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Takuya Asakura
JAPAN
May 11, 2000
Rally urges increase in nurses
In the wake of recent reports of simple mistakes that have had fatal results at hospitals, many working nurses are saying they can imagine making such errors, given their hectic routines.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000
Returnee sues Japan for assault
Nearly six years after he was deported, an Iranian man has returned to Japan to testify in court for his damages suit against the state.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2000
Parents sue to learn truth of son's death
The parents of a 14-year-old boy who was killed in what a family court deemed to have been a one-on-one fight with another boy are to file a damages suit next week against the state and Ibaraki Prefecture, claiming the investigation was unfair, it was learned Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2000
Myanmar citizens see dual taxation as incentive to overstay
Staff writer The Feb. 18 revision of the Immigration Control Law has prompted many undocumented foreigners to return home, but some Myanmar citizens are unable even to go through deportation procedures because they find it hard to pay overdue taxes to their government. The Myanmar citizens said they...
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2000
New immigration law misunderstood, experts say
Staff writer In the days before the revised Immigration Control Law takes effect, hundreds of undocumented foreign residents have been flocking to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau in Kita Ward to initiate deportation procedures, but experts say many of them may be misguided about the amendment. An...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000
Corporate star aims to shake up UNHCR
Staff writer Despite large financial contributions made by the government to international causes, Japanese are often criticized for being invisible in the global community. Kiyoshi Murakami, who will become chief of the Career & Staff Support Service at the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000
U.N. drug program calls for more funds
Staff writer The head of the United Nations Drug-Control Program hopes Japan will devote more of its U.N. contribution to the program, claiming it is cost-effective in the domestic war against narcotics. Pointing out Japan's declining contribution to the Vienna-based UNDCP, Executive Director Pino Arlacchi...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2000
Papers serve notice to sexually explicit advertisers
Staff writer "Candid camera taping of TV presenters finally hits the black market!" "Confessions of 100 businessmen: Sex with Japan's top 10 bra-buster beauties -- I would do it this way!" "Real-life experience with a trendy Shibuya rape drug!" Such eye-grabbing headlines, which many Japanese find annoyingly...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2000
Anti-Aum rightists get free, loud ride
Staff writer YOKOHAMA -- Military marching songs and yells blasting out of rightists' black loudspeaker trucks broke the holiday silence here Monday morning, which was Coming-of-Age Day. Since Fumihiro Joyu, former spokesman for Aum Shinrikyo, moved into the cult's Yokohama branch Dec. 29 after his...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 1999
Credit card firms prepared for Y2K
Staff writer Despite reports from Britain detailing Y2K problems with credit cards, Japan's credit card companies, now in the midst of last-minute preparations, claim their customers have no need to worry. Even before the clock ticks over to the new year, when Y2K problems are most likely to occur,...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 1999
Asylum said in short supply here
Staff writer The number of people granted asylum by Japan in 1999 edged into double digits for the second straight year, but lawyers say some seeking to stay are being deported in an inhumane manner. This year, 11 people have been granted refugee status, down from 16 last year. On Nov. 22, an Iranian...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 1999
Police misconduct scandals fuel calls for public scrutiny
Staff writer "I knew that the same things would surely be repeated in the future," Kenji Chiyomaru said. "You cannot expect self-cleansing action by police." Since he launched "Human rights dial 110" in 1979, Chiyomaru, a civic activist who lives in Tokyo's Nerima Ward, has been helping people having...
JAPAN
Dec 8, 1999
Advocates hit courts' insensitivity to mentally disabled
Staff writer When the court officer announced "all rise" before the close of the trial, the 58-year-old mentally disability defendant remained seated. When the judge sentenced him in July to a 20-month prison term, he was the only one who apparently did not understand what had happened. The man was...
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1999
Rights advocates cite stalling on U.N. torture convention
Staff writer Human rights advocates voiced concerns over Japan's compliance with the U.N. convention on torture at a public hearing held by the Foreign Ministry and other ministries Friday. The session was held to hear opinions from nongovernmental organizations on what issues should be included in...
JAPAN
Nov 20, 1999
Accidental oceanographer takes Kyoto Prize for lifework
Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 5, 1999
Y2K fears boost cruises over New Year's
Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 28, 1999
Short-sighted policy hinders disabled voters
Staff writer
COMMUNITY
Oct 6, 1999
Widow recalls 'Japan's Schindler'
YOKOHAMA -- Yukiko Sugihara, 85, still recalls the huge crowd outside the Japanese Consulate in Nazi-occupied Lithuania one cold summer morning in 1940 -- hundreds of European Jews desperate to escape persecution.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 1999
Widow recalls consul's effort to aid Jews
Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999
Lawyer, professor accuse police of coercion
Staff writer

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