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JAPAN
Apr 12, 1999

Kofuku Bank faces capital shortage

OSAKA -- Kofuku Bank said Monday that its capital-to-asset ratio may have fallen below the government-prescribed level of 4 percent when it closed its books at the end of March.
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 1999

Justice for victims of Pan Am 103

On Dec. 21, 1988, Pan Am flight 103 exploded in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. Three years after the blast, a Scottish court petition named two Libyan officials, Mr. Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah and Mr. Abdel Basset Ali al Megrahi, as the individuals responsible for the atrocity. Earlier...
JAPAN
Apr 8, 1999

Agency unveils bank inspection manual

The Financial Supervisory Agency unveiled an inspection manual Thursday that covers evaluating bank managers on whether they have fulfilled their responsibilities.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Apr 8, 1999

Sommeliers blowing smoke over corks

Years ago as a university student in Tokyo it was my good fortune to have a job with a famous design firm that had me in every week to critique their designs, write the English-language text for their creative work and occasionally translate and interpret for colleagues visiting from abroad.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1999

200 billion yen eyed to kick start baby boom

The Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and New Komeito agreed at a working-level meeting to provide up to 200 billion yen to local governments to help reverse Japan's declining birth rate, officials of the three parties said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Apr 7, 1999

Turnabout

Life is full of surprises. Did you know that anyone can open an English language school in Japan? While most are started by people with some experience in teaching, there are no such requirements. No one will come to inspect your school to see how and what you are teaching. This will be bad news for...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 1999

In the wake of the spy boats

Two North Korean spy boats disguised as trawlers recently intruded deep into Japanese territorial waters in the Sea of Japan. This was the second incident to have heightened tension between Tokyo and Pyongyang since last August, when a Taepodong ballistic missile test-fired by North Korea flew over northern...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 7, 1999

Fading hopes for faltering Japan

JAPAN TODAY, by Roger Buckley. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999, (3rd edition), 233 pp. This is a succinct and reliable introductory survey of post-World War II Japanese history. This third edition is substantially rewritten and updated by the inclusion of recent material and analysis....
JAPAN
Apr 5, 1999

Sony invests in Internet brokerage

Sony Corp. on Monday established a preparatory company jointly with Oki Matsumoto, a limited partner at Goldman Sachs & Co. of the United States, to enter the Internet securities business, Sony officials said.
CULTURE / Art / ARTS AND ARTISANS
Apr 3, 1999

Block-printed paper beauty

Chiyogami is colorful handmade paper printed with Japanese traditional patterns or designs, and is usually used by girls for making kimono-clad dolls, small boxes, or bookmarks.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 1999

Home sweet home discovered between public and private

Returning to Tokyo after living and working in Europe for some years, artist Tadashi Kawamata was struck by a unique characteristic of the megalopolitan Tokyo: It appears to be an unusually orderly and clean city, despite its population. Brightly lit vending machines line the streets at almost regular...
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1999

Japan Inc. to pull back on capital investment

Japanese corporations intend to spend 7.7 percent less on plant and equipment investment in fiscal 1999 than compared with the year ended Wednesday, according to the results of a survey released Friday by the Industrial Bank of Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1999

First bullfight delights recruits, irks activists

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

Hitachi chief's strategy centers on shareholders

The newly appointed president of Hitachi Ltd. pledged Thursday his firm would place greater importance on shareholders and strive for an 8 percent return on equity within four years.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

Local Elections '99: Akashi vows to revive Tokyo

Staff writer
COMMUNITY
Apr 1, 1999

Study shows boiled rice main cause of cancer

April Fool! In Japan, April 1 is a day of beginnings and renewals, a sort of second New Year's. It's the first day of a new school year; and the start of careers for newly hired graduates. It's also the start of a new fiscal year in business. For Japanese baseball fans, April 1 is the first day of regular...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1999

Local Elections '99: Mikami would ax megaprojects, not staff

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 29, 1999

Kakizawa's goals hinge on unaffiliated voters

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 29, 1999

Mitsubishi Motors mulls capital tieup proposals

OKAZAKI, Aichi Pref. -- Mitsubishi Motors Corp. President Katsuhiko Kawasoe said Monday the company has received "a variety of proposals" from many automakers to form an alliance centering on MMC's technologies and did not rule out the possibility of any of them developing into a capital tieup.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Local Elections '99: Hatoyama and 'symbiosis with nature'

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 1999

Banking on the euro

The euro was designed to create economies of scale. A single European currency zone was expected to maximize the reach of companies looking to exploit the new supermarket by rationalizing planning and production costs. Proof of the idea's appeal -- and its inevitability -- is the wave of mergers and...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 25, 1999

Kokotei: Kamakura cuisine with a view

For most city folk, the best thing about Kamakura is the reassurance that it actually exists. We don't need to go there so often: It's enough to know that, less than an hour away down the JR tracks, there really are quiet backstreets to wander in, temples and monuments exuding a whiff of history, brine...
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Greenpeace slams court over arrests, raid

Greenpeace Japan criticized the Tokyo District Court Thursday for not clarifying reasons for the arrest and detention of three Greenpeace activists who staged a demonstration at the March 18 Tokyo Toy Show to protest the use of polyvinyl in toys.
COMMUNITY / CROSSING CULTURES
Mar 25, 1999

Glacial change hard for people more used to avalanche speed

Japan can't change. Change in Japan is glacial. Japanese are stuck in their ways. In Japan, disappointment is what you can expect if you expect change.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Mar 24, 1999

A downer day

A friend of mine, a medical doctor who has spent many years in this country, was here during Japan's recent press spectacular, the first official transplant operation. I asked what he thought of the frenzy surrounding this lifesaving achievement. I think his comments should have a far wider circulation...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Softbank, Microsoft plan online car-shopping venture

Softbank Corp., Microsoft Corp., and Yahoo Japan Corp. announced Wednesday that they will establish a joint venture in April, capitalized at $7 million, offering a car-shopping information service for Japanese customers.
COMMENTARY
Mar 23, 1999

Strategies for a secure Japan

Diet has finally begun debating the enabling bills for the Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines, almost a year after the government sent them to the legislature last April. How the debate will develop in the weeks ahead has an important bearing on the security environment of Asia, including the...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 21, 1999

Reach out and touch your four-footed friends

Do you ever get the feeling that your cat isn't listening to you? Have you ever tried to find a gift for the dog who has everything? Don't despair. The latest in pet communication is here: greeting cards for cats and dogs.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Mar 21, 1999

Obligations

What a downer! A reader has just looked at his calendar and realized that March 15 has passed -- and he forgot to file his Japanese tax return. While he should do it as soon as possible, he does not need to worry. Japan's bureaucracy tends to be compassionate in such matters, especially when the wrongdoer...
COMMENTARY
Mar 20, 1999

A cloudy outlook for spring

The Dow-Jones industrial average on the New York Stock Exchange broke through the barrier of 10,000 March 16. Following the overnight rally, the benchmark Nikkei average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange regained the 16,000 level for the first time in seven and a half months. The advances appear to signal...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan