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EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2000

A terrifying epidemic

This will be a depressing week for the 11,000 participants at the 13th annual International AIDS Conference that is being held in Durban, South Africa. They will be told of a grim future, and see and hear for themselves horrific examples of the toll the epidemic is already taking. Their hopes may rise...
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2000

Boost youths' social ties: Oshima

While Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori feels educational reform is a key policy for his Cabinet, new Education Minister Tadamori Oshima wants to establish an educational program to enhance children's social participation.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2000

Detention of ex-minister Nakao extended

The Tokyo District Court has decided to allow former Construction Minister Eiichi Nakao to be detained for another 10 days through July 11, sources said Sunday.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2000

Sales down at supermarkets, department stores

Sales at department stores and supermarkets in Japan dropped in May from a year earlier, due partly to poor weather and a decrease in the number of holidays during the reporting month, industry groups said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2000

Firms expected to raise capital spending 5.2%

Capital spending by major Japanese companies is expected to rise 5.2 percent in fiscal 2000 from a year earlier, the first increase in four years, a government advisory panel said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

Large stores must try to fit in despite deregulation

With the abolishment of the Large-Scale Retail Store Law as of Wednesday, large retailers will no longer have to worry about harmonizing their commercial interests with local smaller businesses when establishing or expanding an outlet.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2000

Bright prospects for corporate Japan

Corporate-earnings reports for fiscal 1999, which ended March 31, provide further evidence of a budding recovery in the corporate sector. Most of the companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange posted their first net profit increase in three years. On a consolidated basis, pretax profits surged an estimated...
JAPAN
May 30, 2000

Global warming to strike hard: IPCC

Global warming may cause large-scale flooding after 2100, leading to water shortages and the spread of infectious diseases, according to the draft of a report to be issued next year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
JAPAN
May 27, 2000

Greenhouse gases still on the rise in some areas: MITI

An advisory panel to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry has announced that emissions of greenhouse gases such as hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons have yet to decrease in some areas.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2000

Think tanks favor Japan-South Korea free-trade bloc

State-run institutions from Japan and South Korea said Tuesday they favor forming a comprehensive mutual free-trade agreement aimed at improving competitiveness and market access.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2000

EPA revises downward March economic indicators

The Economic Planning Agency said Friday it has revised downward its three diffusion indexes of economic indicators for March from the preliminary figures released earlier this month.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2000

Special losses at DDI, IDO weigh down bottom line

Telecommunications firms DDI Corp. and IDO Corp., which plan to merge with international call operator KDD Corp. in the fall, released their 1999 earnings reports Monday showing lower pretax profits despite higher sales.
JAPAN
May 13, 2000

Mori reports assets totaling 130 million yen

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori owned some 130 million yen in personal and family assets as of April 5, the day his Cabinet was launched, according to government data released Friday.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2000

Will Clinton crumble again?

If Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's overseas foreign-policy tour this week has a theme, it is "coverup" and "damage control." Mori, known as a colorless political fixer, has been tasked with assuring foreign leaders that the July G8 summit will go forward successfully no matter what happens on the Japanese...
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
May 2, 2000

Stop this madness!

I'm currently reading Ichiro Ozawa's "Blueprint for a New Japan," his manifesto for giving the government and politicians of this country the kick up the backside they badly need.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 23, 2000

Japan as No. 1 (in being bullied by U.S.)

With a refreshing bit of journalistic acuity, the USA Today reporter James Cox has reminded me how bizarre the U.S. attitude toward Japan has become. Under the headline, "U.S. bullies Japan like no other nation," Cox noted the astonishing extent of U.S. high-handed meddlesomeness with Japan, suggesting...
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2000

The game of the name

There are hints in the spring air of a diplomatic thaw: The Clinton administration is poised, they say, to let Libya out of the doghouse. Sanctions may be lifted, and Americans may once again vacation in Tripoli. Modest celebrations are in order, but there is one caveat. Washington should not let the...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2000

Tokai disaster no closer to resolution

Many things have been said about last September's fatal nuclear accident at the JCO Co. uranium processing plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2000

Car sales help February industrial output leap 3%

Industrial output grew 3 percent in February from the previous month, thanks to strong sales of new-model automobiles and extra working hours because of the leap year, according to a preliminary report issued Wednesday by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 23, 2000

For those about to sip under spreading sakura

Welcome to Spring 2000, the first primavera of the new millennium. While I'll be visiting wineries in Austria, an always inviting wine country, and later Slovenia, its mighty-mite neighbor just over the Alps, you'll probably be indulging yourselves in hanami, that annual eternally poetic pastime. Be...
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2000

G8 to take up food tech aid for developing nations

Japan plans to propose technical assistance on genetically modified foods to developing countries at an annual summit of the Group of Eight major nations in July in Okinawa Prefecture, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

School reform goals outlined

Reona Esaki, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics and head of a government education reform panel to be launched later this month, says he will strive to create a "custom-made" education system to meet the needs of individual students.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2000

Current-account surplus falls again

The nation's current-account surplus in January plunged 22.8 percent from a year earlier to 610.9 billion yen with the expansion of imports outpacing that of exports, the Finance Ministry said Friday in a preliminary report.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2000

Ruble's demise dents used-car trade

TAKAOKA, Toyama Pref. -- The significance of this month's presidential elections in Russia and their effect on the ruble's value are not lost on Kaneo Sato.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2000

Japan compiles new rules against illegal trash exports

The government announced Friday that it has tightened rules to require authorities to keep a lookout for illegal exports of garbage.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2000

Salaried household spending drops

Salaried workers' households spent less in January than they did a year earlier for the sixth consecutive month, the Management and Coordination Agency said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2000

National oil development strategy questioned

Staff writer The expiration Monday of the 40-year-old drilling rights of Japan's Arabian Oil Co. to a Saudi Arabian oil field dealt another blow to Tokyo's long-term policy of expanding Japanese-explored oil sources as a precaution against emergencies like the 1970s oil crises. The expiration was a...
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2000

Criminals in the least likely places

Like the media abroad, Japan's press and television are criticized for sensationalized crime reporting - with one important difference. Critics say they are too slow and too timid in reporting criminal behavior by the nation's police forces. At a time when random crimes of violence are occurring with...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2000

Challenging the 'Washington consensus'

We live in an era of unparalleled affluence. More people enjoy better lives than at any time in human history. High priests of economic orthodoxy credit the diffusion of market capitalism for this bounty. Poverty persists, but the conventional wisdom is that time and the right policies will spread the...
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2000

Current account surplus takes first dive since '96

The nation's current account surplus in 1999 plunged 22.7 percent from a year earlier to 12.2 trillion yen, marking the first year-on-year decline in three years, the Finance Ministry said Monday. The surplus in merchandise trade -- exports minus imports -- fell 12.1 percent to 14.05 trillion yen, making...

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