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JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

Japan pledges 1.5 billion yen for Zambia's program of reforms

Japan on Wednesday pledged 1.5 billion yen in grants to Zambia to support the country's efforts to improve its economic structure and to promote sanitary and educational development programs, Foreign Ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

Mori appoints 22 parliamentary vice ministers

A day after reshuffling his Cabinet, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Wednesday appointed 22 parliamentary vice ministers who will assist his Cabinet ministers.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

Priest on quest for schools in Cambodia

Fumio Goto never imagined that he would end up helping to build schools in Cambodia when he first accepted refugees from the country in 1981.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

Journalists debate role of English in Asia

English, as the dominant language in cyberspace, is becoming an indispensable communication tool for Asian people. And the increased use of English among nonnative speakers should make it more colorful as a world language.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2000

LDP panel set to extend housing loan tax breaks

The tax panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party basically agreed Wednesday to maintain tax breaks for housing loans for two to three years, albeit on a reduced scale, sources within the party said.
EDITORIALS
Dec 7, 2000

New Cabinet looks familiar

As expected, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has completed his Cabinet reshuffle. Yet at a time of political tumult, there is much that is familiar in the new Cabinet and LDP leadership, and the means by which they were chosen. Despite being assaulted on all sides, Mr. Mori and the Liberal Democratic Party...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

High court rejects ex-sex slaves' appeal

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal filed by 46 Filipino women seeking 920 million yen in compensation for having been forced to provide sex to Japanese soldiers during the war.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

Video shop bomber sent to prosecutors

Police turned over to public prosecutors Wednesday the case of a 17-year-old boy from Tochigi Prefecture who was arrested on charges of bombing a video shop in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2000

DDI joins hands with Hakuhodo

The nation's second-largest telecommunications carrier DDI Corp., known as KDDI, said Wednesday it has formed a joint venture with advertising agency Hakuhodo Inc. and three other firms to run ads on its mobile-phone Internet services.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

SDP set for about-face on SDF

The Social Democratic Party may take a major step back from its historic decision in 1994 recognizing the Self-Defense Forces as constitutional and supporting the continuance of the Japan-U.S. security treaty, according to party sources.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2000

Ex-MITI official tapped as next Daiei chairman

Jiro Amagai, a former bureaucrat of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, is likely to become chairman of ailing supermarket chain operator Daiei Inc., sources at the company said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

Slovakia hopes for Japanese Embassy in capital

Slovakia wants Japan to establish an embassy in its capital, Bratislava, and scrap visa requirements to enhance bilateral ties, according to Jozef Migas, president of the National Council -- Slovakia's parliament.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2000

Retail chains under siege

Conventional Japanese supermarket chains, which are suffering dwindling sales and being cold-shouldered by consumers, will be dealt another blow with the advance of foreign retail giants wielding aggressive business plans into the Japanese market.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2000

FTC defends proposal on postal competition

The head of the Fair Trade Commission, the nation's anti-cartel watchdog, on Wednesday defended a proposal by an FTC panel to allow private concerns to compete with the postal service in the letter-delivery business.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2000

Kamei wants postal savings funds placed in stocks

The top policymaker in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday urged the state-run postal savings and pension fund systems to invest in stocks to help prop up the sagging market.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 7, 2000

Popularity of Aso region both blessing and burden

FUKUOKA -- Kumamoto Prefecture's mountainous Aso region is a place where you could get drunk on nature's immensity. Swing your car onto Aso's Panorama Line road, step on the accelerator and you'll fly past grassy plains stretching upward to the green-tipped crags of Mount Aso and its five peaks. Here,...
COMMUNITY
Dec 7, 2000

Menswear fashions cut from a different cloth

Menswear was, as usual, relegated to the back seat in the recent Tokyo collections, and only a handful of designers showed any. Given the quality of male models used on the runways, however, this was probably in the designers' best interests.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 7, 2000

Hanshin set to sign Cardinals utility man Perez

OSAKA -- The Hanshin Tigers are set to sign utility man Eduardo Perez from the St. Louis Cardinals, officials of the Central League club confirmed Wednesday.
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Dec 7, 2000

Traditions found anew

"It's only recently that the great mass of Indians have begun to feel that rising in the world and becoming rich was a good thing, a valuable thing," says Asha Amemiya.
COMMUNITY
Dec 7, 2000

Cosmic wonders in Minami Aoyama

How about closing the century with a spectacular astronomical adventure? Special planetarium shows using cutting-edge technology will be held Dec. 13-30 at Spiral Garden, Minami Aoyama.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

Foreign students in Japan up 15% from '99 to 64,000

The number of foreign students studying in Japan -- mainly at universities and vocational schools -- has reached more than 64,000, the Education Ministry said Wednesday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 7, 2000

Yahata keeps the Bunnies hopping

You might say Shin Yahata is the Tom Jones of the Japan Ice Hockey League. And while he has yet to experience women tossing their underwear at him as he tools around the ice for the Kokudo Bunnies, it may only be a matter of time.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

U.S. ties, midterm plan top new defense chief's priority list

Newly appointed Defense Agency director general Toshitsugu Saito said Wednesday that he hopes to visit the United States at the earliest opportunity to hold talks with his counterpart after the January launch of the new U.S. administration.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2000

Imported vehicles post 3.3% monthly sales jump

Sales of imported motor vehicles in Japan rose 3.3 percent in November from a year earlier to 21,773 units, up for the fourth consecutive month, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said Wednesday.
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Dec 7, 2000

Counting down to Christmas in gold and silver

When you're getting into a Christmas mood, nothing expresses this festive state better than sparkly, shimmery, glimmery things, and when it comes to buying special gifts from the beauty realm, there is plenty of that sparkly stuff out there to choose from.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Dec 7, 2000

Yohei Kono warns against turning inward

Japan needs to constantly examine the contents of its official development assistance, but a large-scale reduction in ODA spending could jeopardize relations with Asian countries, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 7, 2000

SMAP star finds true love, new role

When the public recently learned that 28-year-old idol Takuya Kimura was marrying singer Shizuka Kudo, who is already four months pregnant with his child, the SMAP-man's image immediately changed from sex symbol to . . . well, actually, the image still seems to be under construction.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2000

Getting real on the Net

The Gallic gall. A French court has done the unthinkable. It has ruled that the French government has jurisdiction over cyberspace, or at least that part of the digital universe that overlaps with its physical borders.

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