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JAPAN
Mar 15, 1999

Doctors recommended halting transplants

OSAKA -- The nation's first organ transplants from a legally established brain-dead donor about two weeks ago were conducted strictly on the wishes of the donor and the donor's family, doctors who treated the donor said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 1999

Chiyoda, UNUM strengthen ties

Midsize insurer Chiyoda Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Maine-based disability insurance firm UNUM Corp. will strengthen business ties hoping to jointly develop and market products, the firms' officials announced Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 1999

Fukaya to keep Tokyo seat, give up by-election run

Takashi Fukaya, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's decision-making Executive Council, formally declared Monday he will not run in a House of Representatives by-election in Tokyo slated for April 11.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 1999

MITI readies pollutant tracking bill

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Mar 14, 1999

Safety regulations must be enforced

Pedestrians on Tokyo's sidewalks could only welcome the report last week that the Metropolitan Police Department intends to crack down on bicycle riders who violate traffic regulations. Thirteen accidents in which cyclists were killed were registered in the capital as of the end of February, an increase...
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 13, 1999

Eclectic pottery expands margins

Jun Kawaguchi is one of the funkiest, coolest ceramic artists I've ever met. The first time I met him I was taken aback, to say the least, by his short, spiked hair, green velvet jacket, and a pair of slacks with cartoon designs that looked like the Joker -- not your typical shibui Japanese potter.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 1999

Keeping the U.S. honest

LONDON -- Americans...Don't you just love to hate them? They preach to you about the virtues of an open trading system and then they slap a bizarre set of sanctions on trade rivals before the World Trade Organization makes its report. They lecture the world about the virtues of the rule of law and when...
COMMENTARY
Mar 13, 1999

LDP strategy hits and misses

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka, the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are pursuing a political strategy for 1999 with these objectives:
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 1999

To cure Asia's ills, get the diagnosis right

On a recent whirlwind tour of Asian capitals, peripatetic U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Larry Summers offered some advice on how to cure the region's economic ills. Despite his stature as an economist, he sounded more like a politician spouting protectionist platitudes. Implicit in his commentary was...
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

Experts disagree on bank recapitalization impact

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

Osaka resolution would let minorities vote, run for office

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Assembly adopted a resolution early Friday urging the central government to grant long-term foreign residents in the country the right to run and vote in local elections.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

Duckbilled Nozomi makes debut

With its duckbill-shaped nose, the new 700-series Nozomi (Hope) bullet train debuts on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines today, linking Tokyo with Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, in four hours and 57 minutes.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

The Asahara Trial: Ex-cultist didn't hate murder victim

A former Aum Shinrikyo follower convicted in 1996 of killing a fellow cultist testified Friday at the Tokyo District Court that he felt no anger or hatred toward his victim, though cult leader Shoko Asahara tried to induce those feelings in him.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

Three JR firms project falling sales for '99

Mired in gloomy economic conditions, three JR group companies projected declining sales conditions Friday for the upcoming fiscal year.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 1999

Kochi tests nation's nuclear principles

The long-standing controversy over whether U.S. warships calling at Japanese ports carry nuclear weapons is taking a new twist. The Kochi prefectural government is seeking to obtain "certificates" from the central government showing that U.S. naval vessels visiting ports in the prefecture are not nuclear-armed....
JAPAN
Mar 11, 1999

Defense guidelines fail to receive municipal sanction

Roughly 60 percent of the 107 municipal assemblies nationwide that have approved or adopted nonbinding statements regarding the revised Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines and related bills have called for amendments or abolition, according to results of a survey released Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 1999

Kobe boy, parents ordered to pay 100 million yen

KOBE -- A 16-year-old boy and his parents Thursday were ordered by the Kobe District Court to pay about 100 million yen in damages to the parents of a child the boy beheaded in 1997 in a crime that stunned the nation.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 1999

Obuchi pins hopes on guidelines, other matters

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Thursday restated his determination to strengthen the Japan-U.S. relationship by quickly pushing through bills related to updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation during the current Diet session.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 10, 1999

And the winners aren't ...

A stunned Webmaster rises from his seat, shaking his head in disbelief. As he makes his way to the aisle, fellow programmers and designers pat him heartily on the back and shake his hand. After accepting his trophy from a cybercelebrity, he stands there speechless, and finally says with a trembling voice,...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Ishihara enters Tokyo race, splits LDP further

Prize-winning novelist and former Transport Minister Shintaro Ishihara formally declared Wednesday that he will run as an independent in the April 11 Tokyo gubernatorial election.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Japan, U.S. to consult on antidumping law

Staff writer
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 1999

A delicious way to pork out with family

There is only one more recipe left before this column ends, so I tried to think of some important Japanese dish which I have not written about in the last three years. Then I realized that my favorites -- tonkatsu and tempura -- were still on the waiting list. Both are dishes we eat about once a month....
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Mar 10, 1999

Winners and losers

People in the food industry look to Foodex to find out how best to cater to their Japanese and foreign customers. What they see at Makuhari Messe are often more fantasy than fact, things that might be exported to Japan if the proper arrangements can be made. And that's what the foreigners are there for,...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 1999

Taiwan's strategic options

Following the return of Hong Kong in July 1997 and the return of Macau in December 1999, Beijing's attention will logically turn to Taiwan. The island's survival depends on preserving its technically advanced air force and enlisting the help of the United States.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 10, 1999

Idyllic island makes blissful escape

Azure fish, blue-tailed lizards, turquoise waves -- Rota is full of the refreshing colors of life.
COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 1999

Clouds looming on the Diet's horizon

The situation in the Diet looks calm for now. The debate on the fiscal 1999 government budget, the most important item before the Diet, is proceeding smoothly. The budget bill has already cleared the Lower House and is expected to pass the Upper House around March 20, well before the start of the new...
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO
Mar 10, 1999

The seductive stench of Yurakucho

"Shall We Meet in Yurakucho (Yurakucho de Aimasho)" was the title of a 1958 megahit number, sung by the king of Japanese blues, Frank Nagai. As Frank described it, Yurakucho was always misty with fog and the collective sighs of hundreds of lovers, the streets were damp with just-fallen rain and lined...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Organ donation more than a signature

Staff writer
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Mar 10, 1999

Garden weathers stormy decades

The Kyoto Botanic Gardens were first opened to the public on Jan. 11, 1924. Located in Sakyo Ward in northern Kyoto City along the banks of the scenic Kamo River, they are run by Kyoto's prefectural government.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 1999

Nippon Life exec details Finance Ministry pressure

The Finance Ministry strongly urged Nippon Life Insurance Co. to provide financial support to Nippon Credit Bank, currently under state control, in the spring of 1997, Nippon Life Vice President Tsuyoshi Nahara said Tuesday.

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