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BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2001

Even weaker yen seen ahead

Despite the slowdown in U.S. economic growth, all underlying economic factors other than the U.S. trade deficit still favor the dollar relative to the yen.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jan 17, 2001

Sound the alarm

Ahh, vindication is sweet. Especially when you don't have to toot your own horn. So take a bow, Mark Thompson: You got it in one last week when you identified security issues as anxiety numero uno for Internauti this year.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2001

Izumiya to close nine supermarkets running at a loss

OSAKA -- Izumiya Co., a midsize supermarket operator based here, will close down nine of its 20 loss-making stores and eliminate 400 jobs by introducing an early retirement program by the end of February 2003, the company said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2001

Osaka asks Mori to attend IOC visit

The Osaka bid committee for the 2008 Olympic Games has asked Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to attend a reception for International Olympic Committee delegates scheduled to visit the city in late February, committee sources said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2001

Tokyo department store sales fell in 2000

Sales at department stores in Tokyo's 23 wards dropped 0.9 percent in 2000 from the previous year to 2.176 trillion yen, the Japan Department Stores Association said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2001

Mild earthquake shakes Kozushima

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 3.5 jolted Kozushima and other islands in the Izu Island chain south of Tokyo at 2:32 p.m. Tuesday, the Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2001

Hashimoto to hold talks in Europe

Ryutaro Hashimoto, state minister in charge of administrative reform, announced Tuesday that he will make a six-day trip to Switzerland, Turkey and France beginning Monday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 17, 2001

Prospective grooms: get your head X-rayed

I know several people who claim they should have had their head X-rayed before ever stumbling into an international marriage. It's a statement I can never make.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jan 17, 2001

Asian environmental extremes

As if the greatest mountain range on earth were not monument enough to the scale of Asia, other ranges, such as the Tien Shan and the Altai, join ranks with the Himalayas to make Central Asia the roof of the world.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jan 17, 2001

Botswana's delta a force of nature

The Okavango delta (or "the Delta" as it's known by those in the know) is not a swamp, at least not in the conventionally unpleasant sense of the word.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2001

A living, dancing tradition

Stories may be universal, but story-telling, as a performance art, just doesn't travel well. Kabuki is universally known among the educated in the West, at least by name, while rakugo remains obscure to all but scholars and a handful of devotees. This is an unfortunate, but seemingly intractable position....
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Europe's top luxury brands unfazed by recession

Despite the prolonged economic doldrums in Japan, top-brand handbags, jewelry and others items imported from Europe are selling quite well as manufacturers step up their offensive.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Ex-bank manager held for fraud

A former manager of Tokyo Sowa Bank was arrested Monday for allegedly defrauding the now-bankrupt bank of 30 million yen in 1999 by saying the money had been loaned to a company president, Tokyo police said.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

Snow Brand to shut four more factories

Scandal-hit Snow Band Milk Products Co. announced Monday that it will close an additional four factories by the end of March 2002 as part of its effort to regain profitability.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Quake-proofing old homes a costly quest

OSAKA -- When the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck in January 1995, it sent shivers down the spines of many living in old wooden homes nationwide because most of the 6,432 people killed in the temblor were found in similar structures, which had collapsed. Public interest in whether such houses and buildings...
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

First LNG plant set for Hokkaido

Nippon Steel Corp. said Monday it has received an order from Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (JAPEX) to build Japan's first liquefied natural gas plant, in Hokkaido.
COMMENTARY
Jan 16, 2001

Best politics money can buy

Under a new law, which will come into force shortly in Britain, all political donations of more than 5,000 British pounds (some 800,000 yen) will have to be reported and foreign donations will be disallowed. The rules have been brought in to deal with suspicions that large donations to party funds may...
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

Aramaki to assume Kirin presidency

Kirin Brewery Co. said Monday it will appoint Senior Managing Director Koichiro Aramaki, 61, as the brewery's new president.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 16, 2001

S-Pulse gets Baron

Shimizu S-Pulse on Monday announced the signing of striker Baron from JEF United Ichihara.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Heavy snow covers Sea of Japan coast, halts flights

Heavy snow continued to fall in some parts of the country Monday, mainly along the Sea of Japan coast, as a cold air mass chilled the archipelago.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2001

Freedom worth fighting for

Ten years ago, the Soviet government mounted the last furious defense of its crumbling empire. As Lithuanian citizens set up a vigil outside the television tower of Vilnius, the nation's capital, Soviet forces moved to break up the protests with tanks and troops. Fourteen people died on the night of...
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

Miyazawa, Fabius to monitor U.S. economy

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and his French counterpart Laurent Fabius agreed Monday the two countries will closely monitor economic and financial policies to be carried out under the new administration of the United States, a Finance Ministry official said.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Astronauts tour to report on mission

The crew of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery said Monday that aspects of everyday life will become increasingly important as astronauts' missions get longer.

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