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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2001

Backers of Chinese press in Malaysia mobilize to defend its freedom

KUALA LUMPUR -- Despite stringent mass media laws, Chinese newspapers in Malaysia have built a reputation for objective, balanced and accurate political reporting and analyses. This widely-held perception among all ethnic groups in multiracial Malaysia -- Malays, Chinese and Indians -- often stands in...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Teachers brave frontline of national IT offensive

SHIKI, Saitama Pref. — Sitting in pairs behind computer screens, 30 fifth-graders at Muneoka No. 3 Elementary School here try to catch an English word spoken by computer and select the corresponding picture by mouse.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Ministry has wine bonanza on public funds

The Foreign Ministry spent around 30 million yen on 4,427 bottles of wine in the three years beginning fiscal 1997, according to documents revealed by the ministry Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 15, 2001

The state's right to kill

America was riveted -- and riven -- this week by the execution of one of its least defensible mass murderers, Timothy McVeigh, the man responsible for the deaths of 168 people in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklohoma City six years ago. At the same time, Japan was traumatized...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Hackers hit 20% of firms, NPA says

About 20 percent of universities, companies and municipal governments have had their computer systems illegally accessed during the past year, but just 5.3 percent of them alerted police, according to a survey released Thursday by the National Police Agency.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jun 15, 2001

Japan owes Troussier a 'Merci'

Poor South Korea. Get blitzed 5-0 by France in the Confederations Cup opener, making Japan feel a whole lot better about life after Philippe Troussier's boys lost by the same score in Paris on March 25. Go out of the tournament on goal difference, while Japan finish top of Group B following wins over...
COMMUNITY
Jun 15, 2001

You're not leaving the table till you finish those vegetables

Some nights, I drift off to sleep feeling as smug as if I'd just outwitted the devil. My husband has clued in to my little G spot of contentment, so when he wants to get on my good side, he knows to whisper: "Rio ate lots of vegetables today."
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2001

Downward pressures on euro buoy yen

The euro remains under pressure, reflecting a shift in sentiment about the outlook for the euro-zone economy.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 15, 2001

Hummingbird hawkmoth

* Japanese name: Oosukashiba * Scientific name: Cephonodes hylas * Description: These moths are sometimes mistaken for hummingbirds, because they fly just like them. But they are in fact insects -- day-flying moths. The thorax and abdomen of this species are bright green, with red, black and yellow...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2001

Korean summit fails to meet expectations

SEOUL -- Under normal circumstances, the meaning of a great event should become clearer in retrospect than in prospect. Yet on the first anniversary of last year's Korean summit, confusion rather than clarity reigns. In a sense, a year is too short a time to know if real change has occurred, setting...
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2001

Long-term gain worth the pain

Japan's gross domestic product in the first quarter of the year dropped 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, or 0.8 percent at the annualized rate, according to figures released Monday by the Cabinet Office. Economic indicators since April also show the economy is decelerating. Mr. Heizo Takenaka,...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

Cuba envoy fund misuse to be probed

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka indicated Wednesday she will thoroughly investigate reports that a former ambassador to Cuba diverted taxpayer money for private purposes.
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2001

Amazon Japan adds video tapes, CDs, DVDs

The Japanese unit of Amazon.com announced Wednesday its expansion to sell compact discs, digital versatile discs and video tapes, but said there was no sign of the company making a profit yet.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

Stabbing suspect aimed to harass relatives

OSAKA — The suspect in last Friday's massacre at an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, has told investigators that he wanted to "stir up a commotion" to harass his relatives, it was learned Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2001

'Double bottom' could presage recovery

While Tokyo share prices have remained at a depressed level in recent weeks, the stock market could bottom out for the second time in a span of three months or so, a situation that is often followed by a strong rebound.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2001

Pyongyang's Chinese connection to the global economy

DANDONG, China -- When managers at a North Korean metal works began dreaming that foreigners' suits and blouses might one day be draped on the company's aluminum coat-hangers, there was no way to pursue international markets directly.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

Koizumi says U.S. rejection of Kyoto pact 'deplorable'

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday he finds it "very deplorable" that the United States has rejected the Kyoto Protocol, but he stopped short of saying whether Japan will ratify the pact even without U.S. participation.
COMMENTARY
Jun 14, 2001

Solving Asia's nuclear-waste dilemma

Nuclear energy is news again. It has always been an issue for some people -- environmental activists and energy industry groups -- but nuclear power has largely faded from public consciousness, despite periodic incidents that highlighted fears of a catastrophic mishap at a nuclear power plant. The luxury...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

Six arrested in visa scam involving fake marriages

Police arrested six people Wednesday on suspicion of arranging bogus marriages to help Chinese nationals stay in Japan to work, police said.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jun 14, 2001

Swallows likely to command $5 million for Ishii

Kazuhisa Ishii is a man in demand.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

Aum's request to end surveillance is rejected

The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday rejected a request by Aum Shinrikyo to void a decision by the Public Security Examination Commission to place the sect under surveillance by security authorities.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 14, 2001

When a little profit exacts a high price

Public-works projects, such as the bungled reclamation of Isahaya Bay in Kyushu and Tokyo's ill-conceived Ken'odo ring road, exemplify the bureaucratic myopia that is razing Japan's natural heritage. But the destruction is not always on a grand scale, nor solely the handiwork of public servants. Private...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

JCCI probes alleged exam leak

Questions on an accounting license examination conducted Sunday by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry may have been leaked to students at accounting schools, JCCI officials said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 14, 2001

Britain's real battle begins

LONDON -- The Labour government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Tony Blair, has gained a second term of office. The conservative opposition has been utterly defeated and its leader, William Hague, has duly "fallen on his sword" by resigning.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 14, 2001

New hope for dementia

In 1906, a German doctor called Alois Alzheimer discovered strange clumps in the brain of a woman who had died of a then-mysterious mental illness.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

Online stores struggle for sales

Five months ago, online supermarket Olive Mart overhauled its business methods for the second time since its launch in May 1999.
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2001

Envisioning a reformed Iran

Iran's President Mohammad Khatami has won a second term in office. While his margin of victory was larger than in 1997, Iran's hardliners are probably not too worried. They still control the power ministries in the revolutionary government and command the loyal support of religious conservatives nationwide....
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2001

Diplomat Togo finally gets Netherlands appointment

Kazuhiko Togo, former director general of the Foreign Ministry's European Affairs Bureau, was finally named Japanese ambassador to the Netherlands on Tuesday after weeks of waiting for a freeze on his transfer to be lifted, the ministry said.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan