them to help rehabilitate the struggling department store operator, DIC sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2000

Bread Man not quite off his loaf

Tatsumi Orimoto, otherwise known as the "Bread Man," has finally cracked the Japanese art scene with "Art Mama + Bread Man," an extraordinary exhibition of photos, videos and live performances at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. Street performance is in the house and Orimoto will nevermore be a "dirty,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 25, 2000

The do's and don'ts of business card etiquette

Please don't tell Mr. Watanabe that his business card is now in a million pieces strewn among the bras and underwear in my washing machine. This is just the latest faux pas in my history of malicious treatment of business cards.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2000

Operational advice for New York's finest

NEW YORK -- New York's mayor, a man so relentless that he won't let prostate cancer get in the way of his horniness, feels sorry for the cops. "It seems like the cops just can't win no matter what they do," Rudolph Giuliani complained to a caller to his weekly radio show.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2000

Is elitism such a bad thing?

LONDON -- Gordon Brown, the British chancellor of the Exchequer, has been stirring up media attention by attacking the way in which Oxford and other British universities recruit students. He launched his diatribe against the universities by condemning Magdalen College Oxford (where Prince Chichibu and...
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2000

The phoenix from the end of time

When the great Heian Period statesman Fujiwara no Michinaga died in 1027, he left his comfortable suburban retreat on the banks of the Uji River to his son Yorimichi (along with a good deal else).
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 25, 2000

Again and again

A part of this is from a column written in 1993 about "ijime" (bullying). It was not the first, and today I can't even recall that specific case. There have been so many. At the time I objected to the newspaper comment that ijime had been a serious problem for a decade. Brutal discrimination against...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2000

Making humanitarian aid more effective

NEW YORK -- One of the greatest challenges facing governments and international aid agencies today is how to respond better to humanitarian disasters.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Team gives small firms help in environment management

KYOTO — Although major companies are accelerating efforts to obtain international recognition of their environmental management systems, few small and medium-size firms are following suit due to the high cost of certification and a lack of knowledge.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Political volume up before vote

Closing the official 12-day campaign period, political party leaders on Saturday made their final appeals before today's general election for the Lower House.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 25, 2000

A humbling experience in the Himalayas

"We have to focus. This is going to suck. We're going to hate it. It's going to be 12 hours of misery worse than we ever imagined."
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2000

Laboratory tracks acid rain's seasonal roots

Pollution responsible for acid rain and acid snow in coastal areas along the Sea of Japan travels via China and the Korean Peninsula during the winter, but comes from other areas in Japan in the summer, an environmental research laboratory in Niigata Prefecture said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2000

Nissho Iwai, Samsung to share overseas units

Japanese trading company Nissho Iwai Corp. said Friday that it has agreed with South Korean trader Samsung Corp. to share overseas outlets.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2000

London to get first overseas Uniqlo store

Fast Retailing Co., operator of the rapidly growing Uniqlo chain of clothing stores, said Friday it will open its first overseas outlet in London in autumn 2001.

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