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JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Diving air fares pull ANA into net loss

All Nippon Airways posted 6.6 billion yen in net losses in the business year that ended March 31 on 903 billion yen in sales, down 0.8 percent from the previous year, carrier officials reported Thursday.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

LDP envisions more jobs via public-private cooperation

A Liberal Democratic Party task force on Thursday drafted a set of measures to create new jobs by implementing public works projects and utilizing nonprofit organizations, party sources said.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Automakers' profits sink in domestic slump

The economic slump continued to plague the nation's five major automakers in fiscal 1998, forcing some to accelerate restructuring efforts, according to their annual earnings reports released as of Thursday.
COMMUNITY
May 27, 1999

Tokyo market's quiet riot of color

Beneath cascades of purple orchids, ferns uncoil like emerald snakes. Tokyo's wholesale flower market is a quiet riot of color.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Impromptu wiretap talks spark opposition boycott

With no opposition party members present, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and two other political groups on Thursday began discussing a package of revised bills to allow law enforcement officials the use of wiretaps during organized crime investigations.
LIFE / Travel
May 27, 1999

Up, up and away in clear Saipan

A Japan Airlines Boeing 747 passed in front of me as I was taxiing to the runway in my rented Cessna 172. "Saipan Tower. 230. Request takeoff clearance," I said, trying to sound as if I had been doing this all my life.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 27, 1999

High adventure

Have you decided where you are going to spend New Year's Eve? It should be someplace where you wouldn't mind staying if any of our normal, every day support systems should fail. One unconcerned gentleman has made reservations for a flight over Antarctica. Experts will be on board the 747 to explain about...
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Hotline to hear gripes on smoking

OSAKA -- Prior to World No-Smoking Day on Monday, a citizens' group here will open a one-day telephone hotline Saturday for people troubled by tobacco smoke.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
May 27, 1999

Respect for the forest's elders

The Hokkaido University Botanic Garden is situated right in the heart of Sapporo, within easy reach of Sapporo Station. I really love to see trees grown at their best, and for those of you who feel the same, a visit to this garden is essential.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Storm, winds wreak havoc on Honshu

Strong winds and rain hit a wide area of Japan on Thursday, leaving one person dead and 15 people injured in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Dead notary's sister takes stand against Aum

A former Aum Shinrikyo follower whose brother was allegedly abducted and drugged to death by cultists testified before the Tokyo District Court on Thursday that the cult's continuing activities threaten the lives of herself and other relatives.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
May 27, 1999

Old and new blended perfectly at Otani

A pebble's throw away from the Akasaka Mitsuke subway station, the Hotel New Otani (which happens to be in the midst of celebrating 35 years as one of Tokyo's premier hotels) might just offer the solution to savvy travelers' "been there, done that" blues.
EDITORIALS
May 26, 1999

The IMF is called to account

The International Monetary Fund has already received a lot of flak from private experts for giving the wrong advice to troubled Asian economies. Another analysis to that effect, therefore, is nothing new. What is new -- and significant -- is that the Japanese government, in an official report, has now...
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

DPJ group eyes new strategy to counter LDP

In an effort to come up with a new strategy to compete with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of Japan on Wednesday established a policy study group.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Foley defends Yokota base in meeting with Ishihara

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley stressed the importance of the U.S. Yokota Air Base in a meeting with Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara Wednesday, saying the base is "an essential part of U.S. forces' operations in Japan" and "a major hub of our transportation and supply services in East Asia."
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Bill on official flag, anthem still on the way: Nonaka

The government still intends to submit a bill to make the Hinomaru the official flag and "Kimigayo" the national anthem during the current Diet session, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Wednesday, denying reports that the government had given up on the bill for this session.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

NTT reports sales, profit fall in '98

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. on Wednesday reported a decline in sales and pretax profit on a non-consolidated basis for the business year that ended March 31 following a decrease in revenue from ordinary telephone use.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Home-based entrepreneurs network for respect

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Election of LDP chief likely to be moved up to August

The Liberal Democratic Party is likely to hold its presidential election in mid-August, a little more than a month before Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's term as party president expires, sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Cops start crime-victim support plan

A police station in Tokyo's Nakano Ward on Wednesday launched a support program for crime victims to provide psychological care in cooperation with the municipal government and local hospitals, sources said.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

The 401(K) Approach: Skandia eyes pension plan gains

First in an occasional series
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Police destined to abuse wiretaps: expert

A wiretapping consultant on Wednesday told a group of suprapartisan legislators opposing bills to allow wiretapping by law enforcement officers that police will abuse their authority if the bills are enacted.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Health minister endorses early election

Former Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday endorsed the idea of pushing up the date of the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race, originally scheduled for late September.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
May 26, 1999

Privacy? Get over it

In one of those snide comments that only people worth hundreds of millions of dollars are capable of making with any credibility, Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, dismissed the whole privacy controversy with: "Get over it.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Komura hopes to strike oil during Mideast visit

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
May 25, 1999

Security not served by vagueness

The controversial bills for implementing the Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines finally cleared the Upper House Monday with some key issues remaining unresolved or vague: at least they seem so to ordinary people. One such issue is the emergency condition that requires Japan to mobilize the Self-Defense...
JAPAN
May 25, 1999

Lower House starts tackling administrative reform

The Lower House entered substantive debate Tuesday on two sets of bills designed to reorganize the central government and decentralize state powers, underlining the need to create a new government to meet the changing needs of society.
JAPAN
May 25, 1999

Tokyo Telemessage seeks protection from creditors

Plagued by a plummeting number of subscribers and intense competition with cellular phone operators, Tokyo Telemessage Inc., a leading pager service, sought court protection from creditors' claims on its assets Tuesday, company officials said.
JAPAN
May 25, 1999

DoCoMo profits rise 70% in '98

NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. posted 3.1 trillion yen in consolidated sales in the business year that ended March 31, up 18.7 percent from the previous year, due to an increase in cellular phone subscribers.
JAPAN
May 25, 1999

Daiwa posts 250 billion yen pretax loss

Daiwa Bank suffered pretax losses of 250 billion yen in fiscal 1998, largely due to bad loan writeoffs of 368.7 billion yen, the bank announced Tuesday.

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