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COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2001

Rampant piracy posing political problems for Southeast Asia's policymakers

Piracy is alive and well in Southeast Asia, and it is posing political problems for policymakers. Piracy incidents in and around the Straits of Malacca and Singapore have recently increased at an alarming rate -- in both number and severity. But these modern pirates are a far cry from the swashbuckling...
BUSINESS
May 24, 2001

Matsushita Electric allies with Hitachi

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Hitachi Ltd. formally announced Wednesday an alliance to promote businesses centering on information services and home appliances.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
May 24, 2001

Foreign managers bring change to corporate life

Takashi Sato of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. fears he may be transferred because of his poor command of English -- a potentiality that was unthinkable until last year.
JAPAN
May 24, 2001

Koizumi's popularity propels LDP poll rating to two-year high

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi continues to enjoy better than 85 percent support among voters, and his appeal even lifted the LDP above the 40 percent support line for the first time in almost two years, according to a Kyodo News poll released Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2001

Mitsui hopes for listing on NYSE

Mitsui & Co. said Wednesday it will try to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange as early as next year as part of its new three-year management plan.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2001

Sumitomo Heavy posts 28.6 billion yen net loss

Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. said Wednesday its group net loss swelled to 28.61 billion yen in fiscal 2000 from the previous year's 6.33 billion yen, remaining in the red for three years in a row on sluggish revenues and heavy restructuring costs.
JAPAN
May 24, 2001

15,000 more day-care centers vowed

The government has decided in principle to provide an additional 15,000 after-school day-care centers for elementary school children by fiscal 2004, using vacant classrooms, government officials said.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2001

Hankyu profits jump to 6 billion yen

Hankyu Department Stores Inc. said Wednesday its group pretax profit for fiscal 2000 jumped 25.2 percent to 6.21 billion yen despite a sales drop of 2 percent to 394.96 billion yen.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2001

Trains, ships eyed to haul more cargo

The government will seek to reduce the amount of pollution caused by the domestic long-distance cargo transportation system by shifting from trucks to trains and ships, according to a draft report obtained Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 24, 2001

Bone collectors dig into our past

Two papers published today shed light on our early evolution, though "early" is a relative term. The first describes what could've been the first species of mammal, a tiny beast that quivered in the shadows of the dinosaurs 195 million years ago. The second reports on a shift in eating habits of early...
ENVIRONMENT / IN BLOOM
May 24, 2001

Mizu-basho (Asian skunk cabbage)

"When summer comes, I think of Oze Under distant skies. Midst rising mists and shadowed ways Marsh lilies are blooming, And dreams are flowering, too. Where evening tints, azalea pink, Those far-off, distant skies."
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 24, 2001

Perez is talking the talk in Japan

All it took for Eduardo Perez to learn the names of his Hanshin Tigers teammates was one embarrassing moment.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 24, 2001

Highway interchange to obliterate historic sites

Look southwest from the top of Mount Takao on clear winter mornings. Mount Fuji soars above its surroundings, white and massive in the royal blue sky. Except for a few pylons in the distance, the view is timeless.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
May 24, 2001

Just plant grass, and mow it for 400 years

The Hosokawa family is deeply rooted to the history and development of Kumamoto. Hosokawa Tadatoshi (1586-1641) was granted the domain of Kumamoto (540,000 koku) by Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1632 and started work on the gardens which became Suizenji Jojuen in the same year.
JAPAN
May 24, 2001

Radio-band feud grounds flying doctors

A government initiative to helicopter doctors to accident sites has been grounded by bureaucratic bickering over the use of a radio band to facilitate coordination of such operations, government sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 24, 2001

Police descend on home of ex-Sogo chairman

The Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday searched the home of former Sogo Chairman Hiroo Mizushima in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward for evidence showing he hid personal assets from creditors.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 24, 2001

Swallows blast Giants again

Roberto Petagine hit a pair of solo homers and drove in three runs and Atsunori Inaba connected for a three-run blast Wednesday to power the Yakult Swallows 14-8 over the Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome.
JAPAN
May 23, 2001

Japan, Nigeria to forge a 'special partnership'

Japan and Nigeria agreed Tuesday to build a "special partnership" to deal with African problems and cooperate in combating infectious diseases such as AIDS.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2001

Hayami continues to deny resignation rumors

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Tuesday denied reports that he told former Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa that he intended to resign.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2001

Tax Commission will tackle road-building tax

The government's Tax Commission agreed Tuesday to review use of the special road-building tax in response to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's pledge to include the controversial fund in his budget reform effort.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2001

Fast may shake up food distribution

Fast Retailing Co., operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing chain, will consider entering the grocery store business under a 10-year business plan, President Tadashi Yanai said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2001

Stocks favored over real estate as best investments

More people favor stocks or deposits over owning land as a means of investing money for the first time since the government began a poll on the matter roughly a decade ago, according to a draft government report.
JAPAN
May 23, 2001

Widower of principal eligible for compensation

OSAKA -- The 1999 suicide of an elementary school principal has met the requirements for accident compensation, according to officials of an accident fund for public servants.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2001

Mitsui Fudosan logs first profit since '95

Major real estate firm Mitsui Fudosan Co. said Tuesday it logged its first consolidated net profit in five years in fiscal 2000, thanks to structural reforms in its management.
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2001

K.O. punch from the heart

Girlfight Rating: * * * * * Director: Karyn Kusama Running time: 111 minutes Language: English Now playing at Marunouchi Picadilly in Yurakucho and other theaters The only regret of seeing "Girlfight" is that it wasn't made two years earlier. Then it could have been released along with "Fight Club,"...
JAPAN
May 23, 2001

India traveler returns with cholera

OSAKA -- An Osaka man in his 40s has been diagnosed with cholera after returning from a trip to India, the Kansai airport quarantine office said Tuesday.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years