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CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Dec 2, 2000

Reed and pipe and 30 strings

The traditional koto has 13 strings. Moveable ivory bridges, called ji, are placed under each string, and moving them up or down the length of the koto raises or lowers the pitch. There are about 15 set positions for the ji, known as choshi, and they determine the overall tuning of the instrument. All...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2000

Concert to raise funds for seeing-eye dogs

The St. David's Welsh Society is presenting its 14th annual Christmas Charity Concert 5 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Imperial Hotel.
EDITORIALS
Dec 1, 2000

ASEAN eclipsed?

There is no rest for the weary. That is the lesson that Southeast Asian leaders must draw after their annual summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, held last week in Singapore. While their economies are -- for the most part -- recovering from the economic crisis of 1997-98, they...
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Tokyo slates meeting with Myanmar

In defiance of mounting international pressure, Japan appears firmly determined to go ahead with technical assistance for Myanmar.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

LDP panel puts brakes on dual taxation system

The Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel decided Thursday to delay the government-designed introduction of a new local tax system because of concerns about its effect on unprofitable companies, party officials said.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

Finance Ministry reveals 'mission'

The Finance Ministry published a position paper Thursday outlining its "mission" and "policy objectives" for the first time in its 131-year history, ahead of the government's major restructuring in January.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

Greenback surge surprises but may not last

The dollar has broken out of the 100-110 yen trading range after having stayed in a holding pattern for several weeks amid concern over political uncertainty in Japan and the United States.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Eight oil firms fined 2 billion yen for bid-rigging

The Fair Trade Commission has ordered eight oil wholesalers to pay about 2 billion yen in penalties for rigging bids in the supply of oil products to the Defense Agency, FTC officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Opponents sidetrack suffrage debate

The ongoing debate on a bill to grant foreigners voting rights is being sidetracked by opponents who claim the issue can be resolved by amending the nation's naturalization policy.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

LDP wants minimum import levels of rice cut

Panels of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party agreed Thursday to call on the government to demand that minimum access levels on rice imports be reduced in its proposals for the next round of trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

Reform touted in new five-year action program

The government compiled a five-year action program to promote structural reform and achieve economic progress while continuing to reflect the IT revolution and environmental concerns, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry announced Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Serial killer, two other murderers hanged

Three death row inmates, including a serial killer who murdered eight people between 1972 and 1982, were hanged Thursday morning, the Justice Ministry said.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Shigenobu indicted in embassy attack

Japanese Red Army leader Fusako Shigenobu was indicted Thursday on charges stemming from the 1974 seizure of the French Embassy in The Hague, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office said.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

U.S. wants to extend auto agreement

Compiled from wire reports SEATTLE -- The United States on Wednesday proposed extending a bilateral automotive trade pact due to expire at the end of the year after a joint review showed that some progress has been made in improving access and competition in the Japanese market.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Infected people unaware they are killers, AIDS activist says

1988, World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 has been observed as a time to display compassion, hope, solidarity and understanding about the deadly disease. This year's theme is "AIDS: Men Make a Difference." More than 70 percent of HIV infections worldwide occur through sex between men and women, with a further 10...
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

Panel to study insurance yield cuts

Members of the Liberal Democratic Party will set up an informal study group to examine whether life insurers should be allowed to cut the interest rates they guaranteed their policyholders, LDP lawmakers said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Law permits SDF to inspect foreign ships in emergencies

The House of Councilors passed and enacted a number of bills Thursday, including one that allows Japanese authorities to inspect foreign vessels within or beyond its territorial waters as part of international economic sanctions and another outlawing human cloning.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Court rejects former sex slave's plea

The Tokyo Court upheld a lower court ruling on Thursday and rejected a South Korean woman's demand for an apology and 12 million yen in damages from the Japanese government for the suffering she endured as a wartime "comfort woman."
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

Matsushita sets sights on 2003

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Thursday that it expects to raise annual group sales to about 9 trillion yen in fiscal 2003, up about 20 percent from the current level.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Typhoon season ends with no direct hits

For the first time in 14 years, the typhoon season is drawing to a close without a single typhoon making a direct hit on Japan. Meteorologists say this is a fluke, however, and not a sign of abnormal weather conditions.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

DoCoMo confirms push into U.S. via AT&T share deal

NTT DoCoMo Inc. officially announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement to acquire a 16 percent stake in AT&T Wireless Services Inc. of the United States for 1.79 trillion yen, securing a foothold in the country for its next-generation mobile phone technology.
COMMUNITY
Dec 1, 2000

Holiday Happening at American School

The American School in Japan will hold its annual Holiday Happening Dec. 2, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at its Chofu campus in western Tokyo.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

13 billion yen squandered by officials in '99: audit

The government and state-affiliated corporations squandered 13.38 billion yen in public money in 268 cases during fiscal 1999, the Board of Audit said in a report submitted Thursday to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2000

Wooing rebels may calm Paradise Lost

NEW DELHI -- This year, there was an added significance in the sighting of the Ramadan moon, the new moon that marks the start of the holiest month on the Islamic calendar.
COMMUNITY
Dec 1, 2000

Swedish bazaar to benefit charity

The public is invited to the Swedish Christmas Charity Bazaar Dec. 9, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Embassy of Sweden in Roppongi, Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 1, 2000

Are class differences widening in Japan?

Along with increased pressures for deregulation and a free-market economy have come wider questions of what Japanese society should be like in the new century. Has the Japan in which 90 percent of the people considered themselves middle class ended? Is Japan becoming a class society of winners and losers...
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Ryukyu relics join UNESCO heritage list

A group of ancient monuments and castle ruins in Okinawa, including those of Shuri Castle, was added Thursday to the World Heritage List, becoming the 11th entry from Japan on the list, government officials said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2000

Kato shoots himself in the foot

Koichi Kato failed in his high-profile rebellion last week against the government of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. The leading dissident in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had vowed to unseat Mori by voting for an opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against the Mori Cabinet. But when faced with...
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Mori weathers storm but warned against further gaffes

The 72-day extraordinary Diet session comes to a close today with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori clinging to power despite a series of challenges that could have ousted him from office.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

FRC calls off Tokyo Sowa sale talks

The Financial Reconstruction Commission on Thursday approved the termination of negotiations on the sale of Tokyo Sowa Bank, a regional bank that failed in June 1999, to the Asia Recovery Fund L.P. of the United States.

Longform

Capsule hotels were created as a way to deal with the amount of overwork employees tend to do in Japan. Can't commute home? Then spend the night in an tiny, affordable sleeping space.
Japan wakes up to the market for a proper sleep