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COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
May 28, 2001

Time for Bush to test his healing powers

Washington is not in an area normally vulnerable to earthquakes, but on Tuesday, the earth began to shake all over town. The epicenter of the quake was up on Capitol Hill; specifically, in Suite 728 of the Hart Senate Office Building, the office of Sen. James Jeffords, the junior senator from Vermont....
JAPAN
May 26, 2001

State seeks sales delay of controversial textbook

The government has asked a publisher to postpone selling a controversial history textbook until local education boards have selected which books they will have schools use, Education Minister Atsuko Toyama said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 26, 2001

Hiranuma outlines plan to boost jobs, markets

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma proposed a 15-point plan Friday to increase jobs and markets, including optimizing research outcomes at universities to create business opportunities in the private sector.
JAPAN
May 26, 2001

Lee should get visa again: Mori

Japan should not deny a visa for former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui if he makes another request to visit the country for medical treatment, former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori was quoted as saying Friday by Taiwan's visiting Nationalist Party leader.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 26, 2001

Job-hunting tips for the nation's students

Japan's unemployment rate is the highest ever in the postwar era. This is especially bad news for students, who are finding it difficult to find jobs upon graduating. But don't despair, students, deep down the bubble economy is still bubbling! Japan is still paying people to do jobs that don't even exist...
BUSINESS
May 25, 2001

Specter of intervention points to firmer yen

The dollar, having risen to close to 127 yen in early April, has given up much of its recent gains and is now hovering around 120 yen.
JAPAN
May 25, 2001

Japanese team finds enzyme that stops Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at an affiliate of a Japanese government-backed research institute said they have discovered that an enzyme in the brain plays a key role in preventing or delaying the development of Alzheimer's disease, the U.S. magazine Science reported Friday.
JAPAN
May 25, 2001

Koizumi's 'no faction' call shunned before poll

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi failed Thursday to make his "no faction" policy an official party strategy for the upcoming House of Councilors election.
JAPAN
May 25, 2001

Cabinet to reach out via e-mail magazine

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, basking in record approval ratings, hopes to score another hit with a weekly Cabinet e-mail magazine.
JAPAN
May 25, 2001

Six sex-change recipients file for official recognition

Six people who underwent sex-change operations have separately filed petitions at four family courts in eastern Japan to change their gender as recorded in family registrations, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
May 25, 2001

Diet action eyed to help Hansen's disease patients

The ruling coalition agreed Thursday that it will move quickly to adopt a Diet resolution to help former Hansen's disease patients.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2001

Aqualine energized by new tolls

Daily traffic on the Aqualine bridge-tunnel span of Tokyo Bay rose 31.6 percent in fiscal 2000, following toll reductions introduced last summer, the transport ministry said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 24, 2001

State won't appeal court ruling on redress for Hansen's patients

The government decided Wednesday not to appeal a landmark court ruling ordering the state to compensate former Hansen's disease patients for violating their basic human rights by forcing them to be isolated in sanitariums.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
May 24, 2001

Foreign managers bring change to corporate life

Takashi Sato of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. fears he may be transferred because of his poor command of English -- a potentiality that was unthinkable until last year.
JAPAN
May 24, 2001

Koizumi's popularity propels LDP poll rating to two-year high

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi continues to enjoy better than 85 percent support among voters, and his appeal even lifted the LDP above the 40 percent support line for the first time in almost two years, according to a Kyodo News poll released Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2001

Hayami continues to deny resignation rumors

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Tuesday denied reports that he told former Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa that he intended to resign.
JAPAN
May 23, 2001

Bridgestone president blames Ford for failing to explain tire problems

Bridgestone Corp. President Shigeo Watanabe on Tuesday said that the firm's move to end almost 100 years of supplying tires to Ford Motor Co. was a "wrenching decision."
JAPAN
May 23, 2001

Why pay king's ransom on conveyor-belt nuptial when Hawaii beckons?

More Japanese couples are getting married at overseas holiday resorts in destinations that include Hawaii, Guam and Australia, accompanied just by family and a few friends.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2001

TTNet back in the black to the tune of 3.66 billion yen

Tokyo Telecommunication Network Co. posted 3.66 billion yen in pretax profits for the year to March 31, marking a recovery from 635 million yen in losses the previous year, according to the firm's earnings report released Monday.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2001

Airbus touches down with hopes of capturing half of Japanese market

European aircraft maker Airbus Industrie has officially established its Japanese unit, Airbus Japan K.K., in Tokyo, company officials revealed Monday.
JAPAN
May 22, 2001

Suspicions true: communists defied ban in U.S.-run Okinawa

A secret communist group was formed within the Okinawa People's Party on Okinawa Island in the 1950s during U.S. rule when such organizations were outlawed, according to the latest study by a group of researchers.
ENVIRONMENT
May 22, 2001

China's shifting sands close in on Beijing

BEIJING -- Mother Nature has got it in for Wang Yongxian. In 1988, the farmer fled his hillside cave when flooding triggered landslides on Dragon Treasure Mountain, 70 km north of Beijing. Forced to abandon their traditional cave homes, Wang and neighbors moved down to the safety of the plain. Or so...
JAPAN
May 22, 2001

Hansen's disease patients fight on

A total of 923 former Hansen's disease patients filed a lawsuit against the state Monday, demanding it pay them 115 million yen each in compensation for forcing them into isolation to undergo treatment for the disease.
JAPAN
May 20, 2001

NTT West may halve its branch offices

NTT West Corp. is considering integrating and consolidating its 30 branch offices to between 10 and 15 in a bid to streamline operations, cut costs and weather intensifying competition, company sources said Saturday.
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.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2001

Honda to develop diesel engines specifically for Europe

Honda Motor Co. said Friday it will develop diesel engines for cars and install them in a new Accord to be launched in Europe in 2003.

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