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BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

Smaller, more mobile PS one to slowly replace PlayStation

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. will launch a new portable game console in July called PS one, which will gradually replace its mainstay PlayStation video game consoles, SCE President Ken Kutaragi announced on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

Banks' outstanding loans off for 29th month in a row

The balance of bank lending fell short of the year-before level for the 29th month in a row in May, reflecting a slump in corporate demand for new loans, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Trucker sentenced to four-year term for fatal collision

A 56-year-old truck driver was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday for professional negligence for rear-ending a car on an expressway in Tokyo last November, killing two children and injuring five others.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

6,000 attend Obuchi's funeral

Some 6,000 mourners, including dignitaries from more than 100 countries, paid their final respects Thursday to the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi at an official funeral at Nippon Budokan hall in central Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

By-election, gubernatorial races begin

Campaigns for the Saitama gubernatorial election and House of Councilors by-elections in three prefectures began Thursday as candidates registered for the polls.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Ainu law fails to address grievances

ASAHIKAWA, Hokkaido — For thousands of years, Kenichi Kawamura's ancestors owned nothing but had access to everything.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Brief campaign period keeps voters out of reach: ACCJ

Japan's election campaign period is too short for candidates to develop policies and make them known to voters, according to Robert F. Grondine, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and a longtime Japan watcher.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Mori, Kim vow efforts to engage Pyongyang

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung reaffirmed Thursday that they will make joint efforts to improve relations with North Korea, attaching great significance to an unprecedented inter-Korean summit next week in Pyongyang, a Foreign Ministry official said.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

Machinery orders record fourth month of decline

Core private-sector machinery orders in Japan shrank a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent in April from March, marking the fourth consecutive month of decline, the Economic Planning Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Kyushu area hit by morning earthquake

A fairly strong earthquake hit Kyushu, western Shikoku and the southwestern tip of Honshu at around 9:32 a.m. Thursday, the Meteorological Agency said.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jun 9, 2000

Twang with a twist strolls into Tokyo

The early days of country music are a catalog of demon yodelers, drunken banjo pickers and dreamy cowboy poets. It is difficult to find any hint of this raw beginning in country's current offerings. Nashville tends to look toward the Top 40 rather than its own twisted past for inspiration; the Dixie...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Obuchi able to talk in hospital: widow

The widow of late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said her husband was able to express himself just after he was admitted to a Tokyo hospital in April, according to the latest edition of the monthly magazine Bungei Shunju, due out today.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

JCCI chair Inaba to quit in July '01

Kosaku Inaba, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, officially announced Thursday that he intends to step down in July 2001.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Woman's organs unsuitable for transplant by the time brain-death declared

After two botched tests, doctors at Fujita Health University Hospital in Toyoake, Aichi Prefecture, on Wednesday finally declared a patient legally brain dead but were unable to use any of the organs for transplant.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

Asian leaders discuss future of the region at symposium

A symposium on the future of Asia got under way Thursday in Tokyo with prominent leaders from East and Southeast Asia participating in the discussions.
COMMUNITY
Jun 9, 2000

Getting in touch with your animal nature

I did it. Finally dipped into dobutsu uranai (animal fortunetelling), the Japanese fengshui of human relationships. For the past year I've endured the discomfort of having acquaintances whisper across the table at lunch: "I know what you are, you're a monkey. The way you slurp your noodles like that?...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Cultist 'glad' to help Asahara by releasing sarin

A former Aum Shinrikyo member who was 17 when she was involved in the 1994 sarin gas attack on an anti-Aum lawyer testified in court Thursday that at the time she was "glad" she could help cult leader Shoko Asahara.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

Japan signals willingness to help Plan Colombia

After months of foot-dragging, Japan appears willing to help Colombia pay for its ambitious, multibillion-dollar plan to crack down on drugs, achieve peace with guerrillas and rebuild its economy.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Tiles suggest Todaiji precursor

OSAKA — Researchers have recently discovered fragments of roof tiles within the grounds of Todaiji Temple in Nara that suggest the existence of another temple dating back to the early eighth century.
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2000

Mori lands in hot water again

Gaffe-prone Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori put his foot in his mouth again, plunging his Cabinet's popularity ratings to record lows just as Japan is gearing up for a June 25 general election.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2000

Exports help boost auto parts makers' sales 4.5%

Auto parts makers' combined sales rose 4.5 percent to 9.768 trillion yen on a consolidated basis in the 1999 business year, the Japan Auto Parts Association said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2000

Brain-dead woman set to be eighth organ donor

A woman in her 60s hospitalized in Aichi Prefecture was declared legally brain-dead Wednesday, paving the way for the nation's eighth series of organ transplants from a brain-dead donor.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2000

Police search office of 'broker' suspected of swindling millions

OSAKA — Police searched the offices of a self-styled investment advisory firm Wednesday over allegations that it solicited money for stock investments without a broker's license, investigation sources said.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2000

Sogo wants more debt forgiven

Sogo Co., a financially troubled department store chain, said Wednesday that it will ask its main creditor bank, the Industrial Bank of Japan, to waive 9.2 billion yen more debt than initially planned to bring the sum to 189.3 billion yen.

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