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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 15, 2001

NTT's still calling all the shots

As is apparent to anyone who owns a computer in Japan, the government's stated aim of making the nation an IT powerhouse will come to nothing until telecommunications connection fees become more rational.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Feb 15, 2001

Nature in Tokyo: the long and Short of it

Kevin Short's latest book, "Nature in Tokyo," which came out in December from Kodansha International, is a 335-page guide to animals and plants in Tokyo and the surrounding area. Through this book, readers will become much more aware of the origins of Tokyo and realize that it's not all flat nor totally...
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2001

Domestic firms balk at Mori's IT initiative requiring investment abroad

Just seven months after Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori announced with much fanfare a $15 billion aid initiative in the area of information technology, concerns are already growing within the government that the plan may eventually fizzle out.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2001

BOJ cuts discount rate to 0.35%

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday cut its official discount rate by 0.15 percentage point to a record low of 0.35 percent in line with a decision made at its Policy Board meeting Friday.
COMMENTARY
Feb 14, 2001

The 'freeter' phenomenon

LONDON -- An article in the Jan. 31 issue of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun began with these words (my translation): "It was afternoon when he woke up. There was nothing he had to do. To avoid meeting his parents he got up without making any noise and went out of the house. It was the same thing for him every...
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Opposition finds grist as Mori golfs amid tragedy

The opposition camp made full use of its latest ammunition against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori -- his decision to keep playing golf Saturday despite learning about a collision between a Japanese vessel and a U.S. submarine -- during Tuesday's House of Representatives Budget Committee deliberations.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Opposition finds grist as Mori golfs amid tragedy

The opposition camp made full use of its latest ammunition against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori -- his decision to keep playing golf Saturday despite learning about a collision between a Japanese vessel and a U.S. submarine -- during Tuesday's House of Representatives Budget Committee deliberations.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

China agrees to sea-use framework

Japan and China agreed Tuesday to give two months' notification for marine research activities in each other's economic waters, setting up a framework to guard against incidents similar to one last year in which the entry of Chinese vessels into Japanese waters caused turmoil in bilateral relations....
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

China agrees to sea-use framework

Japan and China agreed Tuesday to give two months' notification for marine research activities in each other's economic waters, setting up a framework to guard against incidents similar to one last year in which the entry of Chinese vessels into Japanese waters caused turmoil in bilateral relations....
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Mori, Putin plan March treaty talks

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in the Russian city of Irkutsk on March 25 for peace treaty talks, the two leaders agreed during a phone conversation Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Mori, Putin plan March treaty talks

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in the Russian city of Irkutsk on March 25 for peace treaty talks, the two leaders agreed during a phone conversation Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 14, 2001

Sakhalin oil sparks hopes and fears

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia -- Sakhalin Island is a remote former penal colony where the sea freezes for up to six months a year and villagers have been known to sleep in tents pitched in their bedrooms when the central heating fails.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Surviving students arrive at Kansai airport

Nine Uwajima Fisheries High School students who survived a collision Friday between their training ship and a surfacing U.S. submarine off Hawaii arrived Tuesday afternoon at Kansai International Airport in Osaka aboard a Japan Airlines flight.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Politicians rethinking reliance on vote-gathering machinery

Staff writer It is election year in Japan again. About half of the seats in the Upper House will be up for grabs in the triennial election in July, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election -- often seen as an indicator of voting trends in national polls -- is expected in June.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Politicians rethinking reliance on vote-gathering machinery

Staff writer It is election year in Japan again. About half of the seats in the Upper House will be up for grabs in the triennial election in July, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election -- often seen as an indicator of voting trends in national polls -- is expected in June.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 12, 2001

Into the heart of darkness

What is it about deeply rural places and deeply strange religion and sex? In the United States, one has the stereotype of the hills of Appalachia as refuges for snake-handling preachers and cousin-marrying hillbillies. In Japan, one has the mountains of Shikoku in Masato Harada's "Inugami," where ancient...
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

4.4-magnitude quake rocks west

An earthquake measuring 4.4 in magnitude jolted a wide area of western Japan on Sunday morning, the Meteorological Agency said. No damage or injuries were reported immediately.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2001

Hints of thaw in Indo-Pakistani relations

ISLAMABAD -- When Pakistani military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke on the phone for a few minutes after the devastating earthquake that hit parts of India recently, many observers were relieved.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

LDP should return 'fees' from KSD affiliate: Kanzaki

The Liberal Democratic Party should return the money provided to it under the guise of party membership fees by an affiliate of the scandal-tainted industrial mutual aid organization KSD, the leader of the LDP's key coalition partner said Sunday.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2001

Police determine body found in cave to be Blackman's

Police have confirmed that the remains discovered Friday in a cave in Kanagawa Prefecture are those of Lucie Blackman, the 21-year-old British hostess who went missing last July.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2001

Give power to the people

The newly reorganized government ministries and agencies began operating Jan. 6. The administration of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, however, seems to be oblivious to the purpose of the reform.
EDITORIALS
Feb 12, 2001

A nation without a road map

The primary task of the ongoing ordinary Diet session is to present a credible picture of future Japan, a blueprint for the structural reforms needed to rebuild the nation. Plenary debates were held in both houses of the Diet earlier last week, followed by committee-level debates during the rest of the...

Longform

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