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JAPAN
Sep 3, 1999

Tokyo government proposes 4% pay cut for all staff

Trying desperately to pull itself back from the brink of bankruptcy, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government proposed Friday that salaries for all 180,000 city employees be cut 4 percent for three years starting in fiscal 2000.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 1999

Narita airport submits runway plan to state

The New Tokyo International Airport Authority applied Friday for government approval of its plan to build a shorter-than-planned second runway at the airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Sep 2, 1999

Another stab at peace in Congo

One month after six of the seven parties fighting in the Congo signed a peace agreement, the remaining holdout has joined the ceasefire. Peace is desperately needed in the long-suffering nation, impoverished by decades of looting by former strongman Mobutu Sese Seko and then wracked by civil war after...
JAPAN
Sep 2, 1999

DKB loans to 'sokaiya' result in suspended terms

Three former Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank executives were given suspended eight-month sentences Thursday for extending illegal loans to a "sokaiya" corporate racketeer.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 1999

Abduction probe focusing on autos

Several hundred vehicles that traveled from Tokyo to Nagoya on expressways Aug. 24 are being looked at as part of investigations into the abduction of a 19-year-old woman, informed sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 1999

Disabled ask Tokyo to reconsider cuts to aid program

A group of disabled people and members of citizens' groups supporting them petitioned the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Thursday to withdraw its plan to cut financial assistance to people with heavy disabilities.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 1999

MITI spells out strategy for 1 million new jobs

The government will implement measures to increase business startups to generate 1.32 million jobs over the next five years, officials at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 1999

Low-dose birth control pill makes debut

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Sep 1, 1999

A peace process without peace

There are very good reasons to be deeply concerned about the Northern Ireland peace process. The first reason is that it looks to be breaking down. Disputes over the decommissioning of weapons by the Irish Republican Army and the seating of Sinn Fein representatives on the executive council established...
JAPAN
Sep 1, 1999

Product-trashing consumer book enjoys sizzling sales

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 1, 1999

Six years sought for deeds of ex-labor minister

Prosecutors demanded a six-year prison term Wednesday for former Labor Minister Toshio Yamaguchi, who is accused of breach of trust and other charges in connection with illicit lending by two failed Tokyo-based credit unions.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 1999

Maizuru in Pyongyang's sights?

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 1, 1999

Japan may host U.N. environment summit in 2002

Staff writer
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Sep 1, 1999

Walking into the millennial sunrise

If you still haven't made up your mind about where you're going to be come sunrise of the year 2000, here's one to contemplate. How about Barrow, Alaska followed by a leisurely stroll 14 km to Point Barrow at the utmost north of the Americas?
LIFE / Travel
Sep 1, 1999

Eyes wide shut in North Korea

It's late afternoon in Beijing. Beside a gloomy, concrete platform an antiquated train lumbers into place. In the dim light, people scurry about looking for the right car. This is, in fact, important. The first four carriages are bound for Dandong, a small Chinese border town, but the last two will continue...
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO
Sep 1, 1999

Soul searching with yamabushi of Dewa Sanzan

MOUNT HAGURO, Yamagata Pref. -- Three days trekking deep into the mountains with no money, makeup, jewelry, bath, toothbrush or razor is definitely not your average walk in the hills. Add on agreeing to endure a grueling series of self-suffering ancient rituals and sacred rites, and obey every utter...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Sep 1, 1999

The water is wide, I cannot get o'er

The mammals of the Nansei Shoto may be inconspicuous and difficult to observe, but their distribution, and the relationships between the different species and populations in these islands, provides insight into the past history of the archipelago. This interesting mixture of animals has links in the...
JAPAN
Sep 1, 1999

Asahi to close Tokyo brewery, trim workforce

Asahi Breweries, Ltd. will close its aging brewery in Tokyo's Ota Ward and transfer production to a new plant in Minami-Ashigara, Kanagawa Prefecture, President Shigeo Fukuchi told a Tokyo press conference Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 1, 1999

The 'S' word makes a happy marriage

The time has come in this column to finally discuss that passionate act that lies at the core of many an international romance. Yes, it's time for the "S" word.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Sep 1, 1999

You are here?

The future is now. Or at least it was, two Sundays ago, in Japan. That was when computers in 24 satellites reached their built-in time limit and reset their internal clocks to zero.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Sep 1, 1999

Defying changes

Volunteer organizations come and go, often depending on who runs them. Many times a group will cease to exist when the person who held it together leaves Japan. Fortunately, there are still many people who give their time to volunteer organizations. Their number, however, has decreased as more professional...
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 1999

The DPJ at a crossroads

The Democratic Party of Japan looks set for a three-way race to select its new head next month. The current leader, Mr. Naoto Kan, and the deputy secretary general, Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, have already announced they will run in the Sept. 25 party election. The third man, Mr. Takahiro Yokomichi, chairman...
COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 1999

ODA helps Japan, the world

Medium-term policy guidelines for Official Development Assistance, announced by the government Aug. 10, set the standards for implementing Japan's ODA between 1999 and 2003. The guidelines place emphasis on aid to Asian countries to help them implement structural reforms aimed at solving their economic...
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1999

Yokomichi enters DPJ race on battle cry of constitutional debate

Takahiro Yokomichi, chairman of the Executive Council of the Democratic Party of Japan, formally announced his candidacy in the party's presidential race Tuesday, saying he will make the war-renouncing Constitution one of the main focuses of campaign debate.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1999

Canadian software puts face on crime

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1999

Sexologist to speak on medical ethics

Milton Diamond, a leading sexologist and professor at the University of Hawaii Medical School, will give a lecture on medical ethics concerning intersexualism, the study of people born with sexually ambiguous genitals, Friday at Tokyo Women's Plaza in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1999

Yosano protests U.S. steel trade retaliation

Trade Minister Kaoru Yosano said Tuesday he would send a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky later in the day to protest Washington's move to apply a safeguard measure to Japanese steel wire-rod imports.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 1999

LDP race unofficially under way

Staff writer
CULTURE / Music
Aug 31, 1999

Songs you can hum on the Pavement

The opening act at Akasaka Blitz on Aug. 24 was an earnest Danish group called Thau, who offered a thumping and searing sound reminiscent of the Meat Puppets. The audience awarded their 20-minute set with a warm and noisy ovation, prompting effusive gratitude from the band's drummer, who mentioned what...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 31, 1999

Shakespeare comes as you like it in Japan

SHAKESPEARE AND THE JAPANESE STAGE, edited by Takashi Sasayama, J.R. Mulryne and Margaret Shewring. Cambridge University Press, 1998, 357 pp., 45 British Pounds. More than 50 years ago I went to my first Japanese staging of Shakespeare. It was "Hamlet," in Tokyo, and what I remember best is that when...

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’