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BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2001

Shiokawa says Japan still open to Indonesia's ODA needs

Despite a planned cut in the overall amount of official development assistance dished out to Indonesia in fiscal 2002, Japan will attach "due consideration" to Indonesia's needs, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa told visiting Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Thursday.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 25, 2001

No, really, it's completely unspoiled!

Paradise in the South Pacific? Isn't that only ad copy for getaway resorts that put little beach umbrellas in the cocktails and charge prices the locals could only afford after a winning lottery ticket?
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2001

Panel to draw up biotechnology control system by March

An advisory panel to the minister of economy, trade and industry will meet early next month to discuss establishing a system to control biotechnology, the ministry said.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2001

Banker-turned-'barista' predicts big things for gourmet coffee

Kouta Matsuda's obsession with world food began in his childhood, when he traveled around the globe with his father, a trader.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 23, 2001

'Comfort' education at expense of standards?

Earlier this year, the Education Ministry announced a set of guidelines for public schools that go into effect next April. These changes include reduction of the school week to five days, a 30 percent cut in "academic content" and the development of "general studies," the gist of which remains vague...
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Troubled youngsters turn to friends, not family

Young people are more likely to turn to friends in times of trouble than their parents or teachers, with most youngsters both dependent on and fearful of their peers' opinions, according to a government survey released Friday.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Sep 21, 2001

Riding tall in the classroom

When Tom Kodiak's grandfather offered him 2,200 head of cattle and a 17,000-hectare ranch in South Park, Colorado, he told his grandfather he'd think it over. It was his last year of college and Kodiak was afraid that if he went straight from school to managing a big cattle ranch he'd be stuck there...
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2001

Half of imprisoned gangsters plan return to mob: poll

Almost half of all gangsters currently imprisoned hope to return to their organizations after their release, according to a recent Justice Ministry survey.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Sep 19, 2001

Foreign firms slowly influence job-for-life market

As foreign companies have increased their presence in Japan in recent years, many have found it difficult to hire quality local staff.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 13, 2001

Shaping up the economy: more parks, fewer highways

One of the joys of visiting the United States is having a chance to check out the alternative press. This summer, while in Vermont (which some say is a state, and some a state of mind), I picked up a free copy of "Green Living: A Practical Journal for Friends of the Environment."
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2001

Psychiatric care still mired in Dark Ages

Staff writer Unlike the common image of mental institutions with tight security and barred windows, the Yowa Hospital in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, looks no different than a general hospital.
BUSINESS
Sep 12, 2001

January eyed for stock tax reform

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday he hopes to implement securities tax reforms in January after discussing them during the extraordinary Diet session to be convened this month.
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 8, 2001

Urawa's Okano moves to Kobe

Urawa Reds forward Masayuki Okano will move to Vissel Kobe on a 5-month loan, the Reds announced Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2001

Renault bond gets positive rating

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Wednesday it assigned a Baa2 rating to the 50 billion yen in "Samurai" bonds of Renault S.A., the biggest shareholder in Nissan Motor Co., citing expectations Renault will benefit from its new models and its deepening ties with Nissan.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Sep 5, 2001

Weakening of dollar debated but unlikely

Debate is heating up in the United States over the pros and cons of the current foreign exchange policy being pursued by the U.S.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2001

Hitachi receives debt-rating warnings

Moody's Investors Service Inc. and Standard & Poor's Corp. issued warnings Tuesday on their debt ratings for Hitachi Ltd. following the major electronics maker's downgraded fiscal 2001 earnings forecast announced last week.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2001

Tanaka forms loose advisory panel

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Monday she will set up an informal advisory panel this week, from which she hopes to get suggestions on not only political and economic diplomacy but also on "soft" issues such as cultural exchange, education and environment.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2001

Markets suffer Koizumi's silence

A sense of frustration is beginning to set in. Every indication points to a marked deterioration in economic outlook in the months ahead.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 2, 2001

'P' words fly over boorish behavior

"Men," my wife announces, "are nothing but pigs."
COMMUNITY
Sep 2, 2001

Who needs meat?

In 1984, Carl Lewis won four gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics. At the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, he set a world record of 9.86 seconds for the 100 meters. By the time he retired in 1996, he had bagged nine Olympic gold medals and had written himself indelibly into the list of all-time...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 2, 2001

Looking ahead to a reunified Korea

KOREA'S FUTURE AND THE GREAT POWERS, edited by Nicholas Eberstadt and Richard J. Ellings. University of Washington Press, 2001, 361 pp., $22.95 (paperback). Think what you will about North Korea's Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il, but the man has a gift for theater. He captivated much of the planet when he...
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2001

Sanyo revises downward its first-half forecast

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. said Friday it has revised downward its group earnings forecast for the first half of the business year, projecting sales of 1.04 trillion yen, down 1.9 percent from previous expectations.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2001

Budget requests set to hit 85.7 trillion yen

Fiscal 2002 budget requests from government ministries and agencies will total 85.7 trillion yen, up 3.7 percent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2001

Fish stocks may resolve whaling debate

The International Whaling Commission recently completed its 53rd annual meeting. For the media, highlights included: false accusations of vote buying; the illegal withholding of Iceland's right to vote, decided by a majority when by international law it should not have been a subject for the commission...
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2001

Let's not forget basic research

In its guidelines for the next fiscal year's budgetary requests, the government has permitted a 5 percent hike in science and technology promotion spending, making an exception in the 10-percent cut in general expenditures and public-works spending. This is a real treat amid the deflationary climate....
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2001

Defense Agency seeks 5 trillion yen budget

The Defense Agency will request 5.0278 trillion yen from the 2002 general account budget, an increase of 1.8 percent from this year's initial budget, according to a plan submitted to the Liberal Democratic Party's defense panel Wednesday.
BUSINESS / THE WRITERS' SPIN
Aug 30, 2001

Internet bank's accidental author is by no means an accidental Sony man

Staff writer Hiroki Totoki is a Sony Bank director and an accidental author.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2001

Citibank eyes new time deposit

In a bid to offer higher returns to risk-averse investors, the Japanese branch of Citibank, N.A. said Wednesday it plans to launch a new yen-based time deposit linked to the benchmark Nikkei average.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami