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JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Issei's love of America tempered

A loyal American who cherishes Japanese values inherited from his issei parents, Henry Ikemoto's life bridges two cultures.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Record number to take Golden Week trips

A record number of travelers are expected to arrive and depart Japan during this year's Golden Week holiday period, according to Japan's largest travel agency.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Pyongyang welcomes Japan NGO pushing redress

Kyodo News
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

Insurers join on computer support

The Nippon Life Insurance Co. group, Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co. said they have jointly set up a venture to develop a computerized support system for the sale of policies.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

LDP panel wants tax cuts for real estate transactions

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's policymaking panel on land and transportation agreed Wednesday to seek tax breaks for sellers of real estate as part of a government emergency economic package that was unveiled Friday, party sources said.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

LDP rivals trade promises as leadership race heats up

Former health minister Junichiro Koizumi and former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto began shaping their campaign policies Wednesday in the runup to the April 24 Liberal Democratic Party election.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

Revised L-mode plans submitted for approval

NTT's two regional carriers on Wednesday reapplied for approval to launch a modified version of their L-mode Internet service.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

Bank lending falls 3.6%, declining for 39th straight month

The balance of outstanding loans at Japanese banks dropped 3.6 percent in March from a year earlier for the 39th consecutive month of decline, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Youths' public service mulled

Education Minister Nobutaka Machimura told an advisory panel Wednesday to come up with concrete recommendations on mandatory community service by elementary through high school students.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

Shinsei Securities to open May 1

Shinsei Bank said Wednesday its wholly owned subsidiary Shinsei Securities Co. will start operations on May 1, after completing registration procedures.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

Sony eyes headphone-style Walkman

Inc. said Wednesday that it will soon begin selling a new digital, headphone-style Walkman. Like other units already on the market, the 95-gram NW-E8P uses a flash memory chip that allows high-quality sound to be played without interruption, even when the unit is shaken.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Japan, EU to push U.S. on Kyoto pact

Japan and the European Union agreed Wednesday to continue urging the United States to participate in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to prevent global warming, Foreign Ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Japan must prepare better for bioterrorism: report

Japan needs to step up measures to cope with terrorist attacks using biological weapons, an advisory panel to the head of the Defense Agency said in a report Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Fashion school tied to tax dodge

Bunka Gakuen, the Tokyo-based operator of noted fashion school Bunka Fashion College, failed to declare some 250 million yen in income over a five-year period up to March 2000, sources close to tax authorities said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

Investors sought for cancer probe

U.S. biotechnology venture is soliciting Japanese investors for what it claims is a next-generation medical device that can identify early-stage cancers with real-time analysis.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 12, 2001

Logjam atop CL standings

Hideki Matsui belted a two-run homer and Hisanori Takahashi was solid over 62/3 innings as the Yomiuri Giants created a three-way tie for the lead in the Central League with a 4-2 win over the Chunichi Dragons at the Nagoya Dome on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Postal Agency, union negotiating staff cuts

The Postal Services Agency has begun negotiating with its labor union to trim the 140,000-strong workforce at post offices and rebuild its loss-making operations, according to the chief of the agency.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Apr 12, 2001

Environment takes back seat to U.S. economic recovery

U.S. President George W. Bush continued his personal campaign to change previous U.S. policy two weeks ago by renouncing the nation's commitment to limit industrial emissions of carbon dioxide. He did it shortly after Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman had given the...
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Civil suit ruling for Asahara gas atack due July 25

The Tokyo District Court decided Wednesday to hand down a ruling on July 25 in a damages lawsuit filed against Shoko Asahara, founder of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, over a 1994 sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. The decision was made after the plaintiffs, eight family members representing...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2001

A 'cold war' in the making

The collision between a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea reflects an emerging pattern of confrontation between the United States and China -- a development I noted in this column even prior to that incident.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Man sentenced for aiding Red Army

OSAKA -- The Osaka District Court sentenced a 49-year-old former hospital employee Wednesday to a suspended one-year prison term for harboring Fusako Shigenobu, founder of the Japanese Red Army guerrilla group, before her arrest in November.
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.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past