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OLYMPICS
May 23, 2001

IOC to give award to Funaki

The International Olympic Committee will award Japanese ski jumper Kazuyoshi Funaki the Olympic Order for his outstanding performance at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, the Japanese Olympic Committee said Monday.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2001

Customs-cleared trade surplus fell 41.6% in April: report

Japan's customs-cleared trade surplus fell 41.6 percent in April from a year earlier to 665.9 billion yen, the Finance Ministry said Monday in a preliminary report.
JAPAN
May 21, 2001

Mob boss held over real estate fraud

Police on Sunday arrested a top leader of Sumiyoshi-kai, one of Japan's largest yakuza groups, for allegedly conspiring to obstruct compulsory seizure of assets by creditors, officials said.
JAPAN
May 21, 2001

Survey finds hospice care in short supply

The number of hospice facilities for terminally ill cancer patients in Japan remains far smaller than the demand, covering only 1.8 percent of cancer patients who died in this country in 1999, it was learned Sunday.
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2001

Better a wooden chicken than a tornado

As soon as Diet member Makiko Tanaka was sworn in as foreign minister, a powerful "Tornado Makiko" rampaged throughout the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sending some of the officials way up in the air and forcing others to retreat to hospital. For onlookers, the greater the chaos the more fun it was to...
SOCCER / World cup
May 21, 2001

Morishima back in Japan soccer squad

Cerezo Osaka midfielder Hiroaki Morishima returned to the Japan national setup for the first time since last October's Asian Cup as Japan manager Philippe Troussier announced his 23-member squad Sunday for the upcoming Confederations Cup at the Japan Football Association's headquarters in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2001

Congratulations -- and questions

There was barely a pause after the good news of the pregnancy of the Crown Princess was announced before widespread discussion broke out on whether the law should be changed to allow a woman to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
COMMUNITY
May 20, 2001

The Tiger's meow

Anti-mainstream, anti-centralism, a love of losers. Such is the stuff of a Hanshin Tigers fan.
CULTURE / Books
May 20, 2001

Fortress Japan? Blame MacArthur and his team

THE GENESIS OF THE JAPANESE FOREIGN INVESTMENT LAW OF 1950, by Richard Rabinowitz. German-Japanese Lawyers' Association Vol. 10, 1999, 11,000 yen, $ 84.50. In 1853, Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay and demanded that Japan's quasi-military government allow foreign trade. The resulting interactions...
CULTURE / Music
May 20, 2001

Is you is or is you ain't . . . ?

Stephen Malkmus, formally known as SM, formally known as that tall, skinny guy who knows more neat metal guitar riffs than anyone in Stockton, Calif., was the leader by default of Amerindie's greatest band, Pavement, which called it quits last fall after a year of waffling.
COMMENTARY
May 20, 2001

Koizumi honeymoon rolls on

Three weeks after its debut, the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi continues to command high popularity. In opinion polls immediately after its inauguration April 26, the new administration received record approval ratings of over 80 percent. The "Koizumi boom" is likely to last for...
JAPAN
May 19, 2001

Hansen's ruling appeal, deal eyed

The government is considering starting negotiations with former Hansen's disease patients for an out-of-court settlement after filing an appeal against a court ruling last week ordering the state to pay them compensation, government sources said Friday.
EDITORIALS
May 19, 2001

India's opposition turns up the heat

India's prime minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, insists that the results of last week's state elections are of no concern to his government. Technically speaking, he is right; the vote was for 823 seats in local legislatures in five states. But while voting for state candidates, Indians sent a message...
JAPAN
May 19, 2001

Panel chair nixes call for Nakamura to quit over bribery

The House of Councilors Steering Committee on Friday killed an opposition-proposed resolution calling on former Construction Minister Kishiro Nakamura to resign from Parliament over a conviction for bribe-taking, which he has appealed, arguing he is not guilty.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2001

Koreans' dream of unity is still remote

SEOUL -- In less than a month, Koreans will commemorate the first anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit. In mid-June last year, the leaders of the divided country met for the first time and vowed to open a new chapter in peninsular relations. Numerous political and academic events will take...
JAPAN
May 19, 2001

Farmers' land improvement unions diverted membership dues to LDP

Government-subsidized "land improvement unions" of farmers in 17 prefectures have misappropriated union membership fees worth 46.13 million yen since fiscal 1996 to pay for union leaders' membership fees for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and to aid LDP lawmakers, the Agriculture Ministry said this...
JAPAN
May 18, 2001

Group aims to help stalking victims

KYOTO -- In an effort to provide more effective help to stalking victims in the Kansai region, a six-member network, including lawyers, public notaries and a security firm, was formed Thursday.
JAPAN
May 18, 2001

Ministry soliciting ideas for environmental policy

The Environment Ministry is looking for new ideas to help formulate innovative environmental policies.
JAPAN
May 18, 2001

WHO names envoy to fight spread of Hansen's disease

The World Health Organization has appointed Nippon Foundation President Yohei Sasakawa as special ambassador for its fight against Hansen's disease, officials of the foundation said Thursday.
JAPAN
May 17, 2001

IOC: Osaka can continue bid

From wire and staff reports The IOC late Wednesday decided in Lausanne, Switzerland, to let Osaka and Istanbul, Turkey, stay in the race for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
COMMENTARY
May 16, 2001

New metaphors for Europe

LONDON -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his Social Democratic Party have done Europe a great service -- although it may not have been the one Schroeder intended.
CULTURE / Music
May 16, 2001

The Sonig circuit

Back in 1960 when he was a strapping egghead of 31, Karlheinz Stockhausen, the father of taped electronic music, had a vision: Every major city in the world would build an auditorium for the appreciation of "space music." Stockhausen's prediction was simply the optimistic ramblings of an intellectual...
JAPAN
May 15, 2001

Surname rigidity frustrates

Kyodo News Before Akiko Orita got married in the fall of 1998, she planned to have an equal partnership with her husband, rather than, in her words, "an absorbed merger."
BASEBALL / MLB
May 15, 2001

Ichiro show rolls on in Canada

TORONTO -- The Ichiro Show has played to rave reviews in the U.S. for the first six weeks of the baseball season. This past weekend, it was a smash hit in its Canadian debut.
JAPAN
May 15, 2001

Former Australian prime minister hits U.S. over missile shield

AWAJI ISLAND, Hyogo Pref. -- A former Australian prime minister has slammed the decision of U.S. President George W. Bush to deploy an as-yet undeveloped missile defense system in Asia, saying it poses a "significant" threat to stability in the region.

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