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JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Sogo could be sold to U.S. equity fund

The Cerberus Group, a private U.S. equity fund that has already made an offer to buy the collapsed retail chain Nagasakiya, may also be interested in the failed department store chain Sogo Co.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Okinawa summit ready to expand upon meeting of foreign ministers

The Group of Eight leaders meeting in Okinawa beginning Friday will explore ways to prevent regional conflicts and address other challenges in the sphere of international politics.
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2000

BOJ again decides not to raise interest rates

Amid concerns over the nation's economic future following the collapse last week of department store operator Sogo Co., the Bank of Japan on Monday once again decided against raising interest rates.
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2000

A call for real police reform

A government-appointed, private-sector panel of advisers has now issued its much anticipated recommendations for changes in the nation's scandal-tainted police forces. The Council on the Reform of Police Systems delivered its proposals one month later than first promised, and the original draft developed...
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2000

Conference aims for better budgets

The ruling coalition launched a new conference Monday in an attempt to make the compiling of budgets and other fiscal policymaking more focused.
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2000

Japan, EU to set up panel to facilitate investment

Japan and the European Union agreed Monday to set up a bilateral committee to ease the flow of European direct investment into Japan, an official of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Lawyers urge action to save dugong

Urgent government action is needed to protect the dugong from extinction, according to a national association of lawyers who presented a petition in Tokyo on Monday calling for immediate surveys of the animal, its habitat and conservation measures.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Some Miyake islanders allowed to return home

Miyake Island authorities lifted an evacuation order Monday for some residents of the northeastern part of the island now that volcanic activity on Mount Oyama has subsided.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Okinawa weaving tradition dying out

OGIMI, Okinawa Pref. -- Until recently, visitors to this village would have seen elderly women -- many in their 90s or older -- patiently making banana-fiber thread while sitting on sunny verandas and weaving it into traditional fabric.
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2000

BOJ decision said to be ambiguous

The Bank of Japan's decision Monday to leave the "zero-interest-rate" policy unchanged did not surprise many, given the shock financial markets received from the virtual bankruptcy last week of department store operator Sogo Co.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Okinawa dialects are taking on new sounds

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- For goodbyes, Okinawans no longer say "anayagabu sabira" -- Ryukyuan for "I pray for your happiness." They sing it.
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2000

Japan-U.S. steel dispute to be resolved by WTO

Opening a new chapter in the simmering trade dispute over hot-rolled steel products, senior Japanese and American officials will face each other in front of international trade judges to discuss the matter for the first time next month.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Japan urged to promote IT in developing nations

Japan should promote education in developing countries by offering international education programs over the Internet and by providing information technology training to school teachers and engineers in those nations, an Education Ministry panel said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Aum members sentenced to death for subway attack

Two Aum Shinrikyo followers were sentenced to death Monday for releasing the nerve gas sarin on the Tokyo subway system in March 1995 and for illegally manufacturing firearms.
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2000

IT support urged to facilitate Japan's industrial 'rebirth'

Business leaders urged the government Monday to act promptly to ease regulations and concentrate its resources on information technology and other key growth industries to achieve a "reborn Japan."
CULTURE / Books
Jul 18, 2000

Get in the game with 'Ultra Nippon'

ULTRA NIPPON: How Japan Reinvented Football, by Jonathan Birchall. Headline, 2000, 256 pp., 16.99 pounds (cloth). Hundreds of books have been written about the J. League since its launch in 1993, and now one has been written in English.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 18, 2000

Ennosuke lights up the stage with super summer program

July is the month for Ennosuke Ichikawa at the Kabukiza. For the champion of Super Kabuki, this year's event is particularly significant because it marks the 30th performance since the initial presentation of his summer program at the Kabukiza.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 18, 2000

Barry carries Marines

Pinch-hitter Jeff Barry doubled with the bases loaded and two out in the seventh inning Monday to drive in three runs and lead the Lotte Marines 6-5 over the Seibu Lions at Chiba Marine Stadium.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 18, 2000

The art and artistry of translation

WORDS, IDEAS, AND AMBIGUITIES: Four Perspectives on Translating from the Japanese, edited by Donald Richie. A Pacific Basin Institute Book, Imprint Publications, 2000, 88 pp., $19.95. This volume is a faithful account of an important and stimulating series of colloquia held at the International House...
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Kirin still selling recalled beverage

Kirin Beverage Corp. is continuing to sell its Kirin Speed sport drink through some 40,000 vending machines nationwide despite a recall of the product announced Saturday, company officials said Monday.
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jul 18, 2000

Feed your head

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
COMMENTARY
Jul 18, 2000

A new era unfolds in Taiwan

I was part of a Japanese media group that visited Taiwan June 18-21, took part in joint interviews with President Chen Shui-bian and his predecessor Lee Teng-hui, and came away with strong impressions of their leadership skills.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Sales agents for Snow Brand go bankrupt

Approximately 30 of the 500 sales agents for Snow Brand Milk Products Co. in six prefectures in western Japan have effectively been put out of business by the June 29 outbreak of food poisoning linked to milk made at the company's Osaka plant, government officials said Monday.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 18, 2000

Personal relationships are everything

STAKEHOLDING: The Japanese Bottom Line, by Robert J. Ballon and Keikichi Honda. Tokyo: The Japan Times, 2000, 240 pp., 38 tables, 6 figures. 3,000 yen (cloth). One year, an acquaintance recalls, her family started getting an unusually large number of "oseibo" (yearend presents) and "ochuugen" (midyear...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2000

Raising taxes invites economic catastrophe

Newspaper reports indicate that Japan's Tax Commission has used its role as an advisory panel to the prime minister to propose lowering the minimum taxable individual-income level. Raising taxes on the poor is justified by attempting to share the income-tax burden more widely. A wide range of allowable...
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2000

Japan sets up advisory panel to review assistance to China

The Foreign Ministry has set up an advisory panel to make recommendations on reviewing Japan's official development assistance to China, with its inaugural meeting scheduled for Wednesday, the ministry said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2000

Mindanao's nightmare continues

It is easy to be disheartened about the violence that is sweeping across the Philippine province of Mindanao. It was thought to have been settled four years ago, but it has erupted once again. The government has had recent successes on the battlefield, but the rebels are not likely to be subdued.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2000

Fiscal 2001 budget to focus on recovery, Nakagawa says

The size of the fiscal 2001 budget will exceed that for the current fiscal year and focus on bringing about a full-scale economic recovery, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa said Sunday.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan