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ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 11, 2001

Japanese neighbors join in incinerator struggle

Two previous columns have focused on a United States government lawsuit seeking a provisional injunction against a private incinerator in Ayase City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The Americans, however, are not the only ones eager to shut down the facility. Other neighbors, too, are fired up about Envirotech...
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2001

GEOS affiliates fined for hiding 280 million yen

Around 20 companies affiliated with English-language school operator GEOS Corp. failed to declare some 280 million yen in income in the five years to March 2000, industry sources said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2001

The spy game: high stakes, low payoffs

LONDON -- It's an impressive list: CIA official Aldrich Ames jailed for life in 1994 for spying for Moscow; CIA agent Harold Nicholson jailed for 23 years in 1997 for the same offense; FBI employee Earl Pitts sentenced to 27 years later the same year for passing information to Moscow; U.S. Army Col....
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2001

External panel meets to review workings of Foreign Ministry

A panel of outside experts advising the Foreign Ministry held its first meeting Wednesday morning to review ministerial operations and discuss ways of preventing further misuses of public funds.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2001

External panel meets to review workings of Foreign Ministry

A panel of outside experts advising the Foreign Ministry held its first meeting Wednesday morning to review ministerial operations and discuss ways of preventing further misuses of public funds.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2001

Defense Agency staff, SDF to face stiffer penalties for spying

The Defense Agency plans to make penalties for personnel and Self-Defense Forces members who leak secret information harsher by raising the maximum prison term from one year to five years, agency sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2001

Ministry funded Cabinet Secretariat on the sly: officials

Some of the Foreign Ministry's discretionary diplomacy funds were given to the Cabinet Secretariat every year despite legal restrictions on the transfer of budget funds between government organs, some government officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2001

Ministry funded Cabinet Secretariat on the sly: officials

Some of the Foreign Ministry's discretionary diplomacy funds were given to the Cabinet Secretariat every year despite legal restrictions on the transfer of budget funds between government organs, some government officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Construction firms' profits slide

The combined unconsolidated operating profits at Japan's 52 major construction companies declined 29.9 percent to 100.6 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2000, the Research Institute of Construction and Economy said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2001

Four major department stores plan to merge home deliveries

Four of Japan's leading department store chains will jointly launch in April a unified goods home-delivery system in Tokyo and end their separate services, Mitsukoshi Ltd. said Friday.
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Jan 4, 2001

Information disclosure could give power to citizens if they get involved

Satoru Ienishi felt overwhelming anger as he watched a newscast at his Tokyo office on June 13, 1998.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 25, 2000

World fisheries collapsing as technology and demand soar

As this is the season of giving, here is a gift, a riddle:
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2000

Japan, U.S. urged to forget trade spats and rethink focus

Japan and the United States should shift the focus of their economic relationship away from coping with individual trade issues and toward creating a more business-friendly environment, according to a still-classified Foreign Ministry report.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2000

Yatsu hits Yokohama betting tax plan

Yoshio Yatsu, the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said Friday he opposes Yokohama's plan to introduce Japan's first local tax on horse-race betting.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 5, 2000

Blues for the new millennium

The new CD puts a contemporary spin on classic blues-rock. "It's a ticket to the show." That's how Canadian band leader Robin Suchy describes the newly released CD he produced with his 10-man blues band, the Howling Loochie Brothers.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2000

Defense dialogue with Russia set to resume in January

The top Defense Agency bureaucrat will visit Russia in January, marking a resumption of defense dialogue suspended when a Japanese naval officer was found in September to have passed classified documents to a Russian military attache, according to Japanese defense officials.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 23, 2000

The man who never forgets a sake

Haruo Matsuzaki raises the small glass to his nose, sniffs for but a couple of seconds, and takes in a small sip. Slurping in a bit of air, he scribbles for a few seconds into his ever-present tiny notebook, finally expelling the sake into the spittoon next to the table. On to the next.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2000

Residency given despite false 'war orphan' claim

Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka granted a special residency permit Tuesday to a 39-year-old Chinese man and his family who arrived in Japan in 1994 and passed themselves off as the blood relatives of a Japanese "war orphan."
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Nov 7, 2000

A fine fuzzy day out at Rocktober

The inaugural Rocktober festival on Sunday, Oct. 15, at Shiokaze Park in Odaiba, confounded my expectations: I had a great time.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2000

Do the Japanese have a sense of humor?

A Jewish peddler boldly visits the house of a rich nobleman. The place is Rome and the time, well, about 2,000 years ago, plus or minus a few decades here or there.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 29, 2000

Local boy makes good on his own

It is practically impossible to beat the odds and attain major recognition and success in Japan as an individual artist. When an artist does achieve success it is usually the result of a miracle -- or nepotism. It is not uncommon for gallerists who want to promote a particular artist to arrange a show...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2000

An 'extreme' sport that's truly off the wall

As we search for bigger thrills and harder adrenaline rushes, more and more people are pursuing a break from the norm with "extreme" sports.
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Oct 5, 2000

The power of St. John's wort: A herb to make you happy

In these days of miracle medication for nearly any psychological complaint, the botanical alternatives are getting a lot of attention. There have been happiness remedies around for millennia, of course; as with most botanical treatments, the knowledge is ancient.

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