Search - news

 
 
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2000

Summit Mori's career high?

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — Concluding the Group of Eight summit with a smile under the scorching sun, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori may boast he has cleared a key hurdle for his administration — but it is just one hurdle of many.
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2000

Softbank to set up sports site

Softbank Media & Marketing Corp., a media-related business unit of Softbank Corp., announced Friday that it will set up a joint venture with Rivals.com Inc. of the United States to launch a Japanese version of Rivals' sports Web site.
COMMENTARY
Jul 22, 2000

Korean summit: A potential 'win-win' for all

There has been considerable debate since last month's historic North-South Korea summit about the meeting's impact on the peninsula's neighbors and benefactors. The conventional wisdom seems to be that China fared best. However, I would argue that all four major powers have come out ahead and that the...
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2000

Residents of Nago proud to display town's charms

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — Many locals were excited on the eve of the Group of Eight summit here today, expressing hope that the event will attract international attention to what they boast is the most beautiful coastline in Okinawa.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2000

Clinton set to arrive in time for G8 start

Despite delays, U.S. President Bill Clinton is expected to arrive today in time for the beginning of the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa, and will bring to the table such issues as debt relief and bridging the digital divide, U.S. government sources said.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2000

Greenpeace calls for action on forests

Environmental group Greenpeace on Thursday urged the Group of Eight countries to stop subsidizing "destruction of the last ancient forests" within two years.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2000

Nigeria leader frustrated at G8 inaction on debt

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo expressed frustration Thursday over the lack of concrete action by the Group of Eight major nations to cancel the debts of developing countries.
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2000

Spotlight shines on Okinawa

A three-day Group of Eight summit opens today in Okinawa, an unusual location for such a conference. Okinawa was the last major battlefield in the Pacific War, where Japanese Imperial soldiers fought the onslaught of U.S. military forces. During the fierce fighting, an estimated 100,000 Okinawan civilians...
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2000

BOJ report confirms recovery, albeit weak

The Bank of Japan released a monthly report Wednesday in which it upgraded its assessment of the economy by confirming a recovery -- albeit gradual -- and suggested that conditions do not yet merit a rise in interest rates.
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2000

USTR welcomes NTT cuts, hopes more are on the way

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky on Wednesday hailed the Tokyo-Washington agreement on the reduction of NTT Corp.'s interconnection charges and expressed hope for further rate cuts over the next three years.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2000

Japan-EU summit concludes with pledges of cooperation

Japan and the European Union concluded their annual summit on Wednesday morning, issuing a joint statement covering their common objectives in a wide range of areas.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2000

Balancing act for G8 leaders in a land apart

Four years ago, in July 1996, I suggested in an opinion piece for the Sankei Shimbun that the Group of Eight summit in 2000 be held in Okinawa.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2000

My thoughts toward Okinawa as host

MASAHIDE OTA Former governor of Okinawa Prefecture
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2000

BOJ decision said to be ambiguous

The Bank of Japan's decision Monday to leave the "zero-interest-rate" policy unchanged did not surprise many, given the shock financial markets received from the virtual bankruptcy last week of department store operator Sogo Co.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Okinawa dialects are taking on new sounds

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- For goodbyes, Okinawans no longer say "anayagabu sabira" -- Ryukyuan for "I pray for your happiness." They sing it.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Aum members sentenced to death for subway attack

Two Aum Shinrikyo followers were sentenced to death Monday for releasing the nerve gas sarin on the Tokyo subway system in March 1995 and for illegally manufacturing firearms.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2000

Yamazaki starts recall of moldy curry buns

OSAKA -- Yamazaki Baking Co. has retrieved more than 4,100 curry-flavored buns it recalled after convenience stores in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures reported that some of the products appeared to contain mold, officials of the company's factory in Osaka said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Jul 16, 2000

When dream makers walk among us

Socrates' bestial laugh washes into the cosmic map where Blake digs with his spade and Sam stands bathed in the sparks of his youth Among colored shapes, Sam embraces the warmest softest things a woman's spirit in the shape of clouds in the shape of foam in the shape of a womb The white space of the...
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2000

Bailout decisions case by case, says Mori's 'younger brother'

Although the controversial bailout plan for the Sogo Co. department store chain and its group firms was eventually scrapped when the group filed for court-mandated rehabilitation this week, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa is not sure how the government will handle similar cases in the future....
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2000

Kono wants North Korean talks at ASEAN meet

The government on Friday began arranging a possible meeting between Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and his North Korean counterpart, Paek Nam Sun, in Bangkok later this month.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2000

Miyazaki Initiative caps talks

MIYAZAKI-- The Group of Eight foreign ministers ended their two-day gathering here Thursday by adopting a statement covering a wide range of international political issues and a comprehensive "Miyazaki Initiative for Conflict Prevention."
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2000

Growing Islamic tide in region heightens Singapore's vulnerability

SINGAPORE -- A red dot in a sea of green. That was how former Indonesian President B.J. Habibie, talking to a Singapore minister who was paying a courtesy call, once described Singapore's position among its bigger neighbors in Southeast Asia.
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2000

Next week's events may make stocks jumpy

A number of important events are to take place next week, and some of them may rattle the stock market.
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 14, 2000

Verdy advances to Nabisco Cup quarterfinals

KAWASAKI -- Verdy Kawasaki advanced to the quarterfinals of the Nabisco Cup after beating J. League first-stage sensation Cerezo Osaka 2-0 on aggregate Wednesday night. Verdy will next meet cross-town rival Kawasaki Frontale on Aug. 30 and Sept. 6. Frontale held off defending champion Kashiwa Reysol...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 13, 2000

Politicians ever eager to please

THE JAPANESE POLITICAL PERSONALITY: Analyzing the Motivations and Culture of Freshman Diet Members, by Ofer Feldman. St. Martin's Press/Macmillan Press, 2000, 182 pp. (cloth), unpriced. The popular conception of the Japanese politician is that of a man (almost always), who is pushed and prodded by...
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2000

Cabinet urged to help with Mori's 'Japan rebirth plan'

Economic Planning Agency chief Taichi Sakaiya asked other Cabinet members Tuesday to study measures to bring about Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's "Japan rebirth plan."

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