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JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Stag beetle hunter casts doubt on reported 10 million yen deal

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

NGOs vital for world peace, Chretien says

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien stressed the importance of nongovernmental organizations in working toward world peace, at the Canada-Japan Joint Symposium on Peacebuilding for Development, held Thursday at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Softbank, Best Denki to build e-store

Best Denki Co. and Softbank Corp. on Thursday agreed to establish a joint venture on Oct. 19 that will sell household electronics and other merchandise and services over the Internet, the companies announced.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Protesters slam WTO trade as Keidanren sets council

Carrying placards and handing out leaflets, more than 20 protesters gathered Thursday outside the Foreign Ministry, demanding that the government oppose the next round of World Trade Organization negotiations slated to begin in November.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

JAMA seeks EU nod for lower carbon dioxide cut

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association has proposed a compromise to the European Union for a self-imposed reduction target for carbon dioxide emissions from new passenger cars, JAMA officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Miyazawa and Hayami huddle over yen

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami held an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon in a bid to curb the yen's surge against the dollar but failed to achieve an immediate halt to the yen-buying trend.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Execs' arrest to reveal Kofuku's idea of 'family business'

OSAKA -- The arrest of former top executives of the failed Kofuku Bank is expected to unveil the dubious nature of the bank's "family-run" business, which is believed common among many second-tier regional banks.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

PKO law hindering SDF action, Kato says

Japan should revise the five principles under which the Self-Defense Forces can participate in international peacekeeping operations, a senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Japan to finance peacekeeping force for East Timor

Japan will contribute a "substantial" sum to a United Nations trust fund to finance a multinational force intended to restore order in East Timor, but will not dispatch any personnel until stability has been established, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said at a press conference Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Recitation contest open to readers

The Japan Times is inviting Japanese readers to participate in the 35th Annual Tape Recitation Contest now being presented by its bilingual weekly, Shukan ST, with the support of the Education Ministry.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 16, 1999

Indigo, a color to dye for

It's hard not to associate tie-dye with an image of long-haired grass-smoking, free-lovin', barefoot hippies dancing around in colorful dyed shirts and long skirts to the clang of a "far out" tambourine beat.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Kanazawa to get wired in experiment

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. will begin a one-year joint experiment on a community-based information network in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, from April 2000, the companies said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Road to closed captions no freeway for hearing impaired

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Nikkei drops 700 at one point as dollar tumbles

Tokyo share prices plummeted broadly Thursday amid concerns about a preceding tumble in New York share prices and the yen's rise against the dollar.
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 1999

Cautious optimism on the economy

Japan's economy in the second quarter of this year, April through June, expanded slightly at an annualized rate of 0.9 percent. This is a far cry from the 8.1 percent surge in the first quarter. But two consecutive quarters of positive growth make it reasonably clear that the protracted economic slump...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 1999

Report on faulty MOX fuel slow to reach Japan

Four days passed before concerned parties in Japan were told that mixed plutonium-uranium oxide fuel pellets to be shipped to Japan were improperly checked in Britain, it was learned Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 1999

A true believer's perspective on the Pyongyang regime

The Korean Central News Agency is the official English-language press agency of North Korea. When tensions escalate between the two Koreas, it is to this agency that the world press corps turns for comment.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 1999

Acupuncturist held for rape during arson probe

Investigators looking into a suspected arson at an acupuncture clinic in Tokyo's Chuo Ward arrested an acupuncturist Wednesday in a separate case on suspicion of raping a woman at the clinic after drugging her.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 1999

New ambassador looks to further U.S. ties

The government is closely watching Okinawa's efforts to select a new site for the U.S. Marine Corps heliport now at Futenma Air Station, with hope of seeing early progress in completing the process long-stalled by local opposition, Japan's new ambassador to the Unites States said.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Sep 15, 1999

Opportunities

Today is Respect for the Aged Day. Once Japan was criticized for not having enough holidays. Now, with New Year's for winter celebrants, O-bon in the summer, Golden Week in the spring and an assortment of traditional and recently created special days in between (with Mondays off if they fall on Sunday),...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 1999

Office Depot tinkering to get it right

Staff writer
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO
Sep 15, 1999

Scarecrows are sprouting in Shitamachi

Over one hundred jauntily clad figures line the street where the Koto Ward Office once stood.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 15, 1999

Turn-of-the-century frolic shows nothing new under the sun

Postmodernism is a publisher's dream. Copy out "Don Quixote" verbatim and you get a cultural reinterpretation, joked Jorge Luis Borges; give an old book a new cover and you get a tribal reclamation, proclaim the editors of this Race in the Americas imprint.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Sep 15, 1999

The family that surfs together ...

There is something mildly unsettling about the cyberpolice's fixation with child pornography. At the Internet Content Summit, held last week in Munich and hosted by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, kiddie porn was repeatedly denounced by participants. To judge from the general tone of the comments, it embodied...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 1999

Don Quijote sees itself as lord of discount 'jungle'

Staff writer
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Sep 15, 1999

Roaming the world's watery dunes

As the typhoon season cuts between summer and autumn, many species are on the move. This is the season of migration for land birds and seabirds. While the land birds island-hop between Northeast and Southeast Asia, some of the seabirds are embarking on journeys that may span entire oceans. Streaked shearwaters...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 15, 1999

Young at heart, but never free of Johnny

On Aug. 30, former idol singer and tell-all autobiographer Hiromi Go staged an unannounced live show from the back of a tractor trailer parked near the Hachiko intersection in Shibuya. The five-minute performance, which featured four other dancers, stopped traffic and clogged up the area as pedestrians...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 15, 1999

Obtrusive nails, squeaky wheels

Not so very often I recall the following words of advice from my dear old mother, a tiding of the heart delivered straight from parent to child.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 1999

A growing appetite for safety

LONDON -- Genetic biologists -- especially those working for big U.S. companies such as Monsanto -- and U.S. trade negotiators are furious with Europeans because they are not prepared to accept that hormone-injected beef and gene-modified soybeans, rape-seed oil and other genetically modified crops are...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 1999

Runners hit by heatstroke in Tachikawa relay

Fifteen men and women fell victim to heatstroke Wednesday while running in an "ekiden" relay marathon in Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa, western Tokyo, shortly after noon. Thirteen were taken to the hospital.

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