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JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

Dai-Tokyo, Chiyoda announce merger

Midsize nonlife insurers Dai-Tokyo Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and Chiyoda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. announced Wednesday they will merge in April 2001.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2000

Machinery orders presage smooth sailing

The latest batch of encouraging economic and corporate earnings reports could presage a more stable stock market in the near term.
COMMENTARY
Mar 2, 2000

Japan needs a new, better Constitution

At long last, deliberations on the Constitution have started at both Houses of the Diet. It is not clear, however, what kind of conclusion will be reached and when. Indications are that the participants in those deliberations want to draw up a conclusion by 2003 at the latest. But this is by no means...
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

U.S. expresses opposition to China's presence at G8

The United States expressed its opposition Wednesday to Japan's unofficial proposal to invite China to the Group of Eight major nations' summit in Okinawa in July, Japanese officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

Health Ministry panel asked to review hospital fee system

Health Minister Yuya Niwa asked an advisory panel Wednesday to look into changing a system in which hospital fees are reduced according to the length of a patient's stay, a practice causing doctors to discharge people too early, ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

Police-watchers earn 26 million yen

Four of the six members of the National Public Safety Commission, the body that oversees the National Police Agency, each earns a salary of 26.67 million yen a year, although the commission meets only once a week, NPA sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

Sea charts to be revised with GPS

The Maritime Safety Agency plans to fully revise Japan's nautical charts by the summer of 2002 because they are oriented 400-500 meters too far southeast agency officials said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY
Mar 2, 2000

All in the name of the perfect cut

We live in an age where technology pushes us to be faster, more efficient and more connected than ever. We make phone calls while walking down the street. We send e-mail messages from handheld electronic organizers. We have oceans of informations just on the other side of a mouse click.
JAPAN / Media
Mar 2, 2000

Never mind public health; insiders rule

It will be interesting to see how "The Insider" is promoted when it opens here in May. If it wins a bunch of Academy Awards, then the campaign will be easy, but if it doesn't then the PR people will have to be creative. Most Japanese ad campaigns for foreign films rely on stars, but Russell Crowe, who...
COMMENTARY
Mar 2, 2000

How not to liberalize trade

LONDON -- Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once famously described -- or is alleged to have described -- the Japanese language as an unfair obstacle to trade. How, she is said to have demanded, could foreign suppliers possibly penetrate the rich Japanese market when it was protected by an impenetrable...
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

Terrorists tease press from cells

BEIRUT -- With just days left before five Japanese Red Army members are due to be released here, local and foreign press interest in the captives is heating up.
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2000

Who is policing the police?

Two high-ranking police officials resigned Tuesday as an expression of responsibility for their misconduct amid a public outcry that they deserved even heavier punishment. In fact, such was the degree of public disgust that the resignations of the disgraced officials, Mr. Yoshiyuki Nakada, head of the...
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2000

Seven-Eleven joins nursing market

Seven-Eleven Japan Co., the nation's biggest convenience store chain, and three other companies on Tuesday announced plans for a joint venture in the nursing-support business, a lucrative sector amid the country's rapidly aging population.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2000

Local corporate tax may start in '02

An across-the-board local corporate tax may be introduced in all prefectures as early as fiscal 2002, the head of an advisory panel to the prime minister indicated Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2000

Advisers, clients face tax fraud complaints

Tax authorities have filed complaints with prosecutors against three business consultants and three of their clients over concealment of some 1.5 billion yen in income.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2000

State agencies dealt with Aum

A police raid of eight facilities related to Aum Shinrikyo on Tuesday revealed that major companies and government agencies had placed orders with a computer software company believed to be a major source of funds for the cult, investigators said.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2000

Handling the bugaboo of post-POW stress

It is well-known that U.S. presidential aspirant John McCain, a former U.S. Navy pilot, was struck by North Vietnamese fire over Hanoi during the Vietnam War and subsequently spent five and a half years in various prisoner-of-war camps. He still bears physical scars from the experience, notably the fact...
COMMUNITY
Mar 1, 2000

In quest of Amelia Earhart

Ric Gillespie has been chasing the same lady for more than 12 years. Now he reckons he knows where she is. If he's right -- and the evidence his foundation has collected is pretty compelling -- then one of the longest-running mysteries in the history of aviation has been solved.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2000

Police laxity in Niigata inexcusable, Obuchi says

(Kyodo) The new chief of the Niigata Prefectural Police took office Tuesday, replacing a disgraced Koji Kobayashi who failed to interrupt a drinking and mah-jongg session upon reports a girl missing for nine years had been found.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2000

Tough new laws stir outrage in Australia

SYDNEY -- Johnno, a 15-year-old Aboriginal boy, steals a few pencils and some paint. The magistrate has no option but to send him to prison for four weeks. After three weeks behind bars, Johnno hangs himself.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2000

Leap day efforts not enough: Aoki

A leap day computer glitch affected some systems and automatic teller machines Tuesday, but the government did not found any severe malfunctions, Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2000

Low-cost cruises are reeling them in

Singapore-based Star Cruises, the leading ocean cruise line in the Asia-Pacific region, is enjoying an overwhelming response after it recently announced the operation of low-priced luxury cruises.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2000

Cabinet looks to ease taxi, bus rules

In a bid to boost competition in the city bus and taxi industries, the Cabinet approved a bill Tuesday to ease regulations on operators starting new businesses.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 1, 2000

Take this job ...

I like my job. I even enjoy going to the office -- most days. That's why I'll probably continue the trudge to Tamachi, even though this job is one of the most suited to telecommuting.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2000

Wall Street downturn dampening dollar

After climbing past the 111 yen level for the first time in six months early last week, the dollar has come under fresh downward pressure amid worries about volatile moves on Wall Street.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2000

Nippon Asset's rehab plan approved by Tokyo court

The Tokyo District Court has approved a rehabilitation plan submitted by Nippon Asset Management Inc. pledging to repay roughly 30 percent of its debts in five years.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2000

Salaried household spending drops

Salaried workers' households spent less in January than they did a year earlier for the sixth consecutive month, the Management and Coordination Agency said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 1, 2000

Always more

In recent columns I explored purchasing English-friendly computers in Japan. Here is a little more information submitted by a reader who thinks it will be useful for those needing extended language capabilities for their computers, but first he has something to say about agreements, both local and international,...

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