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ENVIRONMENT
May 10, 2000

Trees and taste at Mito Botanic Garden

Mito, in Ibaraki Prefecture, is well known throughout Japan for natto (fermented soybeans), an acquired taste. It is also known for Kairakuen Garden, one of the Three Famous Gardens in Japan, which I've written about before. Just a couple of kilometers south of Mito in the lush green countryside, there...
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2000

Modest hopes for summit between Koreas

Last month, the leaders of North and South Korea stunned the world with an announcement of plans to meet in Pyongyang in June at the first ever summit between the two nations. It is an event fraught with both danger and opportunity.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 10, 2000

We all have problems

A foreign man, engaged to be married to a Japanese woman, has a problem. They have decided they want to buy a mansion (apartment) rather than pay rent for someone else's property. He has heard that foreigners wishing to buy property or arrange a mortgage are required to have permanent residence status,...
LIFE / Travel
May 10, 2000

Panasonic shows off high tech for the kids

What's a kyoiku mama to do?
BUSINESS
May 10, 2000

Five firms tie up on trust bank

Four Japanese financial institutions have teamed up with Deutsche Bank AG to acquire DMG Trust Bank, a Deutsche Bank subsidiary, with the intention of turning it into Japan's first trust bank specializing in administering corporate pension funds, company officials announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 10, 2000

Activists arrested in 'dioxin capital'

Four members of the environmentalist group Greenpeace International were arrested Tuesday after scaling a tower near an incinerator plant in Tokyo to protest Japan's waste-incineration policies, police and group members said.
JAPAN
May 10, 2000

Okinawa goods shops basking in G8, or pop-star spotlight?

Who is to thank for the recent brisk sales at an Okinawa goods shop in Tokyo, former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi or pop singer Namie Amuro?
BUSINESS
May 10, 2000

DoCoMo makes foray into European market

Fired by the ambition to spread its next-generation multimedia cellular systems across Europe, NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Tuesday that it will acquire 15 percent of Dutch-based cellular operator KPN Mobile N.V. for 500 billion yen.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2000

Matsushita's memory card up against Sony's product

In a bid to compete against Sony Corp.'s Memory Stick, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. will introduce a product in June featuring a small flash memory card named the SD Memory Card, Matsushita announced Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2000

Crime knows no boundaries

Crime was very much on people's minds during this year's Golden Week holiday period. While the calendar made it possible for record numbers of Japanese to travel abroad, those who stayed behind for whatever reason were transfixed by news of two appalling crimes one day apart, each allegedly committed...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Takashimaya enters Nagoya on quest for piece of the pie

NAGOYA -- For 20 years, the city with the nation's highest private savings rate had only four major department stores.
SUMO
May 9, 2000

Kaio claims second ozeki scalp

Komusubi Kaio forced out Chiyotaikai to claim his second ozeki scalp of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday and keep the early pace with unbeaten grand champions Akebono and Takanohana.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 9, 2000

Giants shut down Swallows 4-0

Pinch-hit slugger Akira Eto belted a grand slam and rookie Hisanori Takahashi went the distance while tossing a three-hitter Sunday as the Yomiuri Giants blanked the Yakult Swallows 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

NTT to buy U.S. Net firm

NTT Communications Corp. announced Monday that it will acquire Verio Inc. of the United States, a major Internet service provider, in order to become a "full-service player" in Asia, Europe and the U.S.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Longer Golden Week spurs huge turnout

Some 68.1 million people spent their Golden Week holidays at major tourist attractions or events this year, an increase of roughly 14.3 million from last year, the National Police Agency said Monday.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

39 court districts have no practicing lawyers

Japan's lawyers are disproportionately concentrated in Tokyo, leaving 39 district court jurisdictions out of 253 nationwide with no practicing lawyers, according to a report issued Monday by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

Nasdaq Japan to debut with eight companies

The Osaka Securities Exchange announced Monday that eight firms will be listed on the Nasdaq Japan market when it debuts June 19.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

OECD official calls for deregulation

A top official of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday urged Japan to accelerate regulatory reform to help spur economic growth led by information and communications technology.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Algerian minister's visit to mark warming of ties

Algerian Foreign Minister Youcef Yousfi plans to visit Tokyo at the end of this month, a trip that will mark the end of decades of near-estrangement between Japan and the North African country.
COMMENTARY
May 9, 2000

Hold the line with Russia

The St. Petersburg summit held April 29 between Japan's new prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, and Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin marked a new stage in bilateral negotiations on signing a peace treaty. The two nations had earlier agreed to settle their territorial dispute on the Northern Territories...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

First 2,000 yen bank note rolls off mint's printers

With a push of a button the first-ever 2,000 yen bill was christened with the serial number "A000001A" on Monday, kicking off printing of the new bank note.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 9, 2000

Kafu's sure but fleeting touch

AMERICAN STORIES, by Nagai Kafu. Translated and with an introduction by Mitsuko Iriye. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000, 240 pp., unpriced. In 1903, the young man who was to become one of Japan's finest writers left for the United States. He did not particularly want to go -- he would have...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Osu survives with blend of old and new

NAGOYA -- Young people browse through the shirts and jeans at a used clothes store, while an elderly woman picks up some tea at a shop around back. On the street, a young couple eating ice cream pass a man with a computer.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
May 9, 2000

Dr. John carries the torch, while Lenine fans the flames

Dr. John has worn a lot of musical hats during his 45-year career. Born Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. in New Orleans in 1940, he was soon deep in the local music scene, playing guitar with many top R&B acts before switching to piano and forming his own group. Taking the music of the Crescent City as...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?