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BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2000

New JAMA chief wants taxes untangled

Hiroshi Okuda, new chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, is determined to push the government into rectifying the vehicle tax system and reducing the burden on car owners.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2000

Prudential to buy Kyoei shares

Kyoei Life Insurance Co. stands to gain up to 30 billion yen from Prudential Insurance Co. of America, which will buy new shares in the firm. The two companies said Thursday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding, which if realized, would see Prudential purchase a minority interest in the...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2000

Doctor removed healthy breasts

OSAKA — Two women had their breasts removed by a surgeon at a hospital in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, in 1996 and 1998 even though pathological tests showed that their tumors were not cancerous, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2000

DPJ vows to raise taxes in 15-pillar election plan

The Democratic Party of Japan announced Thursday its 15-pillar election pledge that includes increasing income tax — a move that has previously won support from Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2000

New school brings outsiders to town

BEPPU, Oita Pref. — "A friend of mine began using some hair cream and perfume after he was asked for directions by a young lady. He is too old to attract coeds, though," chuckled Kiminori Kumada, in a leisurely local dialect.
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2000

Mr. Fujimori's two faces

Few world leaders are as perplexing as Peru's president, Mr. Alberto Fujimori. Both sides of his complex personality have been on display in recent weeks: the taciturn autocrat who defies international opinion to hold an election and the leader who wins that vote with substantial popular support. But...
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

Daiwa Bank group picked to buy Namihaya by FRC

The government's Financial Reconstruction Commission on Wednesday decided to sell the collapsed Namihaya Bank to the Daiwa Bank group, commission sources said.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2000

Motion to censure Mori voted down

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, immediately after fending off a censure vote submitted by the opposition in the Upper House, was hit with a no-confidence motion in the lower chamber Wednesday over his controversial remark that Japan is a "divine nation centered on the Emperor."
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2000

Pyramid scheme bosses receive prison sentences

The Tokyo District Court sentenced Ichiro Yamamoto, 59, former chairman of the now-bankrupt investment group Keizai Kakumei Club, to eight years in prison Wednesday for defrauding 36 investors out of 177 million yen.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

Softbank's bid for NCB stalls after disagreement with FRC

Talks broke down Wednesday between the Financial Reconstruction Commission and a consortium led by leading Internet investor Softbank Corp. on buying the defunct Nippon Credit Bank, the FRC said.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

BOJ's policy not reliant on recovery data

The Bank of Japan could change its zero-interest rate policy before figures confirm a recovery in private-sector demand, a member of the central bank's policy-setting panel said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

Unclear rules hinder day trading in Japan

Hajime Mabuchi is an early riser. After sobering up in a hot Jacuzzi at his home in a Seattle suburb, he takes some vitamins and drives to a nearby Starbucks coffee shop. He arrives at 6 a.m.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2000

Tokyo has say on Lee visit: Taipei

Lo Fu-chen, Taiwan's new representative in Japan, on Wednesday expressed Taipei's hope to realize former President Lee Teng-hui's visit to Japan with due consideration showed for Tokyo's diplomatic position.
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Jun 1, 2000

Our planet, our teacher

In conversation with writer Masanori Oe, one hears the word "discovery" quite often. It's no wonder. Since the days of his translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead into Japanese and his film documentaries on the psychedelic movement in New York City in the late 1960s, he has pioneered new directions...
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

Large stores must try to fit in despite deregulation

With the abolishment of the Large-Scale Retail Store Law as of Wednesday, large retailers will no longer have to worry about harmonizing their commercial interests with local smaller businesses when establishing or expanding an outlet.
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Jun 1, 2000

Losing weight the intelligent way

In my last column we had a look at some of the substances now on the market as fat-fighters: chitosan, bromelain, caffeine, Fucus vesiculosis, aromatherapy diet pens, Urtica urens and St. John's wort. Today we'll consider a few more options in our hunt for what might work and what probably doesn't.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 1, 2000

Who wants to say he's a millionaire?

Everybody knows that the popular quiz show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" was dumbed-down after it was exported from England to the U.S. Some advertisers, in fact, were very angry because they thought the level of difficulty made it too easy for contestants to go all the way.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2000

Democracy vs. ethnicity in Fiji

LONDON -- There are rare occasions when a military takeover may be the least bad solution to a country's problems. Monday's military coup in Fiji may be one of them.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 1, 2000

Tea goes down well in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON -- A beautiful Japanese tea room emerges as one enters and goes down the hall in Katherine Lyons' and Austin Babcock's spacious brick house. In this quiet neighborhood in suburban D.C., Lyons, or Soshu, her tea name, teaches the Urasenke tradition of chanoyu. The house has been Urasenke's...
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Jun 1, 2000

F. Marinos starting to shape up, but other teams aren't far away

Well, that was a curious one, wasn't it? In the end, it almost seemed as if no team wanted to win the J. League's first stage. And the way the Yokohama F. Marinos triumphed, it felt like they won it by default after having to rely on Cerezo Osaka's extra-time loss to Kawasaki Frontale.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2000

Bright prospects for corporate Japan

Corporate-earnings reports for fiscal 1999, which ended March 31, provide further evidence of a budding recovery in the corporate sector. Most of the companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange posted their first net profit increase in three years. On a consolidated basis, pretax profits surged an estimated...
JAPAN
May 31, 2000

Osaka lawmakers pass bill to tax banks

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Assembly approved a controversial bill Tuesday to impose a 3 percent tax on the gross profits of major banks operating in the prefecture.
JAPAN
May 31, 2000

Motherly love a hurdle for teens

In today's society, families are having fewer children, fathers are working more and mothers are clinging to their children with greater intensity, hampering children's growth, according to psychologist Yoshiomi Takahashi.
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
May 31, 2000

Environmental links

[email protected]/pressreleases/toxics/2000may19.htmlFour Greenpeace activists were recently thrown in a Tokyo jail on trespassing charges; they had unfurled a banner from a water tower proclaiming Tokyo to be the world's dioxin capital. Here the group explains why it wants to decloak the Japanese government's...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’