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BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2000

April surplus expands 40.2%

The nation's surplus in the broadest measure of trade expanded 40.2 percent in April from a year earlier as exports outpaced imports, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 13, 2000

Big fourth gives Dragons win over Carp

Pinch hitter Junichi Jinno doubled home a pair of runs and the Chunichi Dragons scored five times in the bottom of the fourth inning Sunday on their way to a 7-6 victory over the Hiroshima Carp at the Nagoya Dome.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2000

BOJ board again maintains ultra-easy monetary policy

The Bank of Japan decided Monday to leave its "zero-interest-rate" policy unchanged, the central bank said.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jun 13, 2000

Beyond the Buena Vista Social Club

Ever felt you missed out on an opportunity? When working as a talent scout for a record company in the U.K., I once stumbled upon U2 in the band's infancy. Somehow negotiations never got started and they were soon snapped up elsewhere. After that, in U2's words, I never did find what I was looking for....
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2000

Kono off to Syria to pay condolences

The government will send Foreign Minister Yohei Kono to Syria to make a call of condolence over the death of President Hafez Assad, Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 13, 2000

Future rides on this election

The Japanese archipelago will be deafened by the din of election campaigning for the Lower House for about two weeks beginning today. Given the growing public distrust of politics, however, the ranks of voters who claim no party affiliation are swelling. Political parties have repeatedly embraced unprincipled...
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2000

Prison sought for ex-boxer in gun case

OSAKA — Prosecutors demanded six years in prison for a former world boxing champion indicted last year for procuring and selling guns, one of which was allegedly used in a drug-related killing.
EDITORIALS
Jun 11, 2000

For want of an ale

Visitors to Japan just lost one of their favorite tell-the-folks-back-home anecdotes, the one that goes: They sell beer in vending machines here! Every guidebook mentions the fabled dispensers; sooner or later, every tourist gets photographed standing next to one. It is modern Japan's answer to Mount...
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2000

Central America, Japan plan to cooperate in dealing with disasters

Top-level Japanese and Central American officials will meet in Tokyo in early August to discuss cooperation in weathering a spate of hurricane-triggered floods and other natural disasters that have afflicted the region in recent years.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2000

Four killed, several hurt in blast at Gunma plant

An explosion Saturday at a chemical plant in Ojima, Gunma Prefecture, killed four people and injured at least 27 — many by flying shards of glass, officials said.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2000

Man claims false molestation arrest

NARA — It should have been just another day for Takeshi Yamamoto, 56, when he climbed aboard a Kintetsu train at Koriyama Station at 7:38 a.m. on May 10.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 11, 2000

Pressure off for Japan in Kirin Cup

At least Philippe Troussier didn't kiss his players this time. After Japan had demolished Jamaica 4-0 in their third-place playoff at the King Hassan II Cup in Casablanca on Tuesday, the Frenchman must have felt tempted.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2000

Children's book publishers searched over alleged cartel

The Fair Trade Commission has searched six publishers of children's books over allegations they had formed a cartel, sources close to the case said Saturday.
COMMUNITY
Jun 11, 2000

Cybird flies big plans for mobile Net future

Kazutomo Robert Hori It came as a very pleasant surprise when an old friend rang from Osaka to tell me that her son's business had taken off like a rocket. The last time I saw Robert was at his wedding seven years ago -- a spectacular if crazy event held on top of a mountain in Hiroshima Prefecture....
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2000

21 Japanese flee Solomon Islands

The Australian navy on Saturday morning evacuated 21 Japanese nationals from Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, where a coup erupted Monday, Foreign Ministry officials said.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 11, 2000

Haven't got the yang of Japanese gardening

I came home the other day and noticed my neighbor had cut my grass, trimmed my trees and watered my plants. This is normal. I apologized profusely, thanked Ueda-san repetitively and she said, as always, "Oh, it was nothing."
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2000

Makeup TOEFL exam scheduled for July 8

A popular English-proficiency test that was canceled nationwide Friday due to a problem with testing booklets has been tentatively rescheduled for July 8, the exam organizer said Saturday.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 11, 2000

High jinks dropped as orchestra grows up

Budapesti Festivali Zenekara May 31, Ivan Fischer conducting in Suntory Hall -- Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56a (Johannes Brahms, 1833-97), Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 (Bela Bartok, 1881-1945) and "Zigeunerweisen" for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 20 (Pablo Martin Militon de Sarasate...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2000

A summit of little consequence

The recent summit held by U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin resembled a rendezvous of two ships moving in opposite directions. Putin has just reached the epicenter of power, Clinton is departing. Putin has just begun his historic record, Clinton is finishing his. Putin...
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2000

Public art goes to the grass roots

In the golden bubble days, when public money flowed like wine at an alcoholic's banquet, the urban landscape of Japan was colonized by sculptural objects of such widely differing quality that some areas took on the appearance of a garage sale. The public was not fooled and has treated these objects with...
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2000

Mori casts doubt on Japanese democracy

When Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said that Japan is a "kami no kuni" (country of the gods), it can be argued he was doing little more than expressing a personal religious belief before a group of like-minded, Shinto-supporting Diet members. U.S. media claims that he was trying revive Japanese nationalism...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 11, 2000

How to say goodbye

I have over the years researched readers' questions diligently, but never have I been quite as well prepared as for this column, on how to get married in Japan. I would like to tell you why. On May 25, William Sherman and I proceeded through the process as outlined below. Bill has had three postings...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 11, 2000

Ichiro boosts his average to .401 in loss to Fighters

Ichiro Suzuki of Orix went 2-for-4 and saw his batting average soar to .401 during the BlueWave's 13-4 loss to the Nippon Ham Fighters on Saturday at Green Stadium Kobe.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2000

Eco-friendly taxis ply Kyoto

KYOTO — Kyoto has long been a mecca for school excursions, especially in May and June, but only recently have environmentally friendly taxis been gaining popularity as a means of touring the city.

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