search

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2002

Bush's foreign aid revolution

WASHINGTON -- Just as U.S. President Richard Nixon was able to use his conservative credentials to fend off critics and go to China, President George W. Bush has just announced a policy change that Republicans have opposed for years, but that is long overdue. Over a period of a few years, Bush would...
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2002

U.S. claim over phone costs inaccurate, Katayama says

Telecommunications minister Toranosuke Katayama on Friday dismissed an assertion by the United States that NTT DoCoMo Inc. is overcharging other carriers for connections.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Obituaries: Hideo Akimoto, Nobuyuki Kawata

Hideo Akimoto, a veteran newscaster and critic, died Thursday of heart failure at a hospital in Chiba city, his relatives said. He was 75.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2002

Tectonic shifts closing India-China gap

Indian diplomacy has finally attained a degree of maturity. New Delhi's move to bridge the great Himalayan divide between itself and China deserves praise.
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 6, 2002

World Cup warmup games announced

Uruguay will play a warmup match for the World Cup against Nabisco Cup winner Yokohama F. Marinos in Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, on May 25, the J. League first division club said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2002

Key gauge of economy stays well below 50%

The key gauge of the state of the economy remained below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in February for the 14th straight month, but the index of leading indicators topped the threshold for the second consecutive month, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2002

Upper House approves new BOJ board appointees

The House of Councilors on Friday approved the government's decision to appoint two new members of the Bank of Japan Policy Board: Toshikatsu Fukuma, vice chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, and Hidehiko Haru, executive vice president of Tokyo Electric Power Co.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2002

Mitsubishi to sell U.S. cancer test

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. will begin domestic sales of a U.S.-made screening device for cervical cancer in mid-April, company officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2002

Koizumi assures OECD chief of reform

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday told the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that Japan is determined to push through structural reforms, government officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Computer glitches cripple transactions at Mizuho

Mizuho Financial Group, the world's largest banking group, confirmed Friday that it has a backlog of at least 2.5 million incomplete transactions due to computer system glitches.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

House of Councilors rejects censure motion against Takebe

The House of Councilors rejected on Friday a nonbinding censure motion against farm minister Tsutomu Takebe, but New Komeito's decision to abstain from the vote underlined the flagging unity within the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Tokyo-Seoul history panel sets date for talks

A Japan-South Korea panel created to lay the groundwork for a planned joint history research committee will hold its first meeting April 15 in Tokyo, Foreign Ministry officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2002

Mining firms eye alliance on copper

Nippon Mining & Metals Co. and Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. said Friday they will soon begin talks to fully integrate their copper operations by expanding their ongoing alliance to cover production.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2002

Y.E.S.: An English teaching system that works

In 1994, Northern-Ireland born Douglas Young was running two small branches of his English conversation school Formula 1 in the pottery town of Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture. He and his English wife then moved to Hitachi Naka, where Douglas opened a main office and Alison had her first child. The family...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Female entrepreneurialism a budding industry

About 20 ambitious women in their 20s and 30s, some from as far afield as Hiroshima and Miyagi prefectures, gathered one Saturday at a Women Entrepreneurs School course in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Tokyo, Seoul poised to sign landmark extradition treaty

Japan and South Korea will sign an extradition treaty Monday that they plan to put into force ahead of the World Cup soccer finals, which are to be jointly hosted by the two countries between late May and late June, government officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Museum rises from ashes of Hanshin quake

KOBE -- The opening of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art here Saturday is a testament to the port city's restoration since the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 6, 2002

Nora Marzuki

Of the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society, Nora Marzuki said, "One of its main objectives is to raise funds for charity, and this is very dear to my heart. . . . In this day and age, when there are so many unfortunate and disastrous events, our efforts in raising funds can go a long way towards alleviating...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 6, 2002

Sweat suit boys and psychedelic kids

On my planet, the United States, we have all kinds of people, even centaurs and mermaids. But there are a few types of people I have seen in Japan that we don't have in the U.S.
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2002

Domestic travel spending up slightly

Spending on travel within Japan logged a year-on-year increase of 0.4 percent in February, marking the first such rise in five months, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Mad cow losses put at 365 billion yen

Mad cow disease caused at least 365 billion yen in damage to the farming sector and related industries, according to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2002

Law for Okinawa's prosperity

Thirty years after its return to Japanese control in May 1972, Okinawa continues to struggle with its twin problems: the heavy presence of U.S. military bases and the relatively low level of industrial development. While the base problem is likely to persist for a long time to come, the drive for economic...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Tokyo failed to halt hepatitis risk

The government was informed in 1984 of the risk of hepatitis C infection through a number of blood products but failed to take action to regulate their use in Japan for three years, sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

LDP to probe Tanaka over weeklies' charges

The Liberal Democratic Party said Friday it will launch an investigation Monday into allegations that LDP member Makiko Tanaka pocketed part of her secretaries' salaries paid from government coffers.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Controls to be tightened on Russian sailors' shopping

Farm minister Tsutomu Takebe said Friday that Japan will tighten controls on items that Russian fishermen calling at Japanese ports to unload marine products can take out of the country.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Li Peng slams 'axis of evil' speech, U.S. hegemony threat

During separate talks Friday with leaders of two opposition parties, top Chinese legislator Li Peng slammed the "axis of evil" speech made in January by U.S. President George W. Bush, according to lawmakers.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji