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BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

China trade bill delay raises doubts about G8 breakthrough on WTO round

The U.S. Senate's delay in voting on a key China trade bill has some Japanese officials fretting about whether it will kill the chances — if any — of a breakthrough at the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa toward launching a new round of global trade negotiations.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2000

Rules set for hunting, trapping

The government is set to ban the use of some steel-jawed, leg-holding animal traps, limit the number of traps per person, and allow hunting of female deer during the hunting season until 2005, according to an Environment Agency report released Wednesday.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2000

Take the sunset road to Fukuoka's natural lifestyle zone

"Everyone wants to head west," an architect friend told me recently. "It's natural. That's where the sun sets, and where thoughts of relaxation turn to at the end of the day."
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jun 27, 2000

Different tunings, same brilliance

Two exceptional American guitarists visit Japan next month. Although at opposite ends of the spectrum in style, background and geography, both operate firmly outside the mainstream, share a desire to innovate and produce music that can be at once both meditative and challenging.
COMMUNITY
Jun 25, 2000

Don't run for cover, go Zurich Insurance!

Sitting on the swishest sofa ever -- an L-shaped signature design in scarlet leather -- in the lobby of Zurich Insurance, I picked up a book from the sea-green plate-glass coffee table and began reading up on "The Swiss." What should I expect of the president of such a company? Having met any number...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Blanket-toting 'Knock' denies intent to grope

OSAKA — Former Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama's molestation trial will be concluded Thursday with the defense's final statement, following prosecutors' demand last Tuesday for an 18-month prison term.
COMMENTARY
Jun 23, 2000

Victory predicted for LDP

The major Japanese newspapers that conducted polls on the June 25 Lower House election this week made these stunning forecasts:
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2000

LDP snubs own to back ally's man

Kensaku Morita, who before the dissolution of the Lower House was a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, is running as an independent in the Tokyo No. 4 constituency in Sunday's election because of what he calls an "unreasonable" decision by the LDP to back a candidate from one of the party's coalition...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2000

Thailand refuses to face its bloody past

BANGKOK -- The Thai Ministry of Defense recently released a 605-page report of a team that investigated a May 1992 uprising in which soldiers shot dead dozens of prodemocracy demonstrators. To people abroad, the news headlines may make it appear as if Thailand finally is coming to terms with political...
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2000

A starting point for tax reform

A tax issue that would directly affect people's pocketbooks is pitting the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition group, against other parties, especially the Liberal Democratic Party, in the current campaigning for the June 25 Lower House election. The DPJ is calling for a lowering of the...
MORE SPORTS
Jun 18, 2000

Bolivia hopes for surprise

Taking advantage of a similar playing style, Bolivia manager Carlos Aragones said he is looking for "a surprise" in Sunday's Kirin Cup final against Japan at Yokohama International Stadium.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2000

Reconciliation on the horizon

The joint declaration signed between North Korea leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung during the latter's just-concluded visit to Pyongyang is a truly historic document. It will, and should, require a complete reassessment of what is and is not possible regarding North-South reconciliation...
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Asahi backs out of planned tieup with Sanwa, Tokai

Three months after signing a basic agreement to integrate its management with Sanwa Bank and Tokai Bank, Asahi Bank reversed its stance Thursday and said it will pull out of the three-way consolidation plan.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2000

BTM will survive competition of new era, future chief says

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, currently the biggest bank in Japan, will strive to survive intensifying competition in the banking industry by utilizing its mostly upscale retail customer base and solid international networks, the future president of the bank said.
COMMENTARY
Jun 13, 2000

Future rides on this election

The Japanese archipelago will be deafened by the din of election campaigning for the Lower House for about two weeks beginning today. Given the growing public distrust of politics, however, the ranks of voters who claim no party affiliation are swelling. Political parties have repeatedly embraced unprincipled...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 10, 2000

May hit with 10-day suspension

Yomiuri Giants pitcher Darrell May was fined and suspended by the Central League on Thursday after throwing at the head of Hanshin pinch-hitter Yutaka Wada in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Tigers.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2000

LDP-led bloc the only way, Nonaka says

A coalition government led by the Liberal Democratic Party represents the only viable choice when voters go to the polls June 25, according to the party's No. 2 man.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2000

A Russian game of chess

LONDON -- U.S. President Bill Clinton has just been visiting Russia, stopping on the way in Western Europe to collect the Charlemagne Prize for his contribution to European unity.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2000

DAVID HOWELL: A Russian game of chess

LONDON -- U.S. President Bill Clinton has just been visiting Russia, stopping on the way in Western Europe to collect the Charlemagne Prize for his contribution to European unity.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2000

Mori, Kono meet VIPs ahead of funeral

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko confirmed Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Japan in late August, a Foreign Ministry official said.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2000

Volcano leaves Lake Toya in limbo

ABUTA, Hokkaido — Lake Toya is silent. The smell of sulfur is heavy in the air.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2000

Looking for balance

U.S. President Bill Clinton has just concluded his fifth and probably last visit to Moscow. There he held a summit with his Russian counterpart, Mr. Vladimir Putin. As in all such recent meetings, the disparities between the two countries hung over the summit. Leadership dynamics have been added to the...
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2000

Windswept town realizes gusts can be a clean money-spinner

TOMAMAE, Hokkaido — They tower above the ocean on bluffs and farmland, spinning like otherworldly contraptions misplaced on Hokkaido's bucolic coast. But the livestock don't seem to mind.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2000

Swing voters, blacklist loom large for poll

Swing voters are increasing, posing a threat to the ruling camp — the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and New Conservative Party — because many of them are critical of the current administration, pundits say.
COMMENTARY
Jun 5, 2000

The conservative's dilemma

Traditionally American voters have been given a choice between conservatism and liberalism. The Republican Party is labeled "conservative" and the Democratic Party "liberal." In Japan before 1993, when the Liberal Democratic Party lost its monopoly on power, the choice was between conservatism and socialism....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 4, 2000

Dang! There goes Dingo

Too bad about Dave "Dingo" Nilsson leaving the Chunichi Dragons. He's gone back to his native Australia for treatment of a painful lower back condition, and it appears his Japan career, at least at the varsity level, may have come to an end. What was supposed to have been an exciting season in Japan...
JAPAN / ELECTION 2000
Jun 3, 2000

Ruling coalition awaits voters' judgment at polls

The coming Lower House election will give voters their first chance to express their support, or lack thereof, for the tripartite coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2000

The siren song of 'the China market'

Businessmen around the world continue to be fascinated with the prospect of making a fortune doing business with China.
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2000

Mr. Fujimori's two faces

Few world leaders are as perplexing as Peru's president, Mr. Alberto Fujimori. Both sides of his complex personality have been on display in recent weeks: the taciturn autocrat who defies international opinion to hold an election and the leader who wins that vote with substantial popular support. But...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan