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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2000

Make or break for the Oslo Declaration

The task of achieving a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is at a critical crossroads.
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2000

Denmark says 'No, thank you'

The Danish people voted this week against adopting the euro. With nearly 90 percent of eligible voters going to the polls, Denmark rejected the European Union's single currency by a narrow 53-47 margin. The result is a bitter disappointment for the country's political and business establishment, which...
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2000

Household outlays decline for fourth month

Spending by salaried workers' households fell 2.9 percent in August from a year earlier, the fourth straight month of decline, a preliminary report released Friday by the Management and Coordination Agency shows.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

Tax cut plan for NPOs on the agenda

The Finance Ministry has started work on the application of tax reductions and exemptions on donations to nonprofit organizations, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

Nation remains at risk to nuclear disaster

A year after Japan's worst nuclear power disaster struck the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, a nuclear safety critic said Friday that sufficient measures have yet to be taken to prevent a similar accident from occurring.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2000

Singapore FTA should cover finance, commerce and people

Japan and Singapore should conclude a comprehensive bilateral free-trade agreement that covers cooperation in electronic commerce and financial services and the smooth flow of people, according to a report released Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

MSDF officer indicted for passing defense info

Prosecutors on Friday indicted a senior officer in the Maritime Self-Defense Force on charges of passing defense secrets to a Russian military attache in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

Japan should look toward FTAs: report

Japan should actively explore the possibility of concluding free-trade agreements with some developing countries while forging closer economic relations with the United States and other industrialized countries through other types of new bilateral arrangements, according to a government report.
JAPAN / History
Sep 30, 2000

MacArthur Honor Guard to fete his exit

In March 1951, at the age of 21, U.S. soldier David Valley was ordered to immediately leave the Korean Peninsula -- where the war was raging -- and go to Tokyo to serve on the Honor Guard of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of the allied powers.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

Cabinet endorses police reform bill

The Cabinet on Friday endorsed a draft bill to revise the Police Law in an effort to restore public trust after a series of scandals.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

Nakagawa vows to learn from Tokai

The government will continue efforts to prevent atomic disasters by learning from last year's fatal nuclear accident in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa said Friday.
OLYMPICS
Sep 30, 2000

Japanese synchro team swims to silver

SYDNEY -- Japan lifted perfect 10s from the Sydney International Aquatic Center on Friday but had to be satisfied with a second Olympic silver in the battle with Russia for world dominance in synchronized swimming.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2000

Body eyes project to up demand for semiconductors

The Electronic Industries Association of Japan said Friday that it will launch a five-year project in April to develop next-generation semiconductors as part of its efforts to revive the semiconductor industry.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

Diet gets bill to lower age of criminal responsibility

Lawmakers from the ruling bloc submitted controversial legislation Friday to the Diet to revise the Juvenile Law, demanding harsher punishments in a bid to reduce juvenile delinquency in the wake of a series of major crimes committed by teenagers.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 30, 2000

BayStars manager Gondo a goner in '01

The Yokohama BayStars front office told manager Hiroshi Gondo on Friday that the Central League club will not renew its contract with the stoic, unconventional manager.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2000

KDDI aims to stay solid No. 2

A new stage of competition will begin Sunday in the telecom industry when three major firms merge into KDDI, a long-awaited rival to the behemoth telecom group led by NTT Corp.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2000

Mizuho executives express confidence in future

Chief executives of the Mizuho Financial Group expressed confidence Friday that their company is destined to lead the Japanese banking industry and become one of the world's top banks.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 30, 2000

Thomas Wolfe: 20th-century America's warped looking glass

"No one has ever written any books about America -- I mean the real America," he wrote to a friend in 1931.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

Travel restrictions may be eased for Red Army kids

Japanese authorities allowed the 19-year-old son of a Japanese Red Army member who is believed to be living in Lebanon to visit the Middle East country in early August, police sources revealed recently.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2000

Koto player has tales to tell

Elizabeth Falconer, a former Japan Times hogaku columnist, lives in Seattle now, but in the many years she spent in Japan she steeped herself in Japanese culture, including winning a koto teacher's certificate from the late Tadao Sawai, one of the greatest koto masters of the 20th century. Since her...
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2000

NTV and others consider tying up in digital satellites

Nippon Television Network Corp. and three other concerns are considering jointly entering communications satellite digital broadcasting services due to start next year, company officials said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2000

U.S. should drain strategic oil reserves dry

With gasoline and home heating-oil prices continuing to shoot skyward, U.S. President Bill Clinton decided late last week to flood the market with federally stockpiled oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The SPR holds 582 million barrels of unrefined crude oil, a stock large enough to replace 37...
CULTURE / Art
Sep 30, 2000

Historic statue gets rare display

Kiyomizu Temple, one of Kyoto's top tourist attractions, is dedicated to Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Mercy. This year the temple is holding gokaicho, a special showing of the temple's honzon (main Buddhist image) through Dec. 3.
COMMENTARY
Sep 30, 2000

Russian contempt for Japan nothing new

I have never been able to feel any sense of affinity with the political leaders of Russia, let alone those of the former Soviet Union. The reason why may be illustrated by the following incident, which occurred when Nikita Khrushchev was the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and head of...

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