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JAPAN
Nov 18, 1999

BTM, WebTV link on bank services

WebTV Networks and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi announced Thursday they will start offering banking services via television by the end of December.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 1999

Beijing boycotts sister-city celebrations

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 18, 1999

Man faces life term for Sakai stabbings

OSAKA -- Prosecutors demanded life in prison Thursday for a 21-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing a girl and wounding two others on the street in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, in 1998.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 1999

Kansai groups seek MOX injunction on Kepco

OSAKA -- Two Kansai-based antinuclear groups announced Thursday that they will seek an injunction to stop Kansai Electric Power Company from burning mixed plutonium-uranium fuel at the Takahama No. 4 nuclear reactor in Fukui Prefecture later this month.
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 1999

Bringing China into the fold

The breakthrough trade agreement signed in Beijing on Monday between China and the United States heralds the imminent global debut of the world's last-remaining large market that is basically free and operates on the basis of common global rules. This is a real boon, not only for the two nations concerned,...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1999

Internet school to grant U.S. diploma

In a new attempt at alternative education, a Japanese venture company said Wednesday it will launch a home school in April in which students use the Internet to study at home in Japan and "graduate" from an American high school.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1999

Highlights of the legislation

The first of two bills aimed at curbing the activities of Aum Shinrikyo imposes controls on groups whose members have carried out or attempted indiscriminate mass murder. The following conditions apply to the bill:
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1999

Lower House panel approves bills to crack down on Aum

The Lower House Judicial Committee approved two bills Wednesday designed to tighten control of Aum Shinrikyo and facilitate redress to the cult's victims.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Nov 17, 1999

A Web DJ saved my life

Let's look at the headlines from Net music news. Maestro, hit the rewind:
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1999

Drunk riders exact violent toll on rail workers

A growing number of railway station workers and train conductors are falling victim to violence perpetrated by drunken passengers on the Yamanote Line and other main lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area, according to East Japan Railway Co.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 17, 1999

An 'overseas Vietnamese' goes home

CATFISH AND MANDALA: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam, by Andrew X. Pham. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999; 344 pp., $25. After Vietnam's "American War" ended, the victorious Viet Cong captured and imprisoned Andrew X. Pham and his family as, along with scores...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 1999

An eyewitness to early Meiji

REMEMBERING AIZU: The Testament of Shiba Goro, edited by Ishimitsu Mahito, translated with an introduction and notes by Teruko Craig. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999; 160 pp., $37 (cloth), $19.95 (paper). A popular account of the beginnings of the Meiji Period (1868-1912) has it that the...
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 1999

Japan on the verge of change?

LONDON -- A three-week visit to Japan in October left me somewhat more optimistic about the Japanese scene than I was six months or a year ago. Why? There seemed to be a greater recognition that Japan had to change if its economy were not only to deliver continued prosperity to the Japanese people but...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 17, 1999

On the mystery of the mooses, or meese

One of the basic rules of biodiversity is that species diversity increases toward the tropics and decreases toward the poles.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1999

H-II failure a big step back for space program

The first launch of the H-IIA rocket, originally scheduled for early next year, will be delayed at least until May or June because of Monday's failure of the No. 8 H-II rocket launch, officials of the National Space Development Agency of Japan said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1999

Bangladesh envoy promotes corporate interaction

The new Bangladeshi ambassador to Japan, who arrived to take up his post recently, said Wednesday that he hopes to play a role in helping to bring representatives of the two countries' private sectors closer together to enable them to cooperate in a variety of fields.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 17, 1999

Hemingway's dead; long live the future

Hemingway once said that good writing begins with the simple production of but one true sentence. OK. Here's something that's true. Hemingway is dead.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 17, 1999

Window on the fragile world of the Ainu

LAND OF ELMS: The History, Culture and Present-Day Situation of the Ainu People, by Toshimitsu Miyajima, translated by Robert Witmer. Ontario, Canada: United Church Publishing House, 1998; 184 pp., 2,000 yen (paper). Some books are published before the happy ending even happens, which can give readers...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Nov 17, 1999

Getting things done

From time to time I have been asked to remind people that although Japan is a very safe country, there are times when it is not. The yearend has always been a time when people should be especially careful. In old Japan, all debts had to be paid by the end of the year, but even a cursory perusal of today's...
LIFE / Travel
Nov 17, 1999

Voices of stone in the Oita mountains

Deep in a quiet valley northeast of Kyushu's Mount Aso lies the town of Innai, its central river filled with an absurdly picturesque number of stone bridges. I first read about the town and its equally fascinating surroundings a few years ago, but only recently made the long drive there, a stunning descent...
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 1999

A 'final push' for recovery

The government has unveiled a new economic pack age designed to pep up the frail economy and give further impetus to structural economic reforms going into the 21st century. Titled "Economic Rebirth Measures," the package, which was announced last Thursday, focuses on building social infrastructure,...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 1999

Regional Special: Sanin

'Inaka' taps city disenchanted to repopulate>Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 16, 1999

Review of space program urged in wake of rocket crash

Government officials pledged efforts Tuesday to rebuild Japan's space program in the wake of Monday's failure of the launch of an H-II rocket carrying a multipurpose satellite.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 1999

Fourth party makes bid for NCB

A fourth candidate has officially submitted a bid to buy the failed Nippon Credit Bank, the chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 1999

Aceh referendum to come in seven months: Wahid

Visiting Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said Tuesday that a referendum in the country's troubled Aceh Province may be held in seven months.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 1999

Tax panel stuck between state finances, election

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 15, 1999

Nichiei affiliate denies pressuring borrowers

The president of a Nichiei Co. subsidiary has denied any involvement in alleged extortion by an arrested former employee of the nation's leading lender of "shoko" high-interest loans, police said Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 1999

Wahid to announce referendum for restive Aceh

Visiting Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid indicated Monday that he would announce within a month a referendum on independence for the country's restive Aceh province, according to a senior Japanese politician.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 1999

Osaka mayoral campaign begins

OSAKA -- The Osaka mayoral campaign officially kicked off on Monday with three candidates, incumbent Takafumi Isomura and challengers Kenji Inoue and Koji Matsushita.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 1999

Forester decries ranger shortage, U.S. whaling

Staff writer

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