Search - 2000

 
 
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2000

Government unveils guidelines for axing works projects

The three ruling parties have adopted a set of four criteria for deciding whether to scrap or suspend ongoing public works projects as part of a plan to make Japan's huge construction budgets more effective, according to coalition officials.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2000

MITI to abolish subsidy for solar power in homes

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry plans to scrap government subsidies for solar power generation equipment for household use at the end of fiscal 2002 in order to boost competition in the industry, ministry sources said Wednesday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Aug 24, 2000

Sampling the best the world of wine writing has to offer

Next to a good wine, I might settle for a good wine book, if only I had time to read them. Having just finished writing a 20,000-word thesis last week on a rather weighty subject, I decided to reward myself with a little wine reading. Fate recently fed my bibliophilia with a few wine books, some of them...
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2000

Toshiba revises sales forecast upward to 120 billion yen

Thanks to favorable performance in the electronic device business, Toshiba Corp. has revised its consolidated sales forecast to 2.9 trillion yen, up 120 billion yen from its initial forecast, for the six-month period through Sept. 30, the company announced Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2000

Sogo collapse hits banks, construction stocks

Bank and construction stocks have taken a battering in the wake of the collapse of department store chain Sogo Co. in July.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2000

Panel approves new reactor

An advisory panel on Monday endorsed a plan by Chugoku Electric Power Co. to build a new nuclear reactor in Shimane Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2000

Bandai Music approved for liquidation

The Tokyo District Court has approved the start of liquidation of Bandai Music Entertainment Inc., a unit of major toy maker Bandai Co., a leading private credit-research agency said Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2000

Minicar popularity climbing

Some 40.8 minicars were owned by every 100 households as of the end of March, 1.1 more cars than the previous year, marking the first time the figure has topped 40, according to a report compiled Monday by an industry association.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 22, 2000

Soseki never dreamed of this

TEN NIGHTS' DREAMS, by Natsume Soseki. Translated by Takumi Kashima, Kyoko Nonaka, Hideki Oiwa, Horikatsu Kawashima and Katsunori Fujioka. London: Soseki Museum in London, 2000. 64 pp., unpriced. In 1908, and already an established popular writer, Natsume Soseki turned to more experimental forms of...
EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 2000

Public works should serve the public

Highly conscious of public criticism of the role played by public-works projects in its politics, the Liberal Democratic Party is overhauling the much-maligned system. The party is supposed to be trying to phase out programs that have outlived their usefulness and to classify those related to information...
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2000

Defense Agency seeks new law to ensure military cooperation

The Defense Agency is planning to launch a study group by the end of August to research legislation ensuring that U.S. forces in Japan operate smoothly during domestic military crises, agency sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2000

World still sorting out MacArthur's legacy

When readers were asked a year ago, "Who was the most influential American in Asia in the 20th century?" the response was very lopsided.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 21, 2000

Yokohama student to champion environmental concerns of youth

Rieko Kubota, who is 20 years old and a second-year student majoring in economics at Yokohama City University, is not your average Japanese university student.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 18, 2000

Japan walks over UAE 3-1

HIROSHIMA -- Another day, another facile victory against another substandard team. Japan cruised to a 3-1 victory over the United Arab Emirates in the Kirin Challenge 2000 at Hiroshima's Big Arch on Wednesday, though quite where the challenge was meant to come from was difficult to see.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2000

Top civil service test yields lowest pass rate in 15 years

The National Personnel Authority said Wednesday that 1,228 candidates passed the nation's top civil service exam for fiscal 2000, 24 fewer than last year and the lowest number since the current exam system took effect in fiscal 1985.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2000

Chemical safety plans urged by '05

An intergovernmental forum will call on governments to establish national plans by 2005 to safely manage hazardous chemicals, according to draft documents obtained by Kyodo News.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 16, 2000

The 'third way' goes via Japan

CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY IN MODERN JAPAN, edited by Ian Inkster and Fumihiko Satofuka. 2000, I.B. Tauris, 39.50 British pounds / St. Martin's Press, $59.50. THE JAPANESE AND EUROPE: Images and Perceptions, by Bert Edstrom. Japan Library, 35 British pounds / $55. In less than 150 years, Japan has changed...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 16, 2000

May this force be with you

THE MYSTERIOUS POWER OF KI: The Force Within, by Kouzo Kaku, translated by Roger Machin and Mami Nakamura. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental, 2000, 154 pp., with b/w photographs, 14.95 British pounds. Despite the title of this book, there is nothing mysterious about "ki." It is a concept popularly...
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2000

Fish agency allows catching of entire bluefin tuna quota

The Fisheries Agency will allow catches of southern bluefin tuna up to Japan's original quota of 6,065 tons this year following an international tribunal decision nullifying an interim ruling that cut the quota by about 1,500 tons, agency officials said Saturday.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 13, 2000

Getting interconnected at Kim's

Interconnectivity is a technology buzzword, but Kim Gordon -- rock star of Sonic Youth fame, originator of the X Girl label, and now artist and curator of "Kim's Bedroom," currently at Parco Gallery -- has presented it as the locus of her first curatorial foray. Gordon has assembled an eclectic group...
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2000

Preparing to welcome foreign students

Japan could soon see the long-expected increase in the number of foreign students attending its universities and specialized schools that the government has been promoting with only limited success. In a marked departure for this country's official development assistance policy, a new program scheduled...
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2000

Honda cites strong yen in profit drop

Honda Motor Co. on Thursday reported consolidated pretax profits of 101.7 billion yen for the first quarter of fiscal 2000, down 15.9 percent from the same period last year.
COMMENTARY
Aug 11, 2000

Mori reign remains shaky

It has been four months since Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori launched his coalition government. Mori's first Cabinet, inaugurated April 5, remained in office for less than three months before the general election was held June 25. He established his second Cabinet July 3.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2000

Foreign students in Japan to receive ODA-based loans

Taking a new direction in its official development assistance policy, Japan will introduce a multibillion-yen program using low-interest yen loans to provide financial assistance to foreign students here, government sources said Wednesday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 10, 2000

Japanese athletes owe debt to Chiba

In today's sporting world we are too often forced to see rebels without a cause trying to make a name for themselves by their outrageous actions on or off the field of play. They constantly try to attract attention by bullying, being obnoxious or condescending to opponents, teammates, coaches, fans and...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2000

High school equivalency test to be offered twice annually

The Education Ministry decided Wednesday to hold the state-run "daiken" qualification examinations for university entrance exams twice a year as of fiscal 2001, ministry officials said.

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