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BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2001

Wholesale, retail sales slide 1.2%

Combined sales by Japanese retailers and wholesalers slipped 1.2 percent in February from a year before to 42.27 trillion yen, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Bill on data protection approved by Cabinet

The Cabinet approved Tuesday a privacy protection bill designed to set a legal framework to regulate the acquisition and dissemination of personal information for commercial use.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2001

Canon plans new digital camera

Canon Inc. said Tuesday that it will release the world's smallest digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens in early April.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Bureaucracy may face merit pay

Ryutaro Hashimoto, state minister in charge of administrative reform, unveiled a government blueprint Tuesday for overhauling the civil service that would make promotion subject to performance and tighten rules regarding retiring bureaucrats who go to work in the private sector.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

10% of firms let staff take leave for volunteer activities

About one in 10 Japanese companies have adopted programs to allow employees to take leave so they can participate in volunteer activities, according to a recent survey by the Japan Federation of Employers Associations (Nikkeiren).
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2001

Japan Telecom to cut local call rate to 8.5 yen

Japan Telecom Co. said Tuesday it will reduce its daytime local call rate to 8.5 yen per three minutes, making it the lowest local phone charge in Japan, when its nationwide local-call business starts in May.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2001

Ministers ordered to have emergency plan by early April

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori instructed his economic ministers Tuesday to compile by early April a package of emergency economic measures to support Japan's fragile economy, government officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Hoya to ship glass to U.S. nuclear lab

Japanese glass maker Hoya Corp. plans to resume suspended shipments of glass slabs to the U.S. Energy Department's nuclear weapons research facility, believing the product will not lead to new nuclear development, the company said.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Mar 28, 2001

Cherry grove has encyclopedic reach

If asked what the national tree of Japan is, I would answer sakura, the Japanese flowering cherry, which belongs to the very large genus Prunus. There are many places throughout the country where one can view these beautiful trees, but for those wishing to compare many different varieties at one time,...
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Residents fail to close disease institute

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday rejected a complaint filed by residents seeking a court order to halt the operation of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in their neighborhood.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Copyright ruling favoring game sellers is upheld

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that the selling of secondhand game software does not infringe on the copyright of game software manufacturers.
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2001

The limits of public opinion

LONDON -- Speaking to the House of Commons on Nov. 11, 1947, Winston Churchill said, "No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2001

When justice looks the other way

Directors, as they age, usually must either move with the times or find themselves waiting by a silent phone. Since the days of D.W. Griffith, Hollywood has been full of once lordly directors who, having fallen out of fashion, are relegated to telling anecdotes about their glory days to deferential young...
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

Costa Rican president to visit Japan

Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria will begin a five-day trip to Japan on Monday. The visit is at the invitation of the Japanese government, the Foreign Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2001

Aggressive action could make Mori great

Japan has been dealing with its economic problems more aggressively than ever since the mid-February meeting in Sicily of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven industrial powers.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2001

Fukuoka City Bank under review

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Monday it has placed the E-plus financial strength rating of Fukuoka City Bank under review, awaiting a possible downgrade.
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2001

A small step forward in Irkutsk

Both Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the achievements made at their talks Sunday in Irkutsk, Siberia. Assessing the same meeting, however, the two leaders inadvertently acknowledged publicly that they were giving different interpretations of the talks on the...
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

With budget passed, focus turns to Mori

The 82.65 trillion yen fiscal 2001 state budget, featuring a record-high 48.66 trillion yen to fund policies to bolster the economy, was enacted Monday evening.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2001

Department store sales dip for fifth straight month

Sales at department stores dropped 2.5 percent in February from a year before for the fifth straight month of decline, an industry group said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

Norwegian royal couple treated to banquet, tours

Norwegian King Harald V and Queen Sonja attended a dinner party hosted by the Emperor and Empress at the Imperial Palace on Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

Ex-professors admit role in leaking dental exam

A former university professor and an ex-member of the committee that prepares the national dental examinations admitted Monday to being involved in the leaking of exam questions in violation of the Dental Practitioners Law.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 27, 2001

Tickets for Confederations Cup

said Sunday it will accept ticket applications for this year's Confederations Cup, a rehearsal event for the 2002 World Cup finals, for 10 days beginning April 1. Domestic ticket applications for the May 30-June 10 tournament will be accepted via mail and over the Internet at the JFA's official Web site...
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

Wartime redress suit rejected

The Tokyo District Court on Monday dismissed a compensation suit brought against the government by South Korean women who were forced to provide sex for Japanese servicemen and by South Korean men who fought for Japan during the war.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2001

Affiliate of Asahi Mutual Life liquidates due to sour loans

Asahi Jitsugyo, a real estate affiliate of Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co., is in the process of liquidation after racking up liabilities of 18.3 billion yen, Teikoku Databank said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

5.2-magnitude aftershock rocks west; none injured

OSAKA -- A strong earthquake measuring an estimated magnitude of 5.2 jolted a wide area of western Japan on Monday morning, the largest aftershock from the powerful 6.4 magnitude quake that hit the region Saturday, the Meteorological Agency said.

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