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JAPAN
Dec 30, 2000

North Korea-linked credit union ruled insolvent

The Financial Reconstruction Commission on Friday declared insolvent Chogin Kinki Shinyo Kumiai, the largest pro-Pyongyang credit union in Japan, and decided to send in state-appointed administrators.
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2000

Mitsui sets five-year reconstruction plan

Mitsui Construction Co. announced a five-year restructuring plan Friday under which the ailing general contractor will ask about 10 creditor financial institutions, including Sakura Bank, to forgive debts totaling 163 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2000

Fresh from ODA victory over Kamei, Mori turns to IT aid initiative

Fresh from surviving a hard-fought battle against political pressure for Draconian cuts in its foreign-aid budget, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's government is stepping up efforts to implement his $15 billion aid initiative in the area of information technology.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2000

Japan will be short 35,000 nurses in 2001

Japan will be short some 35,000 nurses in 2001 as demand for their services rises in line with the new nursing-care insurance system, a Health and Welfare Ministry report says.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2000

Falling victim to U.S.-Chinese diplomacy

A 46-year-old man named Zhang Hongbao from Harbin, China is facing an uncertain fate in a cramped U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services detention cell in the U.S. territory of Guam. On one hand he is just another illegal immigrant, joining thousands of other Chinese who have attempted to settle...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 30, 2000

'Discovering' Heinrich Vogeler

With most Tokyo galleries closed during the New Year's break, it can be difficult to find an interesting contemporary art show in the city.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2000

FSA orders suspension for errant Nomura unit

Japan's financial watchdog said Thursday it has ordered a unit of Nomura Securities Co., the country's largest brokerage, to suspend part of its operations for two months from Jan. 9 as punishment for trading securities on behalf of foreign clients without contracts.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2000

Spring recovery may see the yen rebound

The dollar has climbed past the 114 yen level for the first time in a year and four months amid growing skepticism about Japan's economic recovery.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2000

100 yen stores now the shopping craze

Relatively new to a Japanese retail scene long dominated by now-suffering high-priced department stores and supermarket chains, 100 yen shops are catching on.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2000

Number of municipalities could be slashed by 81%

The number of Japan's cities, towns and villages could be slashed from the current 3,229 to as few as 600 if merger plans that some two-thirds of all prefectures have drawn up are fully implemented, and if the remaining prefectures compile similar plans, a Kyodo News survey showed Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2000

State urged to improve understanding of Islam

A study group set up by Foreign Minister Yohei Kono earlier this year is urging the government to improve its understanding of Islamic thinking to deepen ties with Muslim states.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2000

'Pachisuro' firm hit with penalties for unpaid taxes

Aruze Corp., Japan's largest manufacturer and seller of "pachisuro," a cross between pachinko and a slot machine, has been accused by tax authorities of concealing about 4 billion yen in income between fiscal 1996 and fiscal 1998, industry sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2000

Chinese tied to burglary of dentist's guns

It is highly likely that a group of Chinese from Fujian Province was behind the Dec. 15 burglary of a Tokyo dentist in which seven guns were stolen, sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2000

Non-EU nations circle wagons on climate

Top environmental negotiators from Japan, the United States and eight other non-European Union industrialized countries will hold secret talks in New Zealand in the middle of February, informed sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2000

Century reaches last work day

Employees of public organizations and many private companies experienced the last business day of the century in various ways across Japan on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2000

Popular challenger lets down many Thais

BANGKOK -- Thai voters dissatisfied with Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's ruling Democrat Party will have a hard time turning to the alternative Thai Rak Thai Party of telecom tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra since public trust in the businessman has eroded.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 29, 2000

Hipster Arthur H sings in his own lingua franca

The late '50s and early '60s was an interesting time for American musical tastes. Listeners who considered themselves hip embraced a wide variety of styles, from the calypso of Harry Belafonte to the bossa nova of Antonio Carlos Jobim and even the chanson of Jacques Brel. If they listened to American...
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2000

Full-scale Vietnam talks near

After nearly two years of preparatory talks, Japan and Vietnam are expected to launch full-scale negotiations early next year on an investment protection pact to encourage Japanese companies to invest in the potentially lucrative, communist-ruled Southeast Asian market.
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2000

Protect the rights of children

Japanese children are in the news these days with a frequency that would have astonished earlier generations. Hardly a day goes by without reports of some new disturbing incident, ranging from heinous crimes committed by minors to instances of serious child abuse or neglect. When the news is not about...
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2000

Three years sought for health official in HIV contamination case

Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded that a former health official be given a three-year prison term for failing to stop the use of HIV-tainted blood products in the mid-1980s.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2000

BOJ cuts print run on 2000 yen notes

The Bank of Japan said Wednesday it will reduce its print run for the new 2000 yen bank notes for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, from the initially planned 1 billion to 770 million because of their low circulation.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2000

Nintendo denies it is in talks to buy Sega

Video game giants Nintendo Co. and Sega Corp. on Wednesday denied a New York Times report that Nintendo is negotiating to buy Sega.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2000

Kumagai debt waiver OK'd

After months of negotiations, the 15 creditor banks of ailing general contractor Kumagai Gumi Co. have basically agreed to a debt-waiver package that would relieve the firm of a loan burden totaling 450 billion yen, sources close to the talks said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY
Dec 28, 2000

Rescue center flies in the face of despair

Passersby are sure to do a double take when they see the wooden building on the corner of the busy intersection in Kawasaki, 15 minutes walk from Musashi Nakahara Station.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Dec 28, 2000

May you all live long and prosper -- kanpai!

Happy Holidays to all Japan Times readers.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2000

Nurses get suspended sentences in Hiroo malpractice case

The Tokyo District Court sentenced two Tokyo municipal hospital nurses Wednesday to suspended prison terms for their role in the death of a female patient who was accidentally given an intravenous dose of disinfectant in February 1999.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2000

$1.36 million pledged to Eritrean refugees

Japan has pledged $1.36 million in emergency grants to support Eritreans who have suffered as a result of their country's two-year conflict with Ethiopia over a border dispute, the Foreign 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