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ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 14, 2001

When a little profit exacts a high price

Public-works projects, such as the bungled reclamation of Isahaya Bay in Kyushu and Tokyo's ill-conceived Ken'odo ring road, exemplify the bureaucratic myopia that is razing Japan's natural heritage. But the destruction is not always on a grand scale, nor solely the handiwork of public servants. Private...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 10, 2001

All problems, great and small

Up-to-the-minute trends and subjects are often incorporated into the story lines of television drama series. Unfortunately, topicality is usually given more consideration than relevance, and the dramas themselves rarely explore the reality of problems such as AIDS or teenage depression.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Eight dead in school stabbing spree

A knife-wielding man stormed into an elementary school Friday morning in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, and fatally stabbed eight children and wounded 15 others before he was subdued, police said.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

Japan, officially, still vague on Bush's missile defense plan

Reported critical remarks by Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on a proposed U.S. missile defense system may be problematic as they apparently contravene Japan's noncommittal position on the issue. Although Japan has engaged in joint technical research with the United States on the Theater Missile Defense...
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Kubota hit with back tax for payoffs, false outlays

OSAKA — Tax authorities have determined that farm machinery maker Kubota Corp. disguised 450 million yen as legitimate expenses, including some 100 million yen in illegal payoffs to "sokaiya" corporate extortionists, over the past several years, industry sources said Monday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2001

Koizumi eyes higher burden for seniors

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is intent on capping medical expenditures and calling on wealthy senior citizens to bear more of the financial burden for social security, according to a draft version of his economic and fiscal policy seen by Kyodo News on Sunday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 27, 2001

Cosmetics companies give themselves a makeover

Truth in advertising has never been a strong concept in Japan, but no one flouts it as boldly as the cosmetics industry, which is understandable, since makeup itself is a form of deception. One company's antiwrinkle cream is said to "prevent aging," an obvious impossibility, while the manufacturer of...
EDITORIALS
May 24, 2001

Stopping pork barrel at the source

Barely a month on the job, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has yet to flesh out his reform blueprint. In this sense, he can be likened to a painter who has only just finished the outlines of a portrait. Now, however, he is about to draw a bold nose smack in the middle of the canvas. We refer to his...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 23, 2001

'Naturalizms': Sukpatch

The Beastie Boys are one busy crew. If fighting for a free Tibet, periodically reinvigorating hip-hop and dressing a good percentage of the B-boy hipsters wandering around Harajuku weren't enough, they continue to deliver the goods on their Grand Royal label. Luscious Jackson, Buffalo Daughter and Money...
ENVIRONMENT
May 22, 2001

China's shifting sands close in on Beijing

BEIJING -- Mother Nature has got it in for Wang Yongxian. In 1988, the farmer fled his hillside cave when flooding triggered landslides on Dragon Treasure Mountain, 70 km north of Beijing. Forced to abandon their traditional cave homes, Wang and neighbors moved down to the safety of the plain. Or so...
JAPAN
May 20, 2001

NTT West may halve its branch offices

NTT West Corp. is considering integrating and consolidating its 30 branch offices to between 10 and 15 in a bid to streamline operations, cut costs and weather intensifying competition, company sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
May 19, 2001

LDP sees nuclear as a core source of power

Nuclear power is regarded virtually as a core energy source in a bill for Japan's basic law on energy being prepared by Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, according to the full text obtained by Kyodo News.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2001

No quick changes in Korea

After the North-South summit last June, South Korea became too euphoric. The South Korean media and public gave blind support to the dictator in the North, as if overnight they had forgotten the acrimony and hatred that had lasted for 50 years between the two countries. In Seoul, goods bearing the likeness...
BUSINESS
May 15, 2001

Bridge authority may get 800 billion yen lifeline

The Transport Ministry is sounding out local governments invested in the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority about investing for 10 more years, which would use 800 billion yen more in local taxpayer money to keep the loss-making facility afloat, ministry officials said Monday.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2001

Sony Bank to go online June 11

Sony Bank, an Internet bank owned 80 percent by Sony Corp., said Thursday it will open for business on June 11 in hopes of luring deposits of 1 trillion yen in five years.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 10, 2001

What's your cerebrotype?

In "The Prince," Machiavelli set out his manifesto of duplicity and deception. His name stands for cunning, for forming alliances with those in power. The theory of Machiavellian Intelligence proposes that with the advent of social interaction, the advantage gained by manipulating others was the driving...
JAPAN
May 9, 2001

Coalition agrees on bill to destroy ozone-harming gases

The ruling coalition agreed in principle Tuesday to legislation that would mandate the collection and destruction of chlorofluorocarbon gases known to deplete the ozone layer and induce global warming, coalition officials said.
JAPAN
May 4, 2001

Constitution turns 54 as battle lines drawn up for and against reform

Groups for and against revision of the Constitution held rallies in Tokyo on Thursday to mark the 54th anniversary of the supreme law amid increasing calls for its revision from political leaders, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

NEC to sell laser printer unit

NEC Corp. said Thursday it will sell its entire laser printer operations, including production and maintenance services, to Fuji Xerox Co., a subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film Co.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2001

Exec cites potential in Net data centers

Despite whatever attractive content it may offer, a dot-com firm is doomed to failure if it cannot provide its customers with quick and smooth access to data through its Web site.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2001

Support for road construction down

Those in favor of constructing new highways in Japan were outnumbered for the first time by those who believe it unnecessary, according to a government survey released Saturday.
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2001

Ministry to nudge NTT to cut stake in DoCoMo

Telecommunications Minister Toranosuke Katayama said Tuesday he will urge Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. to voluntarily craft and submit a business plan to increase competition among its group firms.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2001

Internet bank aims to win business with personal touch -- online

Go to a bank, look lost, and almost instantly an attendant will appear to ask how you are doing and if everything is OK.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Apr 15, 2001

Let's raise a glass to the final batch

The sake brewing season is drawing to a close. Except for the handful of large breweries that brew year-round in climate-controlled factories, most sakagura (breweries) will be finishing up their brewing sometime this month. Naturally, there will be ceremonies connected with significant activities within...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2001

Spat over whaling unlikely to sour business

Helen Clark is not afraid to snap at the hand that helps feed her nation.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

NTT to tap into demand for Net

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. plans to establish a new company for high-speed fiber-optic Internet services as early as this summer under a three-year business scheme, company sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Textbook furor won't sour relations: Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry believes a junior high school history book written by nationalists will not spark diplomatic problems with China or South Korea as the two countries have not demanded the text be rewritten, ministry officials said Saturday.

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