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JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

China agrees to sea-use framework

Japan and China agreed Tuesday to give two months' notification for marine research activities in each other's economic waters, setting up a framework to guard against incidents similar to one last year in which the entry of Chinese vessels into Japanese waters caused turmoil in bilateral relations....
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Mori, Putin plan March treaty talks

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in the Russian city of Irkutsk on March 25 for peace treaty talks, the two leaders agreed during a phone conversation Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Mori, Putin plan March treaty talks

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in the Russian city of Irkutsk on March 25 for peace treaty talks, the two leaders agreed during a phone conversation Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 14, 2001

Sakhalin oil sparks hopes and fears

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia -- Sakhalin Island is a remote former penal colony where the sea freezes for up to six months a year and villagers have been known to sleep in tents pitched in their bedrooms when the central heating fails.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2001

LDP panel approves bill on pensions

A panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party gave the go-ahead Tuesday to a government bill designed to drastically reform Japan's corporate pension system with an eye to protecting employees' rights to receive pension benefits.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Surviving students arrive at Kansai airport

Nine Uwajima Fisheries High School students who survived a collision Friday between their training ship and a surfacing U.S. submarine off Hawaii arrived Tuesday afternoon at Kansai International Airport in Osaka aboard a Japan Airlines flight.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 14, 2001

The Chinese are coming!

BEIJING -- For centuries, Chinese living away from home loyally trekked back to their ancestral villages every Spring Festival. Last month, a record 45 million people hit road, rail and airlines during the seven-day public holiday. The most auspicious date in the lunar calendar is a time for family reunions....
LIFE / Travel
Feb 14, 2001

Okinawa: A little bit of everything but still something else

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- The beaches are Hawaiian, the suburbs look American, the marketplaces resemble Asian bazaars, and the omiyage-ya are definitely Japanese. But Okinawa, as any resident is keen to tell you, has a personality all its own.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Politicians rethinking reliance on vote-gathering machinery

Staff writer It is election year in Japan again. About half of the seats in the Upper House will be up for grabs in the triennial election in July, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election -- often seen as an indicator of voting trends in national polls -- is expected in June.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Politicians rethinking reliance on vote-gathering machinery

Staff writer It is election year in Japan again. About half of the seats in the Upper House will be up for grabs in the triennial election in July, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election -- often seen as an indicator of voting trends in national polls -- is expected in June.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 14, 2001

Tokyo team plans memorial game

Local rugby team the Tokyo Crusaders will play a pair of memorial matches on March 4 for former player Gareth MacFadyen of New Zealand, who died late last year at the age of 24.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Minamata victims lose appeal

The No. 3 Petty Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by a group of Minamata mercury-poisoning victims and relatives of deceased victims who had accused the state and Kumamoto Prefecture of taking too long to provide them with recognition and benefits.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Minamata victims lose appeal

The No. 3 Petty Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by a group of Minamata mercury-poisoning victims and relatives of deceased victims who had accused the state and Kumamoto Prefecture of taking too long to provide them with recognition and benefits.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 12, 2001

Into the heart of darkness

What is it about deeply rural places and deeply strange religion and sex? In the United States, one has the stereotype of the hills of Appalachia as refuges for snake-handling preachers and cousin-marrying hillbillies. In Japan, one has the mountains of Shikoku in Masato Harada's "Inugami," where ancient...
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

4.4-magnitude quake rocks west

An earthquake measuring 4.4 in magnitude jolted a wide area of western Japan on Sunday morning, the Meteorological Agency said. No damage or injuries were reported immediately.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2001

Hints of thaw in Indo-Pakistani relations

ISLAMABAD -- When Pakistani military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke on the phone for a few minutes after the devastating earthquake that hit parts of India recently, many observers were relieved.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

LDP should return 'fees' from KSD affiliate: Kanzaki

The Liberal Democratic Party should return the money provided to it under the guise of party membership fees by an affiliate of the scandal-tainted industrial mutual aid organization KSD, the leader of the LDP's key coalition partner said Sunday.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

Police determine body found in cave to be Blackman's

Police have confirmed that the remains discovered Friday in a cave in Kanagawa Prefecture are those of Lucie Blackman, the 21-year-old British hostess who went missing last July.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2001

Give power to the people

The newly reorganized government ministries and agencies began operating Jan. 6. The administration of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, however, seems to be oblivious to the purpose of the reform.
EDITORIALS
Feb 12, 2001

A nation without a road map

The primary task of the ongoing ordinary Diet session is to present a credible picture of future Japan, a blueprint for the structural reforms needed to rebuild the nation. Plenary debates were held in both houses of the Diet earlier last week, followed by committee-level debates during the rest of the...

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