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BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2000

Decline of excess workforce continues: ministry survey

Companies in Japan say excess labor forces were reduced in August from May, according to a quarterly survey released Friday by the Labor Ministry.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Sep 9, 2000

Putin's obscure mind games

I know very little about judo. Actually, I know nothing about it at all. Yet I like the image of two people wearing cool outfits accentuated by stylish belts, circling the mat with stony faces, waiting for the right moment to jump at each other like two splendid bobcats. It is undoubtedly the sport of...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2000

Nationalism before the national interest

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- If you ever chance to fly in the wintertime to the disputed Northern Territories -- a cluster of volcanic islets claimed by both Russia and Japan, and known as the southern Kuril Islands to Russians -- be prepared to be stranded.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2000

Nigerian envoy promotes natural gas

The Nigerian ambassador to Japan on Thursday called on Japanese companies to invest in his country, particularly to make better use of its natural gas, much of which is wasted due to a lack of technology there.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2000

Meeting on infectious diseases slated for December

Japan plans to host a conference in early December to promote cooperation in fighting infectious diseases that have ravaged many developing countries, government sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2000

FRC to approve first Internet bank

The government's Financial Reconstruction Commission will provisionally approve today a plan by a consortium led by Sakura Bank to form an Internet bank, making it the first to be granted a license to offer Web-based banking services, FRC officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2000

Yaohan chief extracts success from failure

OSAKA -- It is considered difficult and extremely unusual in Japan for those who have failed once in businesses to have a chance to succeed again.
EDITORIALS
Sep 6, 2000

Slow progress toward a peace treaty

To no one's surprise, Japan and Russia were unable to reach agreement on a peace treaty during this week's visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Even though Mr. Putin's predecessor, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, agreed at a summit three years ago to conclude a treaty by the end of this year, the distance between...
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2000

Analysis: State upbeat despite lack of progress

Japan seems to have managed to clear the lowest conceivable hurdle during the latest round of peace treaty negotiations with Russia that ended Tuesday: convincing the other side to confirm its resolve to continue negotiations on the basis of past agreements.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2000

Confectioners wage campaign to push merits of chocolate

Japanese are munching their way through more chocolate than ever, but local manufacturers are not satisfied and have launched a string of new products and positive health campaigns to target the country's sweet tooth.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2000

Putin arrives for isle talks with Mori

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tokyo Sunday afternoon, just hours after rejecting Japan's demand that a group of disputed islands off the northeastern island of Hokkaido be returned.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2000

Osaka's beer summit draws microbrewed stately heads

OSAKA -- If you're tired of the bland, mass-produced, artificially carbonated barley water that too many companies are pushing as beer, relief will soon be at hand.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2000

Mori, Putin unlikely to solve island row

Russian President Vladimir Putin will sit down with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Monday, and while the two will try to settle a territorial dispute over a group of tiny islands north of Hokkaido, they are expected to end up in a decades-old deadlock.
COMMUNITY
Sep 1, 2000

Internet makes itself felt in publishing

Stephen King is currently shaking up American publishers with his experiment in making his novel "The Plant" available for downloading one chapter per month directly from his own Web site. In Japan, too, various ventures are taking place in digital publishing and distribution.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 31, 2000

Working together for the future

It's always your choice to live for today -- Raising your voice for all life to remain
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2000

Analyst attacks organ transplant proposal

A leading sociologist has slammed a proposal under consideration by a government-funded study group that the current law on organ transplants be revised to allow the procurement of organs from brain-dead patients with just the written consent of family members.
EDITORIALS
Aug 29, 2000

An achievement of sorts

The latest normalization talks between Japan and North Korea, held here for two days last week, ended in a draw, although the two sides agreed to meet again later this year. While North Korea focused on "liquidating the past," demanding a Japanese apology and compensation for the 1910-1945 colonization...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2000

IT revolution must benefit all: NGO

Will information technology be utilized for the benefit of all or merely as a business tool? This is a major challenge Japan faces in implementing an IT society, according to Nami Takenaka, president of Prop Station, who spoke Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2000

Mori to push for expansion of UNSC

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori plans to call for an increase in the number of both permanent and nonpermanent members of the U.N. Security Council in a brief speech he will deliver Sept. 7 at the U.N. Millennium Summit in New York, government sources said Sunday.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2000

E-commerce forum set for Sept. 13

A prominent U.S. business school is holding an e-commerce forum Sept. 13 at the Hilton Tokyo Hotel in Shinjuku Ward, inviting four corporate leaders engaged in e-commerce in Japan to discuss how the Internet is transforming global business management.
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2000

NEC reorganizes group companies

NEC Corp. will transfer its business of office telephones and point-of-sale devices to affiliated Nitsuko Corp. next April as part of efforts to reorganize NEC group companies, top officials of the two firms announced on Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2000

Pyongyang offered economic help instead of redress

Foreign Minister Yohei Kono confirmed Friday that Japan has offered to extend economic cooperation to North Korea instead of monetary compensation for its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 2000

Listen to the market

The market is the judge in the market-driven economy. For instance, the stock market tells -- through prices formed by the collective will of investors -- where the real economy stands. Although this fact is self-evident, it is often forgotten or misunderstood. The current slump in the Tokyo stock market,...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb