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JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Key LDP figure resigns post over KSD scandal

Masakuni Murakami, a senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party, resigned Monday as chairman of the LDP members' general assembly in the Upper House to take the blame for a money scandal involving industrial insurance provider KSD and a former aide.
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2001

Next U.S. president should use surplus to pace savings rate

Amid growing signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy, the whole world is closely awaiting the new policies of President-elect George W. Bush, who prevailed in one of the closest presidential races in U.S. history after more than a month of unprecedented legal wrangling.
COMMUNITY
Jan 15, 2001

New miracles from the 'first miracle drug'

Aspirin for people in Western countries is something more than Seirogan, the most popular household digestive medicine in Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2001

Miyazawa, Jin worried over U.S. economic woes

KOBE -- Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and his counterparts from South Korea and Europe expressed concern Saturday that the slowing U.S. economy could deal a major blow to the economies of their respective regions, Japanese government officials said.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 14, 2001

Danger! Americans may smother you in kindness

I always get a kick out my students when they come back from the United States and exclaim, "Wow! Americans are so friendly!" Of course, what they really mean is, "Wow! No one even tried to kill us!"
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2001

Magnet find opens IT possibilities

Japanese scientists have discovered a new type of transparent magnet with the same properties as a permanent magnet that could increase the versatility of information technology, according to the U.S. journal Science.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2001

Traditional manufacturers embrace the Net

OSAKA -- Known for their resolute adherence to time-honored styles and techniques, the craftspeople and manufacturers of traditional products in the Kinki region are beginning to embrace the digital age.
EDITORIALS
Jan 11, 2001

Uranium munition in the cross-hairs

NATO is coming under increasing pressure to investigate possible health risks associated with the use of depleted-uranium ammunition. A number of "Balkans Syndrome" cases have raised fears that the munitions exposed soldiers and civilians to unsuspected danger. Thus far, the threat is more imagined that...
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2001

Emperor attends lecture program

The Emperor and Empress attended an annual New Year's lecture program Wednesday, the Imperial Household Agency said.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Jan 11, 2001

Kick off your year of wine-drinking with a refresher

Here's wishing you a Happy New Year, a bit belatedly. After all the hoopla a year ago, isn't it ironic that the new millennium didn't actually begin until 11 days ago?
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2001

NEC plans to spin off specialized chip unit

NEC Corp. plans to spin off its semiconductor business for high-speed communications networks, as demand is expected to grow in coming years, the company said Wednesday.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jan 10, 2001

What's it all about, IT?

2001 may well be the year of the IT revolution, but as far as I'm concerned, we're talking about utilITy. From here on, usefulness is going to be the benchmark for information technologies.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 10, 2001

Three decades of Mario and friends

In the beginning (about 30 years ago), geeky college students in the United States stole into engineering buildings at night and turned huge and expensive mainframes into playgrounds.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2001

Evidence of exam leak destroyed

Investigators suspect an executive of Ohu University in Fukushima Prefecture instructed school officials to destroy papers related to a leaked exam immediately after the incident came to light, police sources said Tuesday.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 10, 2001

Asian news and connections

atimes.comAlmost immediately after the Asia Times added Western standards to Asian journalism back in 1996, it was pushed under by the debt it took on to launch, becoming one of the first bankruptcies of the region's financial meltdown. Now it's back, at least online, and although it's still a mere shadow...
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2001

Cellphone shipments set to hit 420 million

Worldwide shipments of mobile phones will likely reach 420 million units in 2000, far outpacing the 280 million shipped in 1999, the Japanese unit of U.S. high-tech consulting firm GartnerGroup Inc. said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2001

Ministry shakeup just a beginning

The government reorganization that took effect last Saturday is designed to create an administrative system more responsive to the needs of the times, with politicians, not bureaucrats, taking the initiative in shaping public policy. In the most drastic bureaucratic reform in half a century, the number...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jan 9, 2001

Hitting the high notes of jazz

At the age of 5 or 6, Cassandra Wilson recalls hearing the music of Miles Davis for the first time. "Sketches of Spain" was part of her father's record collection, himself a jazz musician and was one of the records he would often play in their home in Jackson, Mississippi.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 8, 2001

When two worlds collide

JAPAN AND THE DUTCH 1600-1853, by Grant K. Goodman. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 2000, 304 pp., 40 pounds. Thanks to the Tokugawa shogunate's decision at the beginning of the 17th century to expel the Portuguese and other Christian missionaries who had started to meddle in Japanese affairs, the...
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2001

Deaths at sea up fifth year in a row

The number of people who died or went missing at sea in 2000 was 1,620, up from 1,601 in 1999, the fifth consecutive year of increase, according to information released by the Japan Coast Guard.
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2001

Good luck, Mr. Bush, you'll need it

At the start of a new century, the world situation remains in flux. The much-heralded "new world order" has yet to arrive. The United States, of course, holds the key. Developments in the next few years -- not only in the field of economics, but also in politics and security -- will depend largely on...

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight