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JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

State of deflation declared as assessment is downgraded

The government on Friday downgraded its overall economic evaluation for the second consecutive month, saying the nation's recovery appears to be stalling on weak production stemming from the U.S. economic slowdown.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2001

Chiyoda Mutual negative value still up in air

Administrators of failed insurer Chiyoda Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Friday that they are close to determining the firm's negative net worth -- somewhere around 311.9 billion yen -- and that the final figure will be released by the end of the month.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2001

NEC plans Japan's biggest job site

NEC Corp. said Friday it will launch the largest job Web site in Japan next Thursday in cooperation with 14 major employment agencies, including Recruit Co. and Pasona Softbank Inc.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Mori, Bush expected to confirm macroeconomic cooperation

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and U.S. President George W. Bush are expected to issue a joint statement mainly on bilateral cooperation regarding macroeconomic policies when they meet in Washington on Monday, in an attempt to quell concerns over recent steep falls in stock markets in both countries.
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2001

Go, Mr. Mori, and soon

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has apparently acknowledged what the media have been saying of late: His days are numbered. But he has left everyone guessing exactly when he will step down. One thing is certain, however: The Liberal Democratic Party will select a new leader in a presidential election later...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

171 fires per day in 2000: agency

There were 62,418 fires in Japan last year, up 3,892, or 6.7 percent, from 1999 for a second straight year of increase, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Snow Brand execs sent to prosecutors

OSAKA -- Police on Friday sent papers to prosecutors on nine officials of Snow Brand Milk Products Co. on suspicion of professional negligence in connection with the massive outbreak of food poisoning that hit western Japan last summer.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Obituary: Isao Okawa

Sega Corp. President Isao Okawa died Friday of heart failure, the company said. He was 74. Okawa, concurrently honorary chairman of CSK Corp., died at a Tokyo hospital. In 1984, he assumed the chairmanship of Sega Enterprises Inc., the predecessor of Sega. Okawa, a graduate of Waseda University's engineering...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Confession made under duress: woman

After 10 days of confinement, Manalili Villanueva Rosal finally confessed to a Chiba Prefectural Police detective that she murdered her lover. She retracted her confession the next day -- and maintained her innocence throughout her trial -- but was sentenced to eight years in prison in September 1999....
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2001

Sanwa to offer mortgages by cellphone

Sanwa Bank will begin accepting mortgage applications through mobile phones on Wednesday in a service that will be the first of its kind for commercial banks in Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2001

Dealers cautious on bourse plan

The head of the Japan Securities Dealers Association said Friday that the industry should not contribute funds to a share-buying body proposed by the ruling coalition.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2001

Retailer Mycal names new chief

OSAKA -- Troubled retailer Mycal Corp. on Friday formally named Osamu Shikata, former chief of the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, as its new president, replacing Kotaro Utsunomiya, who is to become an adviser.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Komura plans poll on spouse names

In a move that is likely to rekindle political debate, Justice Minister Masahiko Komura instructed his ministry Friday to conduct a public opinion poll on a possible revision of the Civil Code to enable a married couple to retain separate family names.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

New law to enable deaf, blind to be doctor, nurse

The Cabinet endorsed bills Friday to amend 27 laws that ban blind and deaf people from becoming doctors, nurses, pharmacists or assuming many other professional positions, government officials said.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2001

Sadly, conflicts make sense

Conflict is sometimes said to be the normal condition of human society; peace is the exception that requires explanation. Many of today's conflicts are peculiarly resistant to efforts at resolution because a set of contradictory logics tilts the balance toward their perpetuation. For example, while most...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Okinawans told to remain indoors while Mir descends

Crisis Management Minister Bunmei Ibuki said Friday he will ask local governments in Okinawa Prefecture to instruct residents to stay indoors on the day the abandoned Russian space station Mir is expected to pass over the region.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Japan to ratify child labor pact

The government on Friday decided to seek Diet ratification of an international treaty intended to eliminate the worst forms of child labor around the world.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 17, 2001

Upon further meditation . . .

Sometime after Gus Van Sant had released "Goodwill Hunting," he took a trip to India. During his stay, he was faxed a screenplay from Sony Pictures. Written by an unknown anchorman called Mike Rich, "Finding Forrester" had everything that prompted Van Sant to cut off his journey and return to LA. Three...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Successor before new stimulus, Mori hints

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori indicated his support Friday for holding the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race before compiling emergency measures to boost the ailing economy, effectively indicating he is not trying to hold onto power.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2001

Two old allies, two visions

LOS ANGELES -- Remember how the senior George Bush, when he was president, admitted to having trouble with "the vision thing." Has that deficiency been passed on to his son?
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2001

Taliban fanaticism is not typical of Islam

LONDON -- The problem is that the world is actually a very provincial place. Most people in the non-Muslim parts of the world have never been in any Muslim country, so if Muslims anywhere in the world do something really stupid, they will readily believe that those actions are typical of Islam -- and...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb