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JAPAN
May 26, 2000

Revisions to Juvenile Law questioned

The spate of heinous crimes committed by teens in recent years is driving the public to call for young offenders to be strictly punished under a revised Juvenile Law, the spirit of which now focuses instead on correcting troubled youth.
JAPAN
May 26, 2000

EPA in hot water for fudging GDP

The Economic Planning Agency said Thursday it will likely slice its gross domestic product data for the October-December quarter of 1999 to around minus 1.6 percent from a preliminary figure of minus 1.4 percent.
JAPAN
May 26, 2000

Billions in aid eyed for foreign students

HISANE MASAKI Staff writer The government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are considering creating a multibillion yen fund using low-interest yen loans to provide financial aid to foreign students in Japan, according to government and LDP sources.
JAPAN
May 26, 2000

Hughes cancels NASDA rocket deal

Hughes Space and Communications International, Inc. of the United States has notified the National Space Development Agency that it will cancel its contract to launch satellites aboard NASDA's next-generation H-IIA rocket, it was learned Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 26, 2000

Japan-U.S. talks to address pension premium collection

Japan and the United States have agreed to open formal negotiations on concluding a long-awaited social welfare pact aimed at preventing double collection of public pension premiums from their citizens, government sources said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2000

From Asian style to global style

"If mankind eradicates the habitat of the giant panda, then the panda ceases to exist in the wild. The IMF package is a mandate to eradicate the existing habitat of Asia's corporates." -- Russel Napier, a strategist at Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia
COMMENTARY
May 26, 2000

No time for anachronisms

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's controversial remark that Japan is "a divine nation centering on the Emperor" reminded me of a group of people I saw at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to Japan's war dead. As a veteran who survived the battle of Iwo Jima, I occasionally visit the shrine with...
EDITORIALS
May 25, 2000

At long last, silence in Aceh

After nearly a quarter of a century of fighting, the Indonesian government and rebels in the province of Aceh have taken a first, albeit shaky, step toward a peaceful solution to their conflict. Earlier this month, the two sides signed a ceasefire agreement that opens the way for dialogue and negotiations...
COMMUNITY
May 25, 2000

More and more men are getting left on the shelf

"When I come home from work in the evening, my room is dark, and in winter it's cold. At these times I always wish I had a wife waiting for me, with a hot meal," says Yoshiharu Mitamura (not his real name), a 36-year-old photographer.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 25, 2000

You say Fusaichi, I say Fusaichi

Whenever a Japanese name enters the sporting world's lexicon, all sorts of problems arise. Take the Nagano Olympics for example. Is it pronounced NA-ga-no or Na-GA-no? The foreign media wrestled with this question for two straight weeks during the winter of 1998. The confusion trickled down to the masses...
BUSINESS
May 25, 2000

NTT DoCoMo logs 19.3% sales increase

Boosted by the soaring number of mobile phone users, cellular operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. announced Wednesday that it posted consolidated sales of 3.72 trillion yen for fiscal 1999, which ended in March, up 19.3 percent from the previous year.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2000

U.S. urges Japan to get tough on bribes abroad

The United States is ratcheting up pressure on Japan to toughen its penalties for bribing foreign government officials, in an apparent bid to ensure a level playing-field for American companies in the global marketplace.
JAPAN
May 25, 2000

Children's diet suffers as more eat alone

More than half of Japan's schoolchildren have breakfast alone or without the presence of adults, and only about a third eat supper with their whole family.
JAPAN
May 25, 2000

NPA official held for allegedly buying drugs on Net

OSAKA -- Health and Welfare Ministry narcotics agents have arrested a technical official with the National Police Agency on suspicion of buying amphetamines via the Internet, an Osaka office of the ministry said Wednesday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
May 25, 2000

Winding down the vine along Austria's Danube

Can't you just see yourself, on a ship cruising the Danube from one charming Austrian wine town to another, sipping their world-class wines while wondering how you ever got so lucky? This is a possible dream, the more so because the Danube and many wine towns it connects -- Krems, Spitz, etc. -- are...
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2000

Japan's national security policy ignores public sentiment

The impression that one gets when looking at the evolution of Japan's security policy in recent years is that the Japanese public has consented to steps taken by Tokyo. After all, that is the fundamental expectation that democracies nurture. Following this reasoning, Tokyo should be developing a security...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 25, 2000

Strong traditions flow through Iwate sake

Talk about a late bloomer. From its location in the northeastern corner of Honshu, Iwate Prefecture exerts a tremendous influence on the sake world. Yet, sake was not even produced there on any real scale until well after 1678, long after Nada, Itami and Kyoto were well into their sake-brewing heyday....
CULTURE / Art
May 25, 2000

Draw the bow, ride and speak the truth

You could argue that in this age, we look to movies to preserve our traditions. But it begs the chicken and egg question: Where does the filmmaker go to authenticate the details?
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 25, 2000

On a culinary cruise in Akasaka

We have numerous restaurants which bear the name of their chefs, owners or svengalis. But Denis Allemand is perhaps the first to proudly boast the name of the man responsible for its interior design -- whose main work in Japan up to now has been producing deli-diners in airport departure lobbies for...
COMMENTARY
May 25, 2000

One currency, 11 masters

LONDON -- Many commentators seem genuinely surprised at the miserable performance of the euro. How, they ask, can it be that the new currency for most of Western Europe, which was billed to be the rival of the dollar and the world's alternative reserve currency, is now trading against the dollar at 25...
JAPAN
May 24, 2000

Home care givers face dwindling wages

When the new state-run nursing-care insurance system was launched in April, many of its planners predicted it would lead to better working conditions and salaries for home helpers.
JAPAN
May 24, 2000

Modern society, sexual equality partners: Norway ombudsman

A Norwegian ombudsman on gender equality says utilizing the power of women is "the key to the development of a modern society."

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes