Search - people

 
 
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2000

Japan firms optimistic over Sakhalin

Japanese firms investing in Sakhalin, an island off the easternmost coast of Russia, are finally expressing optimism over the business climate in the region.
COMMENTARY
Sep 16, 2000

Public TV in the digital era

LONDON -- The British Broadcasting Corporation was a pioneer of public-service broadcasting when it was established in the 1920s. It built up a strong reputation in its early years under its first director, General Lord Reith, although it also earned the nick-name of "Auntie" because it was regarded...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Foreigners' crimes slightly down

The number of crimes committed by foreigners in Japan in the first half of 2000 dropped slightly from a year earlier, but thefts and burglaries are on the rise, according to a survey by the National Police Agency released Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Tokyo to recognize car-free day

Eight Tokyo-based nongovernment organizations are hoping people will give their cars a break on Tokyo Car Free Day 2000, scheduled for Sept. 23.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2000

Looking for Mori's successor

A couple of weeks ago, Koichi Kato, former secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, appeared at a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. Kato is receiving growing public attention as a potential contender for the post of prime minister to replace unpopular Yoshiro...
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2000

What did Russia want?

The arrest last Friday of a Maritime Self-Defense Force officer on suspicion of spying for Russia raises the puzzling question: How is it that Moscow needed, or seemed to need, military secrets from Japan in the post-Cold War period, particularly at a time when relations between the two nations are improving?...
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

80% of Japanese die at medical centers

About 80 percent of Japanese died at hospitals and clinics in recent years, compared with just over 50 percent in the United States and Britain, according to a report by a think tank affiliated with the Health and Welfare Ministry.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

Coast guard pushes global piracy fight

Japan needs to join hands with other countries to fight increasing maritime-related crime worldwide, particularly pirate attacks in Southeast Asian waters, according to an annual report the Japan Coast Guard released earlier this week.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

High dioxin levels found in Tokyo soil

Dioxin concentrations up to 16 times above national safety guidelines were detected in soil in Tokyo's Ota Ward, making it the nation's second-worst dioxin contamination in a public place, Tokyo metropolitan government officials revealed Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Sep 14, 2000

Japan boss hoping for eight gold medals

SYDNEY -- Japan's Olympic officials have set the nation's athletes a goal of bringing home five gold medals and a total of 15 medals from the Sydney Olympics.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 14, 2000

Hatsu-nomikiri still a summer ritual for brewers

Sake breweries are usually fairly quiet in the summer. Except for the few large breweries where brewing continues all year, most places are dark and quiet and empty, as the brewers themselves have gone home for the summer. Traditionally, the kurabito (brewers) traveled great distances from their rural...
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2000

Extra 1.4 billion yen set aside to observe Miyake eruptions

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet decided Tuesday to use 1.4 billion yen from the fiscal 2000 budget to increase monitoring of volcanic activity on Miyake Island, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa said.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2000

Lung cancer forum eyes no-smoking declaration

An international conference on lung cancer opened in Tokyo this week with some 2,500 doctors and researchers expected to adopt a declaration calling for nonsmoking government policies around the world.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2000

Volume 2 of 'Harry Potter' to hit Japan stores

To the relief of more than 500,000 Japanese fans who have been eagerly awaiting its release, the Japanese translation of the second volume of the best-selling "Harry Potter" book series will hit bookstores nationwide later this week.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2000

Women from North Korea arrive

A group of 16 Japanese women married to North Koreans arrived at Narita Airport on Tuesday for the third homecoming trip arranged between the two countries.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2000

Three Shimizu execs receive suspended terms for bribery

The Tokyo District Court sentenced three former executives of the major construction firm Shimizu Corp. to suspended prison terms Tuesday for their involvement in the 1992 bribery of then Ibaraki Gov. Fujio Takeuchi over a prefectural construction project.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2000

Reclamation project delayed again

A 50 billion yen-plus land reclamation project in Tokyo Bay was postponed for a second time Tuesday amid sea-borne protests by local fishing boat operators, who say the plan will destroy the last haven for gobies and other sea creatures in the metro area.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2000

MITI to revise law on fraudulent sales

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry will revise the call-sales law in a bid to curb fraudulent sales, ministry officials said.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 13, 2000

Thunder god romps in Katmandu

For eight wild, magical and sometimes disconcerting days each September the great festival of Indrajatra turns Katmandu into a raucous celebration.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2000

Economy up 1% in quarter: EPA

The staggering nature of Japan's recovery was reflected Monday by the latest gross domestic product report, which showed that the economy grew 1 percent during the April-June quarter.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2000

Post office parcel spews smoke

Forty-five people were taken to a hospital complaining of eye irritation Monday morning after a parcel being handled at Tokyo's Nihonbashi Post Office began emitting a pungent-smelling smoke, police said.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Sep 12, 2000

Intercultural influences

East-West fusions are nothing new. Nearly 100 years ago, some Western classical music was influenced by Indian classical or Javanese gamelan music. In the 1950s, violinist Yehudi Menuhin performed with Indian sarod player Ali Akbar Khan and sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. By the 1960s, John Coltrane was...
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2000

Quake of '23 gave Ikebukuro its Bohemian roots

When Ikebukuro Station opened on the Yamanote Line in 1903, the area around it was little more than pasture and vegetable fields.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’