Search - people

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2001

Three groups dominate underworld

About 68 percent of some 83,600 known gangsters in Japan were affiliated with three large "boryokudan" underworld syndicates as of the end of last year, reflecting the growing oligopolization of the mob, a National Police Agency report said Thursday.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 26, 2001

Many rivers to cross in Les Rivieres Pourpres

On what attracted him to the project -- Matthieu Kassovitz: "The book was a best seller in France, and the producer came to me with the project. Jean was already interested in playing the lead, and I also thought it was a good chance to work with Vincent again. So getting this script was like a big present...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2001

Fired Foreign Ministry official facing embezzlement charges

A senior Foreign Ministry official was fired Thursday for allegedly embezzling state funds and a criminal complaint was filed against him with the Metropolitan Police Department, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said.
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2001

Scandal threatens the Mori Cabinet

An unfolding bribery scandal surrounding an insurance group for small business led to the resignation of Mr. Fukushiro Nukaga, state minister for economic and fiscal policy, on Tuesday. Just a week earlier, Mr. Takao Koyama, a Liberal Democratic member of the Upper House, was arrested on charges of receiving...
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2001

Automakers zero in on Thailand

BANGKOK -- As Thailand gradually recovers from the financial crisis of 1997, Japanese automakers will likely see whether their effort to cut costs over the past few years has given them the strength to tackle intensifying competition in the market they have dominated for so long.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2001

Annan waits on re-election decision

Visiting U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Wednesday that he will announce in March whether he will run for a second term as head of the United Nations.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2001

Time for drastic reforms

The Tokyo stock market remains in a deep slump.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2001

Snow links up with Nestle on range of dairy products

Nestle Japan Holdings Ltd. and Snow Brand Milk Products Co. announced Wednesday that they have agreed to set up a joint venture on Feb. 1 to promote a range of products.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2001

CJD plaintiffs die before end of suit against state

Two people who sued the government after contracting Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease for failing to inform them of the risks of contracting CJD in operations have died, their relatives said Tuesday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Jan 24, 2001

Mariage Freres: A Ginza tea party

They haven't had to advertise in over 140 years. Of course, when your product is of the highest quality, word travels -- even to distant shores.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Official spent 170 million yen on racehorses

A senior Foreign Ministry official who is suspected of embezzling money from a special state fund spent about 170 million yen to buy 14 racehorses and keep them since 1997, sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Hokkaido retiree gets new start as teacher

As a boy, Ichio Yachimukai wanted to become a teacher out of gratitude for the kindness of his junior high school teacher, but he never imagined that he would one day venture to Vietnam to realize his ambition.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Nukaga informs LDP he quits over scandal

Scandal-tainted Cabinet minister Fukushiro Nukaga informed senior officials of his Liberal Democratic Party on Monday that he will step down to take responsibility for his involvement in a scandal that has already claimed two lawmakers.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

China parents said top task masters: poll

While the development of children's skills and interests is a primary concern among Japanese parents, the majority of Chinese moms and dads attach greater importance to the education and discipline of their offspring, according to the results of a recent survey.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jan 23, 2001

Artists with eclectic tastes dispute the 'healing' tag

Of all the nonsensical musical genres, perhaps the most irksome is one coined here in Japan: "healing" music.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 23, 2001

Gender, identity, plain old eros

MALE HOMOSEXUALITY IN MODERN JAPAN: Cultural Myths and Social Realities, by Mark J. McLelland. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 2000, 268 pp., b/w plates 17, 15.99 British pounds (paper). Mark McLelland begins this pioneering study by quoting Alfred Kinsey to the effect that nature rarely deals with...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2001

Cities merge to become Nishi-Tokyo

The city of Nishi-Tokyo was born in northwestern Tokyo Sunday as Tanashi and Hoya merged into a new entity of 15.8 sq. km and about 180,000 people, mostly commuters who work in downtown Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2001

Nukaga likely to step down

State minister Fukushiro Nukaga is likely to resign from his Cabinet post today in the wake of allegations he received 15 million yen from KSD, a provider of industrial accident insurance, in 1999 and 2000, political sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2001

Experts reach agreement to preserve disputed isles

Scientists, conservation experts and policymakers from Japan and Russia on Sunday called for joint scientific research and a cooperative program transcending politics to preserve four pristine Russian islands that punctuate the southern Kuril archipelago northeast of Hokkaido.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2001

The clock is ticking for Gen. Musharraf

ISLAMABAD -- Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, has vowed to give Pakistanis a new life through the establishment a new political order. This promise will be put to test in the next few months.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2001

Dealing with regional anxiety

HONOLULU -- With the inauguration of President George W. Bush's administrations, anxiety levels about future U.S. policy in Asia remain high. In Tokyo, there are apprehensions that Japan will be liked too much; that Washington will expect more from its steadfast ally than Japan is prepared to deliver....
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2001

Donor allows first intestine transplant

The nation's first transplantation of a small intestine from a legally established brain-dead donor was conducted Sunday by a group of doctors at Kyoto University Hospital in Kyoto, transplant coordinators said.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 22, 2001

Hydrogen future: Iceland's quest for a clean, green energy legacy

The future is wherever people are "thinking outside the box," seeking atypical solutions to problems of the status quo.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2001

FSA should hire experts to enhance effectiveness of No-Action Letter system

Third in a series
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2001

Pressure on Nukaga to quit in KSD row

Fukushiro Nukaga, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal affairs came under growing pressure Saturday to resign for accepting funds from the scandal-hit industrial insurance foundation KSD and is receiving little support from his Liberal Democratic Party colleagues.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes