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JAPAN
Jul 4, 2000

Bacteria outbreak at Osaka hospital claims lives of seven elderly patients

OSAKA -- Seven elderly patients at a hospital in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, died between May 7 and Saturday after contracting serratia bacteria -- apparently inside the facility, officials said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2000

Election results mean Diet must heed fickle workforce

The tripartite coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party have managed to win an "absolute comfortable" majority that will enable them to control all standing committees in the powerful Lower House and chair them as well.
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2000

Dumb and dumber

There is a wonderful anecdote about Oscar Wilde in Richard Ellmann's monumental biography of the Victorian wit, aesthete and playwright. In 1882-3, Wilde undertook a North American lecture tour, with the aim of bringing the gospel of beauty to the New World. A highlight of the tour was his stopover in...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2000

Milk production line found contaminated

OSAKA -- Bacteria has been discovered on the production line of a Snow Brand Milk Products Co. factory here that processed low-fat milk believed to have made nearly 5,000 people ill, the company's president said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2000

New bank regulator inaugurated

The Financial Services Agency on Saturday replaced the Financial Supervisory Agency as the nation's top bank regulator, assuming the duty of salvaging Japan's bad loan-swamped banking industry.
COMMUNITY
Jul 2, 2000

Noh master calling U.K. college alumni

There was some initial confusion when Naohiko Umewaka requested help in finding graduates of Royal Holloway. What was he talking about? The only Holloway known to this Londoner is the district north of the River Thames best known for the prison of the same name. Now here was a story! Japan's best known...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2000

Winds of change blowing through Asia

CHANG MAI, Thailand -- The recent historic handshake between South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang captivated the world. As emotions over the summit subside, what can be said about Korean developments when viewed from a broader Asian perspective?
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2000

DIC purchases 198 billion yen of Sogo's loans from Shinsei

The state-run Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Friday it will buy 197.6 billion yen of Shinsei Bank's outstanding loans to troubled department store chain Sogo Co. and waive 97 billion yen of that amount.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2000

12 nations ink bilateral deals at Sapporo U.N. talks

In a bid to facilitate foreign direct investment, 12 developing nations signed 22 bilateral investment pacts during a fortnight of negotiations that wrapped up Friday in Sapporo under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2000

Germany says 'no nukes'

The agreement reached earlier this month between the German government and major electric-power companies to phase out that country's commercial nuclear program in about 30 years came as a fresh reminder of the global shift away from nuclear energy production. The "irreversible" landmark agreement is...
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

FRC details rules on injecting capital into credit institutions

The Financial Reconstruction Commission unveiled guidelines Thursday for the injection of capital into credit associations and credit unions, the collapse of which could wreak havoc on local economies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2000

Radical Hindus wrecking India's tolerant secularism

NEW DELHI -- The new millennium has been terribly cruel to Christians in India. Fanatical Hindu organizations -- which are wings of the country's ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- have unleashed a reign of terror on the second-largest minority group after the Muslims. Murder and mayhem and...
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2000

Shinsei asks DIC to take Sogo loans

Shinsei Bank on Wednesday formally asked Deposit Insurance Corp. to take over 205 billion yen of its loans to embattled department store chain operator Sogo Co., bank officials said.
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2000

Japan's voters call for change

Voters apparently called for a change in the nation's politics in Sunday's elections for the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party of Japan consolidated its position as the No. 1 opposition party by winning an additional 35 seats, although it failed to win enough votes to allow it to establish...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2000

Coalition holds on to power

The Liberal Democratic Party had dubbed Sunday's election a "battle in mourning," in hopes that the untimely death of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi would get out the "sympathy vote." As it turned out, the LDP and its coalition partners suffered a major set- back, contrary to the wishes of Prime...
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2000

Business chiefs upbeat after poll

Business circles expressed hope Monday that the new government to be formed after Sunday's Lower House election will take prompt action to lead the economy to a recovery.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Coalition parties stand by Mori

Despite the setback that the ruling bloc suffered at the hands of the public in Sunday's election for the House of Representatives, top leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition allies agreed Monday that Yoshiro Mori should stay on as prime minister.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Rain-aided coalition cruises toward victory

Amid lower-than-expected voter turnout, the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling triumvirate appeared to have secured at least a simple majority in the Lower House in the general election held Sunday, exit polls show.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Ruling coalition secures majority

The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling triumvirate suffered a major setback but secured a majority in the Lower House in the general election held Sunday.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Coalition wins a stable majority

The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling triumvirate suffered a major setback but managed to secure a comfortable majority in the Lower House in Sunday's general election.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2000

Sense and nonsense in nuclear-arms policy

For his key role in establishing Japan's commitment to nonnuclear principles in 1967, Prime Minister Eisuke Sato went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet it was recently revealed that he privately referred to the three principles as "nonsense" and allowed a U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier to enter a Japanese...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

800 campaign workers to be grilled by police

But violations down significantly from 1996 general election Police will question about 800 campaign workers on suspicion of buying votes and other violations of the Public Offices Election Law after polls close for the Lower House elections tonight, the National Police Agency said Saturday.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 25, 2000

A humbling experience in the Himalayas

"We have to focus. This is going to suck. We're going to hate it. It's going to be 12 hours of misery worse than we ever imagined."
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2000

Copper wires in snack bars force recall

Threads of copper found in some CalorieMate snack bars prompted Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. on Friday to begin recalling around 14 million packets made at its factory in Tokushima Prefecture.
COMMUNITY
Jun 23, 2000

Hearts will blossom on a classic ground

One beautiful day in mid-autumn, while watching my silent garden-scape, I remembered a voice I had heard from the flowers in the summer sun. "We flowers want your heart to blossom," they had said in one voice.
COMMENTARY
Jun 23, 2000

Victory predicted for LDP

The major Japanese newspapers that conducted polls on the June 25 Lower House election this week made these stunning forecasts:

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell