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BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

Current account surplus slides 8.7%

The nation's surplus in the broadest gauge of trade in goods and services in February declined 8.7 percent from a year earlier to 1.35 trillion yen, marking the third consecutive month of year-on-year decreases, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday in a preliminary report.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Japan in diplomatic pickle over Lee's visa application

Japan claimed Wednesday that it has not received an application for an entry visa from former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2001

Will Pyongyang split U.S., South Korea?

SEOUL -- The recent shakeup in Seoul's foreign policy and security team in the aftermath of the Washington summit represents a double effort to patch up relations with the United States, while persuading North Korea to come back to the bargaining table. Both tasks require supreme diplomatic skill.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

DaimlerChrysler buys Volvo's stake in MMC

DaimlerChrysler AG has agreed to pay $297 million for AB Volvo's 3.3 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to expand its alliance with the Japanese firm into commercial vehicles, MMC announced in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

U.S. plunge tips markets

Equity markets around the world continued to reverberate from the effects of plunges on Wall Street in the first quarter. Among developed markets, only Austria and New Zealand were overall positive, while year-to-date losses in dollar terms ranged from Spain's 2.8 percent fall to Finland's 42.8 percent...
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Apr 12, 2001

Tropical fusion in southern Satsuma

It is well known that first impressions count, and my first impressions of Kagoshima Flower Garden were excellent.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 12, 2001

Playing politics is no game

It's a pity for the 24 Americans being detained on Hainan island in China that their little contretemps with the Chinese air force didn't take place a month ago, before the International Olympic Committee inspectors paid a visit to Beijing to check on its bid for the 2008 Games.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

Forklift center to open in Chiba

Toyoda Automatic Loom Works Ltd. will open a center in Chiba Prefecture later this month to exhibit its products and services.
ENVIRONMENT / IN BLOOM
Apr 12, 2001

Yamabuki (Kerria japonica)

Murasaki had prepared the floral offerings. She chose eight of her prettiest little girls to deliver them, dressing four as birds and four as butterflies. The birds brought cherry blossoms in silver vases, the butterflies yamabuki in gold.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Nippon TV staff reprimanded over error in Mori story

Nippon Television Network Corp. reprimanded three employees for a tabloid news show report that said outgoing Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori had been unwilling to step down because he wanted to make sure he received a retirement allowance, Nippon TV officials said Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 12, 2001

India's quake mystery solved

The mystery of what caused a great earthquake in northeast India in 1897 that killed several thousand people and reduced all masonry buildings to rubble in a region roughly the size of England finally appears to have been solved.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 12, 2001

Handspring holds on to the future

Move over personal computers, you're just not personal enough. Consumers are seeking something sleeker, something less sedentary. Something that will perform more technological acrobatics and perhaps be a little easier to cuddle up with on a rainy day. Or so handheld computer makers and visionaries would...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 12, 2001

Scientists find munchies has physiological basis

The anecdotes and folklore that filter out from the hazy world of cannabis users attest to the drug's stimulating effect on the appetite as well as on the brain. Now scientists have confirmed that the munchies has a physiological basis, establishing the first firm link between cannabinoids (chemicals...
LIFE / Digital
Apr 12, 2001

Nintendo best positioned to rule

While Sony had the head start and Microsoft the marketing millions, as the battle lines become clearer, it appears that Nintendo may be best positioned to rule over the next generation of videogames.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 12, 2001

From ridiculous to sublime: the arguments of a fossil fool

Last month, the White House announced that U.S. President George W. Bush would not support the Kyoto Protocol because it "is not in the United States' economic best interests." The protocol is aimed at reducing human emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, that contribute to global...
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2001

Mr. Putin's timely conversion

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the takeover of NTV, the only independent television station in the country, is "a matter of the fundamental principles of the market economy." That is a convenient approach when the key shareholder in NTV is Gazprom, the former state company that is headed...
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2001

Peru returns to normalcy

Peru held its first round of presidential elections last weekend as the country begins to emerge from the shambles bequeathed by former President Alberto Fujimori. With left-of-center front-runner Alejandro Toledo unable to claim outright victory, a second round will be held in either May or June.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2001

Japan, China, South Korea take aim at smuggling

Japan will cooperate with China and South Korea to combat human and drug smuggling, Justice Minister Masahiko Komura said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 11, 2001

Another shade of blue: so strange, so familiar

Chong Rating: * * * Director: Lee Sang Il Running time: 54 minutes Language: JapaneseOpens April 21 as the morning and late show at Box Higashi Nakano Theater "Chong" is a derogatory term for the zainichi -- descendants of Koreans brought to Japan. But "Chong" the movie tells you that it's also the...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2001

Kamei vows to reduce taxes in bid for LDP's leadership

The Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race moved up a gear Tuesday when Shizuka Kamei, the party's policy chief, announced he would run, vowing major tax cuts to sustain the nation's fragile economy.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2001

Over 70% want to try Web shopping: poll

More than 70 percent of consumers said they want to try online shopping, while 90 percent said they are concerned about the security of online systems, according to a survey by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2001

Cabinet approves import curbs on China leeks, shiitake, straw

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to invoke temporary import curbs on three agricultural products, mainly from China, to protect domestic farmers from a recent surge in imports.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2001

Quota for South Korea nori to rise

The government will increase the 2001 import quota of nori from South Korea to 150 million sheets -- an increase of 30 million sheets -- as a result of a poor seaweed harvest in Ariake, a major seaweed producing region in southern Kyushu, officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2001

Japan supports China over U.S. ahead of APEC summit

Japan is opening cover fire to help China defeat the United States. It's not a real battle, off course. It's a trade skirmish being fought at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2001

The Bank of Japan's new policy is sound

On March 19, the Bank of Japan decided that it would focus more on money supply than on interest rates and that the new policy would be continued until it was confident that the consumer price index, which has been declining continuously for over two years, was rising.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2001

Nippon Life, Dai-ichi tie up to administer corporate pensions

Nippon Life Insurance Co. and Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Tuesday they will jointly establish a company in October specializing in administering corporate pension fund assets.

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