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JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Empress Dowager is on respirator

The Empress Dowager, widow of the Emperor Showa, has had difficulty breathing since Wednesday evening and is on a respirator, the Imperial Household Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

HIV-positive man sues police for not hiring him

A man in his 20s filed a suit Thursday with the Tokyo District Court against the metropolitan government, claiming the Metropolitan Police Department refused to hire him after finding out he is HIV-positive.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 16, 2000

Yagi, Martinez go double deep

Veteran slugger Hiroshi Yagi and Takashi Yoshida both hit two-run homers off Chunichi lefty Hideo Koike in the second inning Thursday night as the Hanshin Tigers triumphed 12-6 over the Dragons at Koshien Stadium.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2000

Microsoft, Hitachi tie on systems solutions

Major Japanese electronics maker Hitachi Ltd. and U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. said Thursday they have agreed to cooperate in the systems solutions business.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Surveillance is unnecessary as cult poses no danger, Aum leader claims

Aum Shinrikyo chief Tatsuko Muraoka testified during the first hearing of a lawsuit filed against the Public Security Examination Commission that ongoing surveillance of the cult under the anti-Aum law is unnecessary as it no longer poses a threat to society.
EDITORIALS
Jun 16, 2000

Progress in Pyongyang

It has been a historic week on the Korean Peninsula. The summit between the leaders of North and South Korea, Mr. Kim Jong Il and Mr. Kim Dae Jung, has surpassed all expectations. It is tempting to say that the two men are writing the final chapter of the Cold War, but the temptation should be resisted....
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Sumitomo halts sales of rubber gloves with hormone disrupters

Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. said Thursday that it will stop selling vinyl chloride gloves for use in preparing food, in response to a warning Wednesday by the Health and Welfare Ministry that the gloves contain hormone disrupters.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2000

Comsn cuts jobs due to profit decline

Major home-care service provider Comsn Co. announced Thursday that it plans to cut about 1,000 jobs, or about one-quarter of its workforce, due to weaker-than-expected earnings from services covered by the newly launched public nursing-care insurance.
COMMUNITY
Jun 16, 2000

Healing relationships bloom in 'renga'

A Japanese proverb says: Doki ai motomu (Like minds are drawn to one another).
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Kubota-linked 'sokaiya' held

OSAKA — Osaka Prefectural Police on Thursday arrested two "sokaiya" corporate racketeers on suspicion of accepting 85 million yen in bribes from major machinery maker Kubota Corp. in the form of billboard rental fees, police sources said.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2000

Low-price shares gain favor amid IT slide

Investors are opting for low- and medium-priced shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, reflecting a major shift in investors' preferences.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2000

NTT to offer untimed Net access

Two local Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group firms said Thursday that they will launch July 17 a full-scale flat-rate Internet connection service for integrated service digital network subscribers.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 16, 2000

Dedication the name of the game for aerobics 'queen'

OK, maybe I'm not in the best shape of my life, but does she really have to rub it in?
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Koreans in Japan jubilant over North-South thaw

Korean residents of Japan on Thursday shared in the excitement of the landmark reconciliation pact signed by North and South Korea late Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

20 tons of radioactive monazite apparently sold to Toba hotelier

Most of the 20-odd tons of the radioactive substance monazite that disappeared after being purchased by the former head of a trading firm was probably sold to a man in Toba, Mie Prefecture, investigative sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2000

Nippon Life's capital to be increased

Nomura Securities Co. and Daiwa Securities Group Inc. plan to invest 180 billion yen in Nippon Life Insurance Co. to help the insurer beef up its capital base, sources familiar with the deal said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Communists set to sacrifice policies in quest for change

The Japanese Communist Party will ask the people to help it revamp a political setup that has been completely warped by the Liberal Democratic Party's rule, according to JCP leader Tetsuzo Fuwa.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Asahi backs out of planned tieup with Sanwa, Tokai

Three months after signing a basic agreement to integrate its management with Sanwa Bank and Tokai Bank, Asahi Bank reversed its stance Thursday and said it will pull out of the three-way consolidation plan.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2000

BTM will survive competition of new era, future chief says

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, currently the biggest bank in Japan, will strive to survive intensifying competition in the banking industry by utilizing its mostly upscale retail customer base and solid international networks, the future president of the bank said.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2000

Plan will shear Malaysia's Islamic Party of its spirit and charisma

KUALA TRENGGANU, Malaysia -- The Malaysian government's move to separate religion from politics has touched a raw nerve in the leading opposition party in Malaysia. It has incensed the theocratic Islamic Party (PAS), whose cardinal principle is Islam, to the last man.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2000

Pakistan gains clear edge over India in race for nuclear prowess

NEW DELHI -- It seems sad rather than tragic that warring India and Pakistan have not learned lessons that history taught us after such pain and suffering. In the summer of 1998, India exploded nuclear bombs. Pakistan did the same within days to begin what is clearly a disturbing sign in the subcontinent:...
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2000

Hewlett-Packard, Softbank planning PC joint venture

Hewlett-Packard Co. of the United States will be entering the Japanese personal computer market by setting up a joint venture with Softbank Corp. and selling home-use products on the Internet, the U.S. firm's chief executive officer announced Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2000

Voter turnout key to election

Official campaigning is under way for the June 25 general election. This will be the first Japanese general election to be held in three years and eight months, following the last poll in October 1996. The new Lower House, whose term will run to 2004, will be the center of national politics as Japan...
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 16, 2000

A ghost brings actress back into the spotlight

"I was deeply impressed by the beauty of the words," says actress Keiko Matsuzaka, 47, breathless with enthusiasm as she talks about the play she's producing: "Tenshu Monogatari."
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2000

KEPCO to step up monitoring of MOX

OSAKA — In the wake of a scandal involving British Nuclear Fuels PLC, Kansai Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that it will step up efforts to monitor the quality of plutonium fuel manufactured by foreign companies for use in its nuclear power plants.

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