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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 10, 2001

All problems, great and small

Up-to-the-minute trends and subjects are often incorporated into the story lines of television drama series. Unfortunately, topicality is usually given more consideration than relevance, and the dramas themselves rarely explore the reality of problems such as AIDS or teenage depression.
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2001

Secret fund is still under wraps

The Foreign Ministry, responding to a recent embezzlement scandal involving a senior ministry bureaucrat, has put together a package of measures designed to "reform" its secrecy-shrouded diplomatic war chest. The package falls far short of public expectations, largely because the ministry has not disclosed...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Koizumi's reform foes entrenched

With Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi firing off a barrage of reform proposals aimed at turning the ailing economy around, his foes, including fellow Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and bureaucrats keen to protect vested interests, are drawing battle lines.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2001

FRC wanted major changes at banks

The Financial Reconstruction Commission, the predecessor of the Financial Services Agency, set out to push through a major reorganization of 17 major banks immediately after its inauguration in December 1998, according to minutes of the FRC's meetings disclosed Friday by the FSA.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Panel to call for freeze on dam, road projects

A key government economic panel will call for a freeze on dam and road projects on which construction has not yet begun when it issues a blueprint for reform on June 27, government sources said Friday.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 9, 2001

Tickets on sale for Confederations Cup final

A total of 2,000 tickets for Sunday's Confederations Cup final between Japan and France, slated for Yokohama International Stadium (kickoff 7 p.m.), will go on sale from 10 a.m. at limited ticket outlets in Tokyo, Yokohama, Kashima and Niigata, the Japan Football Association announced Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 9, 2001

Falling off a Kawasaki cliff, building an ashram

Sister Eugenie Fumiko Fujita went to bed toward the end of last year's rainy season, her life enlivened by a month of mold but still basically in order. She awoke before dawn July 8 to mayhem, her home hanging off the edge of a landslip.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Eight dead in school stabbing spree

A knife-wielding man stormed into an elementary school Friday morning in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, and fatally stabbed eight children and wounded 15 others before he was subdued, police said.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Global assessment of environment aims to provide layman's summary

Walter Reid is entering uncharted territory.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2001

Japan-Chile free-trade deal urged

Chile and the government-affiliated Japan External Trade Organization called for forming a comprehensive free-trade agreement between the two countries as soon as possible in their joint studies released Thursday.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 8, 2001

FIFA chief Blatter comes around on Japan-Korea 2002 cohosting

Sepp Blatter previously was opposed to the idea of cohosting the World Cup. But now the FIFA president accepts it, opening up possibilities for smaller countries to host the world's most prestigious single-sport event.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2001

Tanaka threatens legal action

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Thursday she is considering taking legal action against bureaucrats in her ministry who she claims have leaked remarks she reportedly made about the U.S. missile defense program.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2001

Capital spending increases 2.5% in quarter

Capital spending by Japanese companies expanded 2.5 percent in the January-March quarter from a year earlier to 13.3 trillion yen, marking the fifth increase in a row, the Finance Ministry said Thursday in its quarterly survey.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2001

Rights watchdog proposal raises media group's ire

The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association has expressed concern over a recent Justice Ministry proposal to set up a human rights watchdog, saying it could restrict media activity.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2001

Matsuo fraud trial scheduled to kick off July 31

Katsutoshi Matsuo, the fired Foreign Ministry logistics chief charged with swindling discretionary funds from the government, will have his first Tokyo District Court hearing on July 31, court officials said.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2001

Chiba sees needs for press clubs

Chiba Gov. Akiko Domoto, a former TV reporter, said Wednesday that the prefectural government needs a press club due to the need for speed and accuracy in media coverage.
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2001

Koizumi, Khai pledge continued ties

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai agreed Wednesday to maintain economic cooperation between the two countries, a Foreign Ministry official said.
MORE SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jun 7, 2001

Minding your P's and Q's

"F*** your mother"
BUSINESS
Jun 6, 2001

Canada business chief proposes free-trade deal

The head of a Canadian big-business group proposed Tuesday that Japan and Canada push preparations for a free-trade agreement so the two nations can drop trade barriers and secure a freer flow of commerce.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

Accredited online university offers access to higher education

For those who have been prevented from pursuing higher education courses by financial, geographical or time factors, the Internet may indeed be a blessing.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 6, 2001

Music for the masses

Lord knows, it ain't easy Call it the Happy Meal effect, but what used to be considered "bonus" is now taken for granted. The multiple-stage gimmick offers more of a festival atmosphere, but if you go for the music you will eventually have to choose, and sometimes it ain't easy.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Shiokawa wants amount of secretly used funds reduced

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Monday his ministry will consider reducing the amount of special funds set aside for classified government activities in the fiscal 2001 budget.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Australian foreign minister denies saying he'd tattle on Tanaka

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Monday denied news reports that he told the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Ryutaro Hashimoto he would convey Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's remarks over the missile defense plan to the United States.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2001

Hiranuma to hold talks with Taiwanese official

Trade chief Takeo Hiranuma will meet Thursday in Shanghai with Taiwan Economic Affairs Minister Lin Hsin-yi to discuss bilateral economic relations, a top Japanese trade official said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2001

Matsushita to market car-nav with detachable screen

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Monday it will launch a portable car-navigation system with a detachable display on July 1.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Glass-maker Hoya aiding nuclear arms facility, U.S. scientist says

A U.S. scientist and former employee of a U.S. Energy Department institute, to which Japanese glass maker Hoya Corp. ships materials, says the institute is conducting nuclear weapons research.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Poison toads threaten rare Iriomote cats

The endangered Iriomote wildcats on Okinawa Prefecture's Iriomote Island face a new threat from an invasion of poisonous marine toads, the Environment Ministry said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2001

Japan needs its own third way

Since it debuted a little over a month ago, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration has been trumpeting the slogan "No structural reform, no economic recovery." Whether that is true is arguable. But there is no question that "structural reform" means reshaping Japan's outdated market economy...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami