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BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

Net-based trading threatens major brokers

With stock trading over the Internet picking up strongly, online brokerages have played an increasingly key role over the past year in determining daily stock prices.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2001

Matsuo withdrew 10 million yen

A former Foreign Ministry official arrested Saturday for alleged embezzlement withdrew a total of 10 million yen in January from a personal bank account in which he had deposited money he pilfered from secret government funds, police sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

EC chief urges greater telecom competitiveness

The visiting head of a European Commission delegation on telecommunications issues expressed dissatisfaction Tuesday over the results of a two-day meeting with the government in Tokyo and called on Japan to establish an independent regulator to oversee the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone group.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2001

Troubled, short-lived leaders now the norm

Japan has had nine short-lived prime ministers over the past 12 years since the late Noboru Takeshita was forced to resign in 1989, having only two serve for two years or longer.
COMMENTARY
Mar 13, 2001

Postindustrial economy calls

In the 1980s, most Japanese economists were under the illusion that the American economy would continue to decline and that Japan would surpass America as the world's largest economy. In fact, the Japanese economy was reaching the apex of its prosperity while the U.S. economy, with its different systems...
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2001

Ex-actress wins translation award

"The last profession I would recommend to anybody is translating contemporary Western plays," said actress-turned-translator Mayuko Tokizawa. The otherwise dissuasive comment is an encouragement coming from Tokizawa, cowinner of the eighth annual Yuasa Yoshiko Award, Japan's accolade for translators...
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2001

Matsuo denies charges of fraud

A former Foreign Ministry logistics chief arrested on suspicion of swindling the government out of 42 million yen in discretionary state funds has denied the fraud charge, saying officials at the Prime Minister's Official Residence tacitly approved of his conduct, police sources said Monday.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Mar 13, 2001

Checkered history lives in a motley crew

Chindon-ya (brass, wind and percussion bands peddling goods or services on the streets) might not immediately spring to mind as a part of Japanese musical "tradition." Indeed, chindon has never been fully recognized as even a legitimate form of music.
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2001

October-December GDP grew 0.8%

Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent during the October-December period, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2001

Japan turns its attention to Brazil, MERCOSUR

After years of near neglect, Japan is now eager to cozy up to Brazil -- by far the largest Latin American economy.
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2001

Light at end of TSE's long gloomy tunnel?

The Tokyo stock market is following movements in U.S. stocks that reflect concerns about economic and corporate earnings prospects.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2001

When is a gaffe not a gaffe?

If you were to play the old word-association game with the name "Mori" today, chances are most people would instantly think "gaffe" (in Japanese, "shitsugen").
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2001

'Perverse' individualist embraces opportunity where others see gloom

Makoto Naruke describes himself as a "perverse man" who avoids following the crowd and does things that others dare not. Many people questioned his actions when he quit as Microsoft Co. president last April, but Naruke simply pointed out he became sick of the post after nearly nine years of service....
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2001

Regionalism threatens global prosperity

LOS ANGELES -- Not many prominent Americans saw the huge cloud forming over globalization as early as did then-President Bill Clinton. After an address on the subject at last year's World Economic Forum in Davos -- in which he virtually pleaded with well-heeled corporate execs to put themselves in the...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2001

U.S. naval inquiry reveals inadequate search

HONOLULU -- A computerized simulation shown at a navy inquiry Friday revealed the Ehime Maru would have been clearly visible had the USS Greenville conducted a standard three-minute periscope search closer to the surface and at a higher power.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2001

Trade NMD for the CTBT

The new administration in Washington has taken office firmly committed to the concept of a national missile defense system, arguing that future U.S. security needs take precedence over arms-control agreements rooted in Cold War history. Its views on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, an agreement signed...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2001

History will affirm Kim's heroism, vision

SEOUL -- A classical drama consists of five acts. Usually, the key part occurs in the third act. In this regard, the North Korea policy of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung may have something in common with classical theater.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2001

Strange world of parasites on display

While the Meguro Parasitological Museum may at first seem little more than a freak show, visitors soon learn more about the profound nature of these strange creatures.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2001

Victims of Tokyo air raid recognized on anniversary

Amid growing concern over waning public knowledge of wartime tragedy, a memorial service to mark the 56th anniversary of the Great Tokyo Air Raid was held Saturday at a park in Tokyo's Sumida Ward.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 11, 2001

Discussing Dylan's recent concert

Just after Bob Dylan's March 3 concert at Tokyo International Forum, music maven and broadcast personality Peter Barakan met with entertainment writer Philip Brasor at a Tokyo coffee shop to reflect.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 11, 2001

Japanese neighbors join in incinerator struggle

Two previous columns have focused on a United States government lawsuit seeking a provisional injunction against a private incinerator in Ayase City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The Americans, however, are not the only ones eager to shut down the facility. Other neighbors, too, are fired up about Envirotech...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years