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JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Ex-Sogo chief denies firm managed badly

Hiroo Mizushima, the longtime chairman of failed department store chain Sogo Co., on Thursday flatly denied that he sloppily managed the firm, although he said he is deeply aware of his responsibility as chief executive.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Web site gets volcano evacuees online and in touch

Hiroyuki Noda never imagined that he would become a messenger for fellow Miyake Island residents when he bought a personal computer six years ago to keep books for his inn and diving shop.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Project to transfer capital waste of money, Tokyo says

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Thursday took another swipe at the central government's plan to move the capital by claiming the transfer "does not make any economic sense" and would eventually waste up to 6.3 trillion yen.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 3, 2000

Throwing out complication to embrace simple life

Reflecting the downbeat mood in Japan, book sales continue to be sluggish, especially of hardcover books and serious fiction.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2000

Secrecy and greed behind BSE tragedy

LONDON --I am stunned at the awfulness of being British at the moment. A report written by Lord Phillips into the BSE tragedy has just been published. Though it does not roar with horror or screech with condemnation, its quiet steady tone fills me with anger and horror at Britain's farming, veterinary...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Fukuoka police get MAD, then get even

Fukuoka police are going mad over "bosozoku" biker gangs.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2000

Furor over Hindu die-hards

NEW DELHI -- It may not be an exaggeration to say that India's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, or National Volunteers Corps) has a certain religious doggedness which is uncomfortably similar to the rabid Taliban in Afghanistan.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 2, 2000

Players' association wants Matsuzaka sanctions lifted

The Japanese professional baseball players' association has sent a letter to the Seibu Lions asking the Pacific League club to allow disgraced pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to resume playing as soon as possible, union officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2000

Japan eyes stronger ties with Caribbean

Japan and the 14-nation Caribbean Community will adopt a comprehensive policy document for the first time next week to establish a framework for strengthening cooperation in economics and a wide range of other areas.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2000

Child abuse cases rise by 70%

A record 11,631 cases of child abuse were reported in fiscal 1999, an increase of 70 percent from the previous year, according to a Health and Welfare Ministry report released Wednesday.
COMMUNITY
Nov 2, 2000

Healthy diet, healthy mother's milk

Last in a series
JAPAN / LIFE OFF MIYAKE
Nov 2, 2000

Assemblyman places fellow exiles first

The future of Miyake Island may be as hazy as the smoke billowing from its volcano, but for Kazuyoshi Yamada, it comes before his own losses.
COMMUNITY
Nov 2, 2000

Bank dealer trades finances for fiction

NIIHAMA, Ehime Pref. -- For most writers, the road to publication is paved with rejection slips. Not so for British expatriate Marisa Ishikawa, 35, who lives in Niihama-shi, Ehime Prefecture, with her Japanese carpenter husband and their two small children. Ishikawa dashed off her first novel in between...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 2, 2000

Red Sox interested in bringing Ichiro to Fenway

With seven straight Pacific League batting titles and a lifetime average of .353 topping his resume, Orix BlueWave superstar Ichiro Suzuki is now preparing for life in the major leagues.
COMMUNITY
Nov 2, 2000

Exhibiting style around Japan

Just ahead of the Tokyo collections, in which over 50 designers will show their spring/summer 2001 collections this week and next, here are some things to do if your name's not on the invite list or if you are looking for a fashion-related event to attend on a rainy day.
LIFE / Style & Design / SIMPLY DIVINE
Nov 2, 2000

New line boosts Levi's street cred

Levi's and well-known New York graffiti artist Futura, whose rare, original artwork has been in demand since he was spraypainting trains and walls back in the '80s, have joined up to collaborate on a limited-edition, Japan-exclusive denim line.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2000

Medical professor held for taking recruiting bribes

OSAKA -- A 65-year-old professor emeritus of Nara Medical University was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of receiving bribes from a private hospital director in exchange for helping the hospital recruit young doctors, investigative sources said.
EDITORIALS
Nov 2, 2000

When the people rise up

It has been an extraordinary year for people power. Mass protests have overturned governments round the world, checked blatant abuses of power and offered hope that the 21st century may prove to be an era of genuine democracy. In each case, however, the government that was turned out had already ridden...
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Nov 2, 2000

Essential oils for happiness

In addition to St. John's wort and Bach Flower Remedies, there are other natural means of lifting the spirits.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2000

Fighting system is folly: Tanaka

OSAKA -- Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka said he has learned from the mistakes of other populist governors who took on the bureaucracy and lost, emphasizing that the age of traditional confrontational politics between small citizens' groups and bureaucrats is over.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 2, 2000

English teaching comes home to roost as foreign corporations invade Japan

When I was teaching English to Japanese business people in the late '80s, the main purpose was to prepare them for overseas assignments. In many cases, the students were not management people, but technicians and blue-collar workers. They were being sent to the U.S. or Europe to train employees in factories...
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2000

The changing face of nuclear deterrence

MOSCOW -- The role of nuclear weapons is undergoing subtle but important changes in deterrence strategy. Although this transformation is a consequence of the collapse of bipolarity in international relations and the shift in military threats from the global to the regional context, the trend is becoming...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Nov 2, 2000

Kim's diplomatic slam dunk

Good news from North Korea. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright presented North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il with a basketball autographed by Michael Jordan; the dictator treated the diplomat to a spectacular theatrical performance. Rejoice: Peace in East Asia is at hand.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Nov 2, 2000

The closest U.S. presidential election in 40 years

WASHINGTON --The latest polls show that the U.S. presidential candidates are very close, with a slight edge for Texas Gov. George W. Bush. The Electoral College is also evenly divided, although Vice President Al Gore had maintained a small advantage for weeks. Now it is also within the statistical margins...
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2000

Cabinet will not investigate Nakagawa, Fukuda says

The Cabinet has no plans to investigate allegations that former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa leaked police information about a planned drug raid to his alleged mistress, his successor told the Diet Tuesday.
JAPAN / LIFE OFF MIYAKE
Nov 1, 2000

Evacuation hard on children living apart from their parents

It was the parents who could not stand it anymore. Akira Mitani and his wife, Eriko, told their 8-year-old son, Shohei, last month that he could start living with them again at any time.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2000

Ruling bloc to keep majority: projection

The three-party ruling coalition will keep its majority in the House of Councilors -- albeit by a narrow margin -- in next summer's election, which is to be held under a new electoral system, according to a Kyodo News projection.

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