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BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2000

NTT breakup fails to level playing field

Nearly a year after the splitup of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., the big experiment is coming under scrutiny as questions are raised over whether its new profile has actually made a difference.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2000

A Chinese teenager's dream of a better life ends in tragedy in the back of a truck

CHANGLE, Fujian -- Smartly dressed in a Calvin Klein T-shirt, jeans and white trainers, the teenager props up a motorbike in Changle, a city in the southern Chinese province of Fujian. His hair flopping over sunglasses, he flashes a shy grin at the camera. Jin Xicai hardly resembles the stereotype refugee,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 28, 2000

The finest map in the world

Rival researchers this week announced that they had completed a draft model of the human genome -- the blueprint of the human being. The breakthrough was hailed as "a milestone in science," a "revolution in medical science" and "the most important, most wondrous map ever produced by humankind." For once,...
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2000

More young people take part-time jobs: report

The number of part-time workers between 15 and 34 years old stood at an estimated 1.51 million in 1997, an increase of 500,000 from five years earlier, the Labor Ministry said in an annual report on labor released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2000

Biggest cable TV firms to integrate on Sept. 1

Compiled from wire services Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Japan's largest cable television operator, and its rival, Titus Communications Corp., the second-largest, announced Tuesday that they have agreed to effectively merge on Sept. 1 through a stock swap scheme.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2000

JR set for summer steam locomotive tours

Steam locomotive engineers, a rare commodity in modern Japan, are currently gearing up for the summer by putting the finishing touches on their training.
JAPAN / History
Jun 28, 2000

China's Korean War POWs find you can't go home again

BEIJING — In a hotel room in the Yangtze River port of Wuhan, a dozen elderly Chinese men fight back tears to sing a song written almost 50 years ago in a U.S. prisoner-of-war camp in South Korea. At the end of the song, their tears flow freely, for friends lost in the conflict and for their own harsh...
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2000

Bad wheel load caused Hibiya line subway crash

An improperly balanced wheel-load was the probable key cause of the subway train derailment that killed five passengers and injured 60 others on Tokyo's Hibiya Line in March, a Transport Ministry expert panel said in its interim report released Tuesday.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 28, 2000

All thumbs

In past columns, I've expressed my support for those people you've probably seen silently staring at their cell-phone screens, furiously typing away or intently scrolling. I recently joined their growing number. I think of it as a test drive; others might call it an occupational hazard. At any rate,...
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2000

Sharp prepares new PDA to compete with Palm's

In response to increasing competition in the personal digital assistant market, Sharp Corp. will introduce a new version of its Zaurus hand-held computer to the domestic market on July 14, the company announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2000

2.5 billion yen for Dowager funeral, tomb

The government said Tuesday it will allocate 2.47 billion yen for the current fiscal year for the funeral of the late Empress Dowager and construction of a mausoleum for her.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2000

2,000 Miyake islanders evacuate as fears of eruption rise

A change in sea color Tuesday suggests submarine volcanic activity has begun about 1 km off the west coast of Miyake Island, and 2,000 residents have already evacuated to shelters on its north side.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2000

BOL to open Japanese Web site

BOL Japan Inc., a Web-based retailing unit of international media giant Bertelsmann AG, announced Tuesday in Tokyo that it will open its first Japanese-language Web shopping site today.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 28, 2000

Venables likes France's chances at Euro 2000

BRUSSELS -- Former England manager Terry Venables is tipping France to win the European Championship. Venables, who led England to the semifinals of Euro 96 in England, has been impressed by the improvement in the French team since it won the World Cup two years ago.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2000

Coalition holds on to power

The Liberal Democratic Party had dubbed Sunday's election a "battle in mourning," in hopes that the untimely death of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi would get out the "sympathy vote." As it turned out, the LDP and its coalition partners suffered a major set- back, contrary to the wishes of Prime...
LIFE / Digital
Jun 28, 2000

A thinker's journey back to the future

Paul Saffo spends a lot of his time thinking about the past. That might seem a bit odd for a man who makes his living as a futurist, but perspective is critical, argues Saffo, director of the Institute for the Future, a Silicon Valley think tank that contemplates the way things will be.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Miyake Island braces for volcanic eruption

Mount Oyama on Miyake Island in the Izu Island chain is likely to erupt soon, the Meteorological Agency warned Monday, forcing at least two-thirds of the island's 3,850 residents to evacuate.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2000

Amex out to change 'stereotypes' of card users

American Express International is trying to change the widely held perception in Japan that only affluent customers use American Express, and only for overseas travel.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Execs, 'sokaiya' held over extortion

Police arrested a professional "sokaiya" and two businessmen Monday for allegedly attempting to extort 50 million yen from a Fujitsu Ltd. subsidiary.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Defeat of Fukaya, ex-ministers stuns MITI officials

Officials at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry were bewildered Monday in the wake of the defeat of its minister Takashi Fukaya and four of his predecessors in Sunday's general election.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2000

Myanmar's artistic splendors

MYANMAR STYLE: Art, Architecture and Design of Burma. Asia Books, Bangkok. Baht 1,695. About 12 years ago, a coffee-table book titled "Thai Style," with beautiful photos and elegant accompanying text, enjoyed great success in the wide and expanding circles of admirers of Siam.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2000

Your most valuable briefing paper

DOING BUSINESS WITH THE NEW JAPAN, by James Day Hodgson, Yoshihiro Sano and John L. Graham. Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, 230 pp., $27.95 (cloth). Do we really need another book about doing business in Japan? Probably not -- and not even if this is a "new Japan" or a new era in international capitalism....
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Prayers held at Empress Dowager tomb site

A ground-breaking ceremony was held Monday at the Musashino Imperial Mausoleum in Hachioji, in the western suburbs of Tokyo, where a mausoleum for the Empress Dowager will be built, the Imperial Household Agency said.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 27, 2000

Art, enlightenment and empire

THE IDEALS OF THE EAST, by Okakura Kakuzo. Tokyo: ICG Muse Inc., 2000, 250 pp., 1,300 yen.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji