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JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

Japan to get tough on visa checks

The Foreign Ministry plans to set up online computer systems at all overseas diplomatic missions to help prevent blacklisted foreign nationals from entering Japan, ministry officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Telecom startup plans PHS service

Japan Communications Inc., an independent telecommunications company, said Wednesday it will launch low-cost PHS communications services for corporate subscribers Oct. 1 by using a PHS network leased from DDI Pocket Inc.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

'Super science schools' in the works

The education ministry plans to select 20 high schools for nurturing a new generation of researchers and engineers who can compete on a global basis, ministry sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

Typhoon claims seventh victim

Typhoon Pabuk hit land again at the town of Toi in Shizuoka Prefecture on the Izu Peninsula and passed over Tokyo Bay Wednesday afternoon, leaving at least seven people dead as it continued pushing through the archipelago.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

Politician held in illegal campaigning

A Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of paying unregistered campaigners to work for him in the runup to the June election, police said.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Cellphones set for e-wallet role

The nation's first commercial service allowing cellular phones to serve as e-wallets will start in the spring after a trial service using 10,000 monitors that is set for November, telecom carrier KDDI Corp. and five other companies announced Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Japan's e-shops strict on returns

Internet retailers in Japan are far stricter on the return of goods purchased online than their U.S. counterparts, according to a poll conducted recently by Jupiter Research, the Web market-research arm of Jupiter Media Metrix Inc. of the United States.
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2001

Japan not innately militaristic

At any time of the year, evaluating Japan and its military intentions is like looking through a telescope. From one end, everything appears bigger than it actually is. From the other, everything looks smaller.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

Support sought to protect wetland

Three municipalities in Chiba Prefecture asked the environment ministry Wednesday for its cooperation in preserving and restoring the Sanbanze tidal flats.
ENVIRONMENT / IN BLOOM
Aug 23, 2001

Hirugao (Small bindweed)

"In the bindweed flower On Takamado Moor I see my darling's face. And how could I forget?"
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Nippon Yusen liquidates in Panama

Nippon Yusen K.K., the largest shipping firm in the nation, said Wednesday it has liquidated two wholly owned Panama-based subsidiaries as part of restructuring efforts.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

Sudan envoy seeks economic support

Sudan's new ambassador to Japan said Wednesday he hopes Tokyo will support Sudan's efforts to have economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations lifted in the wake of its political and economic reforms.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Balance of long margin positions plunges

The balance of long margin positions turned lower last week as the first upturn in eight weeks proved short-lived.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Tertiary index up for second month

The tertiary industry index gained 0.6 percent in June from the previous month for the second straight monthly rise but failed to recover from the large decline logged in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 23, 2001

Poachers, politics threaten Japan's Eden

"It is a pocket of the earth that has been protected, but it will not be like this much longer if we don't do something. It's a shame, because we have it in our grasp now."
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Aetna Heiwa changes hands again

U.S. insurer Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Wednesday it has finished purchasing the shares of Aetna Heiwa Life Insurance Co., thus gaining a toehold in the Japanese life insurance market.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Fuji Heavy, GM release new vehicle

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. released a new seven-seat passenger vehicle Wednesday produced by alliance partner General Motors Corp.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Sansui says its pretax loss to be worse than expected

Sansui Electric Co. said Wednesday it has revised downward its forecasts for the business year to Dec. 31 to show an 80 percent surge in pretax loss compared with its projections in February.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 23, 2001

Japan's foreign policy still retains U.S. trappings

First of a six-part series looking back on 50 years of Japanese-U.S. relations since the 1951 signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the bilateral security treaty. By JUNKO TAKAHASHI Staff writer Nobuo Matsunaga was a young diplomat in Paris when Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which...
JAPAN / PRIVATIZING PAINS
Aug 23, 2001

Pork-barrel highway entity key target for privatization

Kyodo News Japan Highway Public Corp. is the most symbolic privatization target of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "structural reforms without sanctuaries" campaign.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 23, 2001

Look, mum, what I got playing for my country

Maybe it was the passing of yet another birthday; maybe it was the fact that I had just become the proud father of a healthy son and heir but the last few weeks have seen me getting more and more nostalgic.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Aug 23, 2001

Get that tropical feeling with hibiscus on your balcony

Summers just wouldn't be the same without hibiscus flowers. Hibiscus create the feeling of some tropical paradise -- even in city centers. Those of you who have balcony gardens can easily cultivate a number of hibiscus species.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

'Ichiban Utsukushii Natsu'

CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

Better listening through circuitry

Theremin Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Steven M. Martin Running time: 83 minutes Language: English Now showing Just about everyone's listening to some sort of electronic music these days, but most people would be hard-pressed to name any of the medium's pioneers. Perhaps most would recognize Kraftwerk...

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic