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ENVIRONMENT / IN BLOOM
Jun 28, 2001

Benihana (Safflower)

"The dew of the rouge-flower, When it is spilled Is simply water."
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2001

The government must share the pain

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, last week announced a set of policy guidelines aimed at reviving Japan's moribund economy. The comprehensive program, titled "Basic Policies Concerning Economic and Fiscal Management and Structural Reform,"...
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Insurance-yield cuts put forward in plan

A government panel presented a plan Tuesday that would enable life insurers to reduce yields promised to policyholders as a way to help weak insurers restructure.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2001

Toshiba to make super-slim hard drives

Toshiba Corp. said it has developed four new super-slim 2.5-inch hard disk drives with the world's highest capacity of 20 gigabits per platter, or 35.1 gigabits per square inch.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2001

More improvements to come: Ghosn

Carlos Ghosn, president of Nissan Motor Co., said Tuesday that while the automaker deserves an "A or A-plus" for its rehabilitation efforts so far, its performance has yet to match all that it is capable of.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Professors get suspended terms for dental test leak

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday sentenced two former professors to suspended 10-month prison terms for leaking questions in a state dentistry exam held last year.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2001

Broadcasting companies to tie up on Net TV content

Fuji Television Network Inc., Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. and Asahi National Broadcasting Co. (TV Asahi) said Tuesday they have agreed to tie up in distributing TV programs over high-speed broadband Internet lines.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2001

Cabinet OKs reforms; rough road expected

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a sweeping reform program compiled last week by a key government panel that aims to revive the economy in two to three years through a fundamental cleanup of banks' nonperforming loans and a thorough review of the state budget.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2001

Takebe rejects Seoul's demand over fishing zone

Fisheries minister Tsutomu Takebe on Tuesday rejected Seoul's demand that Tokyo provide alternate fishing venues if it maintains its ban on South Korean fishing operations in waters off the Sanriku region of northeastern Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Tanaka-Suzuki spat delays treaties

Makiko Tanaka's ugly spat with LDP colleague Muneo Suzuki went international Tuesday as the ratification of three diplomatic treaties was delayed until the next Diet session due to a lack of deliberation time.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Hiranuma to visit Niigata over MOX rejection

Takeo Hiranuma, the economy, trade and industry minister, said Tuesday he will visit Niigata Prefecture on Saturday to meet with local officials over the controversial plan to use plutonium-uranium mixed oxide, or MOX, fuel in nuclear power plants.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2001

Bending the rules of noir

The Monkey's Mask Rating: * * * 1/2 Japanese title: Poetry, SexDirector: Samantha Lang Running time: 93 minutes Language: EnglishShowing at Yebisu Garden Cinema Murder mysteries have been set in just about every locale possible, so why not the cloistered world of Australian poetry? That's what director...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2001

Is Canberra doing right by its refugees?

SYDNEY -- Nowhere was the poignancy of World Refugee Day on June 20 felt more acutely than in Australia. Here, the plight of thousands of refugees held in detention camps gnaws at the national conscience.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Obituary: Ryuzaburo Kaku

Ryuzaburo Kaku, former president of Canon Inc., died Saturday of a heart attack at his home in Tokyo, his family said Monday. He was 75.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2001

Lang enters the sophomore class

It comes as no surprise to hear that the most inspiring film in Samantha Lang's life was "Hiroshima, Mon Amour." "I saw it when I was 16 and must have watched it at least 10 times," says Lang. "I know that film shot by shot, line by line." Echoes of that film's free-spirited and independent heroine,...
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Panel to explore direct vote for prime minister

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he will set up an advisory panel next month to study one of his pet policies — the introduction of a popular vote for the prime minister.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Green drive may boost economy

More efficient use of resources and better waste policies could boost the economy as well as reaping manifold environmental benefits, according to an inaugural white paper on waste-reduction approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jun 27, 2001

Foreign investors doubting 'Koizumi effect?'

The catalyst for this month's fall in Tokyo share prices was selloffs by foreign investors, notably U.S.-based players.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Asian literacy conference kicks off

A five-day international conference to discuss how to improve literacy rates in Asia kicked off Tuesday in Tokyo with representatives from 19 countries.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Ikeda kids reunited with classmates

OSAKA — About 200 schoolchildren from an Osaka elementary school where eight pupils were stabbed to death June 8 were reunited with their classmates Tuesday for the first time in 18 days.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2001

Stop me if you've heard this one before

Nadie Conoce a Nadie Rating: * * Japanese Title: PuzzleDirector: Mateo Gil Running time: 108 minutes Language: SpanishOpens June 30 at Cine La Sept in Yurakcho At this point in time, we, as an audience, have learned to expect things from the psycho-killer genre: elaborate mutilation; a hip and queasy...
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2001

State aims to spur telecom joust

The government will set up a study panel next month to ponder steps to enhance competition in the telecom market, Toranosuke Katayama, minister for public management, home affairs, posts and telecommunications, said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2001

A blueprint for total disaster

Minna no Ie Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Koki Mitani Running time: 115 minutes Language: JapaneseShowing at Shibutoh Cine Tower and other theaters A fatal hard-drive crash (signaled by the sound of the computer going whack-whack-whack instead of the usual varoom) is one of those complacency-shattering...
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2001

Manufacturers hurt by lack of new blood

The nation's manufacturing industry is being threatened by the declining number of young workers in the sector and the transfer of manufacturing bases overseas, according to a report released Tuesday.

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