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JAPAN
Jun 26, 2001

Mother's letter reveals Ikeda pupil's trauma

OSAKA — The mother of a child who attends an Osaka elementary school where eight children were massacred earlier this month has said in a letter to Kyodo News that her child has yet to recover from the shock of witnessing the murders.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2001

Japan wants to talk over trade rift with China

Japan plans to send a government mission to China to urge Beijing to retract its decision to impose special 100 percent tariffs on imports of Japanese automobiles, mobile phones and air conditioners, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2001

Economy continues to weaken

The overall state of the economy has weakened in recent months due to shrinking business confidence and stagnant consumer spending, the Finance Ministry said Monday in a report.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jun 26, 2001

Japan's soccer prima donnas need a slice of wa

My girlfriend snores very loudly and dribbles on her pillow when she sleeps. By day, she transmogrifies from monster to model and is professional enough to keep both the dribbling and the chainsaw impersonation away from the catwalk.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2001

Promise of reform carries the day

Riding on the dynamics of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's popularity, the governing Liberal Democratic Party expanded its plurality strength from a pre-election total of 48 seats to 53 in Sunday's election for the 127-seat Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Together with the 23 seats grabbed by New Komeito,...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2001

LDP wins big in Tokyo assembly election

Tokyo voters rescued Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday, giving the battered party 53 seats in the metropolitan assembly and a new lease on life.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 24, 2001

When reason became treason in China

JAPAN'S IMPERIAL DIPLOMACY: Consuls, Treaty Ports and War in China 1895-1938, by Barbara Brooks. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 2000, 272 pp., $55. Why did Japan suddenly lurch from being a good international citizen in the 1920s to becoming a regional rogue in the 1930s? Usually Japan's Asian...
COMMENTARY
Jun 24, 2001

In diplomacy, two tracks is better than one

There is a better than even chance that this is the only article you will ever read about the Asia Pacific Roundtable that was held earlier this month in Kuala Lumpur. That's a pity. Not only because the meeting has some history behind it -- this year marked the 15th annual get-together -- or because...
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2001

Get a grip, brokers -- this is only a first step

The introduction in October of the much-touted U.S. 401(k)-style corporate pension system in Japan will have little impact until individual investors feel more confident about the regulatory environment and the economy, said Brian Murdoch, president and CEO of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2001

Environment team wins Cabinet OK

Environment Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Friday won Cabinet endorsement for a team to combat global warming, including a new vice ministerial post to strengthen negotiating power in international climate-change talks.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2001

LDP group urges retraction

A group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers dealing with agricultural trade issues adopted a resolution Friday urging the government to persuade China to retract its punitive import tariffs on Japanese products.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2001

State panel to review support for A-bomb survivors

Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Friday he plans to set up a panel of legal, health and welfare experts to consider revising the law on support for survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2001

Hiranuma says China broke rules

Beijing's decision to impose 100 percent special duties on three products imported from Japan is against bilateral and multilateral trade rules, trade chief Takeo Hiranuma said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2001

Chongryon head wants to reach youth, offers olive branch to Mindan

The new head of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), a pro-Pyongyang group, says the association sees the need to adapt to the demands of the younger generation and is ready to promote exchanges with the pro-Seoul Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan).
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2001

Police forced school slaying suspect to write letter of contrition: lawyer

OSAKA — Mamoru Takuma, who was arrested in the June 8 slaying of eight schoolchildren in Osaka Prefecture, has written an apology letter but was pressured into doing so by police, his lawyer claimed Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2001

Judges may get say in fate of mentally ill

Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Friday he is considering legislation that would require judicial authorities to determine whether institutionalization is necessary for psychiatric patients who commit crimes.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2001

Japan seeks to discuss escalating row

Japan will soon seek talks with China over Beijing's decision to take retaliatory steps against Tokyo's temporary import curbs on three farm products, Katsusada Hirose, vice minister for economy, trade and industry, said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2001

Land ministry aims to pull in public works reins

In an apparent effort to recapture political initiative, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry unveiled policies Thursday to review public works projects, including the suspension of any new feasibility studies for large-scale dams.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2001

Kids caught in latest cosmetics fad

Kyodo News While the nation's "kogyaru" teens, teetering through Tokyo's Shibuya district in their towering platform boots and outrageous makeup, have received their share of attention over the years, it may well be time to pass the torch — there are some new kids in town.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2001

SDF ranks open to reservists with no military experience

Need a part-time job? Ever considered the Self-Defense Forces? Spending holidays in boot camp could earn you 7,900 yen a day.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Jun 21, 2001

S. Korea must buck up before World Cup

If you read Kumi Kinohara's "On The Ball" column on Tuesday you'll know that Japan still has a bit of work to do before next year's World Cup.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2001

State-backed firms face new accounting rules

An advisory panel to the finance minister unveiled on Tuesday new accounting guidelines for government-affiliated corporations as part of an effort to improve transparency in their management.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2001

Nasdaq Japan chief confident about 80-firm goal

OSAKA -- The president of the Osaka Securities Exchange said Tuesday he is confident that Nasdaq Japan, a market operating under the auspices of the OSE, will reach its target of seeing 80 firms listed in calendar 2001.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2001

Koizumi to commemorate Okinawa battle

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit Okinawa Prefecture on Saturday to attend ceremony marking the 56th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa between U.S. and Japanese forces, the government's top spokesman said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2001

BOJ chief rules out extra liquidity for economy

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Tuesday dismissed speculation that the central bank plans to inject more money into the economy in the near future.
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 20, 2001

Weaving a web of destiny wherein ambition's caught

In 1957, Akira Kurosawa made a remarkable movie titled "Kumonosu-jo (Spider's Web Castle)," adapted from William Shakespeare's "Macbeth." The film is still admired today for its spectacular shots and the striking performances of Toshiro Mifune as the principal character Washizu Taketoki and Isuzu Yamada...
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2001

Vertex extends Standard brand

Transceiver manufacturer Vertex Standard Co. said Monday it has acquired from audio equipment maker Marantz Japan Inc. the trademark and operating rights to the Standard brand name for its transceivers in Asia and Europe.

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