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JAPAN
Jan 27, 2001

Council steps up disaster preparations

The government decided Friday to strengthen monitoring systems in preparation for the likelihood of major earthquakes, especially in the Tokai region, government officials said.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2001

RCC adviser quits in debt scandal

Kohei Nakabo, adviser to Resolution and Collection Corp., has resigned and a senior managing director and four others of the debt-collection vehicle have been punished over an improper collection deal in 1998, RCC chief Akio Kioi said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2001

Japan's banking system still shaky despite 'reforms'

Japan's banking system can still be described as "fragile" or even "precarious" despite nearly a decade of supposed reforms and a wave of industry realignment, according to Benn Steil, New York-based senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2001

Tokyo Sowa buyer to restore bank's niche role

Officials of Tokyo Sowa Bank's new owner-to-be said Thursday they intend to rebuild the failed regional bank's "niche retail" functions by targeting small firms and individuals left behind in the era of megabank mergers.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2001

Mapping of lethal E. coli bacteria gene completed

OSAKA -- Researchers at Osaka University say they have succeeded in reading all the gene information on the O-157 strain of E. coli bacteria that caused a massive, and deadly, outbreak of food-poisoning in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, in 1996.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jan 25, 2001

Best time of year to savor the joys of heated sake

Warm sake. It's hard to think of anything more appealing on a cold winter evening. As we trudge through the depths of one of the coldest and snowiest winters Japan has seen in years, warming oneself from the core out with a glass or bottle of a well-chosen heated sake settles and soothes like nothing...
CULTURE / Music
Jan 25, 2001

Tickets for Bach concert

Japan Times readers will be given 30 pair tickets to the NEC Super Tower Special Concert to be held Feb. 22 at Tokyo's Sumida Triphony Hall to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Bach's death.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2001

Japan, EU unite in development, humanitarian aid

Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Poul Nielson agreed Tuesday to cooperate in providing development assistance and humanitarian aid to countries in need, ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2001

Japan to host festival in Seoul

The Japan External Trade Organization will hold the Japan-Korea Festival in Seoul next month to promote friendship between the two countries.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2001

Minister to create own IT panel

Toranosuke Katayama, minister of public management, home affairs, posts and telecommunications, said Tuesday he will set up his own panel of advisers from the private sector and local municipalities on information technology policies.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2001

New minister says recovery is priority

Taro Aso, the new state minister for economic and fiscal policy and information technology, said Tuesday he will make the nation's economic recovery a priority while paying due attention to fiscal rehabilitation.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 24, 2001

Xerox Super Cup set

The J. League champion Kashima Antlers will play against Emperor's Cup runnerup Shimizu S-Pulse in the Xerox Super Cup, the new season's curtain raiser, on March 3 at Tokyo's National Stadium, the J. League announced Tuesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2001

Mori, Annan discuss UNSC

Visiting U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori agreed Tuesday to push forward reforms of the United Nations, although Annan stopped short of saying he supported Tokyo's proposal for a 24-seat Security Council and a permanent seat for Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2001

State minister Aso well-connected

Taro Aso, appointed minister for economic and fiscal policy and information technology on Tuesday, is a former Olympic competitor and grandchild of the late Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Release of human genome thesis criticized

The Science Council of Japan has complained to the U.S. journal Science about its decision to print a U.S. biotech company's thesis about the human genome, saying the company has not shared its data with international researchers.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Global warming danger rises for Northern Hemisphere

Evidence that human-induced global warming is occurring is stronger than ever and Japan, along with other Northern Hemisphere countries, could see the most drastic rises in temperature as a result, according to a new report released Monday.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jan 23, 2001

Artists with eclectic tastes dispute the 'healing' tag

Of all the nonsensical musical genres, perhaps the most irksome is one coined here in Japan: "healing" music.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

Paper production posts record high

Japan's paper and cardboard output grew 3.9 percent in 2000 from 1999 to 31.83 million tons, marking a record high for the second year in a row, the Japan Paper Association said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2001

Fairness for foreign workers

The recent arrest of Tadao Koseki, former president of KSD, a mutual-aid society for small business, on bribery charges has turned the spotlight on problems involving foreigners working here as "trainees." Koseki was also director of an agency called IMM Japan that takes care of trainees from Indonesia....
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2001

Third teacher arrested in dental exam scandal

A 56-year-old professor at Nippon Dental University was arrested Sunday on suspicion of leaking questions on a national dentistry examination last year, bringing the number of those jailed in the scandal to three, police sources said.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Jan 21, 2001

A little home for poetry in Shinagawa

Keiyudoh is a book store specializing in rare art books, with a small gallery in the back. Currently the gallery features an exhibition of calligraphy by Sueo Akiyama, a self-taught artist, whose works have received cultural awards in Poland and France recently. Keiyudoh also publishes the journal Le...
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Japan, Britain sign e-commerce pact

Japan and Britain agreed Friday to work together to promote e-commerce worldwide, Japanese and British officials said.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 20, 2001

Rock on in Yokohama

Rock 'n' Roll Bazaar 2001, an annual event at which more than 30,000 items relating to rock-music artists are displayed and sold, will be held Jan. 26-30 at BS Hall on the 6th floor of Yokohama World Porters.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2001

Three-way merger to create second-biggest travel agency

Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. and Nippon Travel Agency, Japan's second- and third-largest travel agencies, announced Thursday that they have agreed to merge in January 2003.
BUSINESS
Jan 19, 2001

Snow Brand to tie up with Itochu, Yayoi

Snow Brand Milk Products Co. said Thursday that it will strengthen its competitive edge in the frozen food business by joining hands with Itochu Corp. and its affiliate, Yayoi Foods Co.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2001

Mori asks panel to plan five-year science policy

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori asked an advisory panel Thursday to draw up a comprehensive science and technology strategy for the nation by the end of March.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2001

Opposition calls for public works projects to be cut

Four opposition parties made an unprecedented decision Thursday to jointly submit a motion in the next Diet session to demand the government reduce public works projects planned in the budget for fiscal 2001, opposition officials said.

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