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COMMENTARY
Dec 22, 2000

The EU gets ready to grow

LONDON -- The recent European Union summit at Nice seems to have been bad tempered and acrimonious. Yet it eventually, even if only after days of wrangling, ended in an agreement of sorts and the way is now open to the admission of new members from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, leading in due...
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2000

Economists unhappy with latest budget

In its attempt to formulate a budget with the dual and dueling purposes of bringing about an economic recovery and preparing for painstaking reform, it seems the government has managed to do neither.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2000

Mori sues over story on gangster ties

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori filed a libel suit with the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday against a magazine that published an article and photographs allegedly linking him to a rightwing gangster, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2000

The EU makes nice in Nice

At its make-or-break summit last weekend in Nice, the European Union bent. Faced with the need to reform to accommodate new members and new responsibilities, European heads of state produced the inevitable compromises and fudges. Some choices were made; others, predictably, were put off. Still, the ground...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

U.S. ties, midterm plan top new defense chief's priority list

Newly appointed Defense Agency director general Toshitsugu Saito said Wednesday that he hopes to visit the United States at the earliest opportunity to hold talks with his counterpart after the January launch of the new U.S. administration.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2000

2002 World Cup: Soccer without fear?

BRUSSELS -- The first world cup of the new millennium is to be staged in Japan and South Korea in the summer of 2002. Both countries want to use this billion-dollar sporting showpiece as a global shop window allowing those watching, both in the stadiums and on TV, to see the real Japan and the real South...
EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2000

Ground the flying-tanker plans

With the government budget for fiscal 2001 now in preparation, a controversial question concerning defense procurement looms large: Do the Self-Defense Forces need in-flight refueling aircraft? The Defense Agency is requesting appropriations to purchase one such aircraft in the year beginning next April....
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2000

Revised Juvenile Law clears Lower House

A Lower House plenary session passed controversial legislation Tuesday to amend the Juvenile Law to impose harsher penalties on young offenders and lower the age of criminal liability.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2000

G8 to tackle disposal of Russian plutonium

The Group of Eight countries will begin full-scale talks on an international financing scheme for Russia's disposal of weapons-grade plutonium as part of an effort to curb the global proliferation of nuclear weapons, government sources said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Oct 9, 2000

A chicken in every pot, TVs in every home

WASHINGTON -- With a tough election looming in the United States, congressional Republicans have opened the Treasury to every interest group with a letterhead. Budget analysts Stephen Moore and Stephen Slivinski figure this Congress may end up as the biggest social spender since the 1970s.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2000

Metro government targets 'illegal light oil' mix

The chances of drivers being pulled over on Tokyo's main arteries will increase in upcoming months, but drunk drivers and speed demons will not be roadside enforcers' main targets.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2000

China's Zhu to talk with Japanese for the cameras

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji will appear on a special program to be aired by Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. during his six-day visit to Japan that begins Thursday, TBS officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2000

Opposition boycott of Diet goes into second day

The opposition's boycott of Diet deliberations entered its second day Tuesday as the ruling camp offered no concessions over its plan to revise the House of Councilors election roster system.
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2000

Denmark says 'No, thank you'

The Danish people voted this week against adopting the euro. With nearly 90 percent of eligible voters going to the polls, Denmark rejected the European Union's single currency by a narrow 53-47 margin. The result is a bitter disappointment for the country's political and business establishment, which...
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2000

10 trillion yen stimulus package ordered

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Wednesday formally ordered the government to draft a 10 trillion yen economic stimulus package that will include an extra budget of nearly 4 trillion yen for the current fiscal year.
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2000

What about the foreign residents?

Japan now has a record 1.55 million registered foreign residents, representing 1.23 percent of the population. These entirely legal residents are still being given short shrift in government planning, such as disaster-prevention and relief measures. It is two weeks since the nation as a whole -- nearly...
COMMENTARY
Sep 4, 2000

Japan flounders without goals

The disturbing thing about Japan today is that it lacks a clear sense of national purpose even though the 21st century is close at hand. The economic slump of the 1990s is often described as a "lost decade" or a "second surrender" (after the defeat in World War II). But it is not just the stagnant economy...
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2000

Antistalking law seen falling short

KOBE -- An antistalking law that cleared the Diet in May and goes into effect in November is being called insufficient, and speakers at a recent symposium here are calling for new, tougher legislation and urging police to change their attitudes about stalking.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2000

Talks to hold up Kitakyushu as environmental success story

Asia, with more than half the world's population and economies that continue to grow, poses one of the biggest environmental challenges of the coming century. The United Nations predicts that by 2025 more than half the region's population will have moved to the already packed metropolises.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2000

Market to clear low hurdles, creep upward

The Tokyo stock market has rebounded strongly after confirming its bottom on Aug. 4, when the 225-issue Nikkei average hit 15,666.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 24, 2000

Al fresco evenings in Heisei style

Just when you feel it's safe to venture out of the air conditioning to enjoy a drink or three in the mellow evening air of the late summer, that's about the time most beer gardens are starting to think about shutting down for the year.
EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 2000

Public works should serve the public

Highly conscious of public criticism of the role played by public-works projects in its politics, the Liberal Democratic Party is overhauling the much-maligned system. The party is supposed to be trying to phase out programs that have outlived their usefulness and to classify those related to information...
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2000

Trade framework for Asia requires neighborhood effort

On July 19 the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) held the fifth Asian Neighbors' Forum, with participants freely ex- changing opinions over two main themes -- "Searching for a new model of Asian regional cooperation" and "The progress of globalization and cooperation among Asian...
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2000

Mori urges Arafat to wait on statehood

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Friday urged visiting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat not to unilaterally declare statehood for his fledgling nation even if peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine fail to come to a conclusion by the Sept. 13 deadline.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2000

Military incursions end China loans

In response to recent Chinese naval operations near Japanese territorial waters, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday decided not to extend around 17.2 billion yen in special loans to China, LDP officials said.

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