Search - japan

 
 
COMMENTARY
Jul 14, 2000

Rough start for Mori Cabinet

On July 4, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori launched his new coalition Cabinet consisting of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party. The event, following the June 25 general election, would have been an occasion for celebration and hope under ordinary circumstances but was...
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2000

DPJ urges use of jury system

The Democratic Party of Japan is studying proposals to bring back the jury system in some criminal trials and to appoint more women as Supreme Court justices, party sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2000

Tokyo balks at simplifying IT rules during G8 summit

The drafting of an "information technology charter" the Group of Eight leaders aim to adopt at their summit in Okinawa Prefecture later this month has been plagued by conflict, Japanese government sources said Wednesday. Although the G8 leaders hope to issue the IT charter at the end of the July 21-23...
COMMUNITY
Jul 13, 2000

Groping: the proof is in the accusation

When a station attendant tapped his shoulder to lead him into a nearby police box shortly after he got off the last train of the day, Roberto (not his real name) thought the police just wanted to check if he had overstayed his visa.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2000

ACCJ, EBC join deregulation chorus

Top officials of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and the European Business Community issued a joint statement Wednesday calling on Japan to step up efforts to deregulate its economy.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2000

BOJ should keep easy policy: IBJ

The time is not yet ripe for the Bank of Japan to terminate its "zero-interest-rate" policy, the Industrial Bank of Japan said in a report released Wednesday.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 13, 2000

Politicians ever eager to please

THE JAPANESE POLITICAL PERSONALITY: Analyzing the Motivations and Culture of Freshman Diet Members, by Ofer Feldman. St. Martin's Press/Macmillan Press, 2000, 182 pp. (cloth), unpriced. The popular conception of the Japanese politician is that of a man (almost always), who is pushed and prodded by...
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2000

Sogo files for rehabilitation with Tokyo District Court

Amid mounting public criticism, ailing department chain operator Sogo Co. and its group companies have filed for court-mandated rehabilitation with the Tokyo District Court, top officials of the firm announced Wednesday evening.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2000

New justice minister urges changes to Juvenile Law

With the recent spate of serious crimes committed by minors heightening concerns about juvenile issues, revisions to the Juvenile Law are necessary and must be completed as early as possible, newly appointed Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka said.
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2000

Snow Brand pays the price

All attempts so far by Snow Brand Milk Products Co. have failed to deal satisfactorily with the mass food-poisoning outbreak caused by bacterial contamination at the company's Osaka production facility. In the two weeks since the outbreak was first detected, over 13,000 people in nine prefectures in...
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2000

Morita mulls new airport, defends works outlays

The Transport Ministry will review Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo's Haneda Airport with an eye to possible construction of a third airport in the metropolis, newly appointed Transport Minister Hajime Morita said.
COMMUNITY
Jul 12, 2000

Going native in postage-stamp gardens

Many remember COP3. The international environmental meeting took place in the beautiful surroundings of Kyoto's International Conference Center in the early autumn of 1997.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 12, 2000

A taste of the good life in Izu

SHIMODA, Shizuoka Pref. -- There is no shortage of ryokan in Izu. The hot springs run unbroken down the coast from Atami to the tip of the peninsula, and some towns seem to have more onsen than houses.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2000

Koreans granted redress for wartime forced labor

A Japanese machine-toolmaker has reached a settlement with three South Koreans who served as forced laborers during World War II based on recommendations handed down by the Supreme Court, company sources said Tuesday.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 12, 2000

I-mode uber Alles

A small cheer could be heard recently when it was announced that NTT DoCoMo would add English-language content to the menus of its i-mode cell phones. It went official July 3, and, well, the selection wasn't that big of a surprise. In fact, some of it had already been available in previous months (and...
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2000

OSE sends delegation to Nasdaq

OSAKA -- An Osaka Securities Exchange delegation left for the United States on Monday for talks with managers of the Nasdaq stock index to enhance business tieups and offer more financial products to Japanese investors, OSE officials said.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2000

Boost youths' social ties: Oshima

While Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori feels educational reform is a key policy for his Cabinet, new Education Minister Tadamori Oshima wants to establish an educational program to enhance children's social participation.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jul 11, 2000

Reverberations of a sonic boom

The live scene for world and roots music in Japan, especially for those living in Tokyo, has never been so healthy. This year, many top artists from Cuba, Eastern Europe, the Celtic countries, Northern Europe, Brazil and Africa have already visited or will be visiting Japan -- a situation almost unthinkable...
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2000

Putting out more flags

Even this far from America, the whiff of U.S. patriotism -- a heady blend of gunpowder, barbecue smoke and hot air -- was unusually palpable last week. Tuesday was Independence Day, always an occasion for Americans to put out more flags, if only because they like the look of red, white and blue in July...
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2000

Snow Brand scandal grows

OSAKA -- Snow Brand Milk Products Co., whose products have caused an outbreak of food poisoning since late June, replaced a dirty machinery part near a contaminated valve at its Osaka plant before a police inspection last Sunday, police sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2000

State should nurture industries: Sakaiya

The government should swiftly come up with measures to nurture fledgling industries in order to accelerate Japan's economic growth, Economic Planning Agency chief Taichi Sakaiya said.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jul 8, 2000

Through the fires of experience to beauty

One afternoon a few months ago I had the pleasure of taking a visiting dignitary around Tokyo to view pottery. While we were riding around in his limousine and talking about Japanese pottery he said many times how sublime he thought it was.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 8, 2000

Quest for Huangshan of the heart

To the south of the Yangtse River in China's Anhui Province, near the medieval city of Wuhu, rise the Huangshan mountains: a series of jagged peaks and crags, not very high, as mountains go, but intensely dramatic. The clouds and mist that swirl around their pine-crested heights, the mysterious grottoes...
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2000

Red Army Faction fugitive details deportation from Lebanon

Masao Adachi, one of four Japanese Red Army Faction fugitives who were deported to Japan from Lebanon and arrested upon their arrival in March, has given Kyodo News a detailed description of how they were handed over.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2000

1932 essays recall patriotism of nisei

When 31-year-old Californian Joyce Hirohata was having difficulty writing her high school valedictory speech, her father handed her a book published by her grandfather, Paul Tsunegoro Hirohata.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2000

Minivehicle sales set record of near 1 million in first half

Minivehicle sales in Japan in the first six months of 2000 rose 3 percent from a year before to 996,096, a record high for any half-year period, an industry body said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2000

FRC may detail Sogo bailout

The Financial Reconstruction Commission is to consider whether it can disclose the numerical data that led to the government's decision to forgive loans to troubled department store chain Sogo Co., the newly appointed FRC chairman said.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear