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JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Fuji Heavy hid millions in revenues

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. concealed revenues of about 400 million yen over a three-year period ending in March 1999, sources close to tax authorities said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

State plans major cut in rice paddies

The government plans to adopt a package of measures for fiscal 2001 to stop the decline in rice prices, including expanding the cut in the nation's paddies to 1 million hectares for the first time.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2000

New panel chairman vows tax-system reform

An advisory panel to the prime minister on tax issues began deliberations Thursday on tax system reforms for fiscal 2001, with its new chairman vowing to overhaul the system to meet emerging challenges in the 21st century.
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2000

The Olympic love-hate affair

The quadrennial soap opera that is the Summer Olympics gets under way again today in Sydney, inspiring the usual mixed response of blahs and hurrahs. Nobody disputes that the Summer Games have become the world's biggest recurrent spectacle, costing more than some countries' GDP and cornier than Kansas....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 15, 2000

Ever-unfashionable Akutagawa

JAPANESE SHORT STORIES, by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, translated by Takashi Kojima, foreword by John McVittie. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing, 1981, 240 pp. with 15 illustrations, $14.95. THE ESSENTIAL AKUTAGAWA, by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, edited by Seiji Lippit, foreword by Jorge Luis Borges. New York: Marsililio...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Spy affair may prevent Russian colonel's visit

A visit to Japan by Col. Gen. Yuri Burkeyev, commander in chief of the Russian Ground Forces, may be postponed in the wake of last week's arrest of a Maritime Self-Defense Force officer on charges of spying for a Russian Embassy official in Tokyo, according to Defense Agency sources.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Foreigners' crimes slightly down

The number of crimes committed by foreigners in Japan in the first half of 2000 dropped slightly from a year earlier, but thefts and burglaries are on the rise, according to a survey by the National Police Agency released Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Tokyo to recognize car-free day

Eight Tokyo-based nongovernment organizations are hoping people will give their cars a break on Tokyo Car Free Day 2000, scheduled for Sept. 23.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Elderly population reaches record high of 21.9 million

The number of Japanese 65 or older stands at 21.9 million, accounting for 17.3 percent of the population, or one in 5.8 people, the Management and Coordination Agency said in a report Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 15, 2000

Giants edge Tigers in 10

Central League  WonLostTied Pct.GB Yomiuri 72 50 0 .590 - Chunichi 60 57 0 .513 9.5 Yokohama 59 58 1 .504 10.5 Yakult 54 57 1 .486 12.5 Hiroshima 54 64 1 .458 16.0 Hanshin 53 66 1 .445 17.5   Pacific League  WonLostTied Pct.GB Daiei 66 52 2 .559 - Seibu 61 54 5 .530 3.5 Nippon Ham ...
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2000

GM to double stake in Suzuki

Major U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. will double its equity stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. to 20 percent, the two firms announced Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Transport chief warns JAMA to halt coverups

Transport Minister Hajime Morita on Thursday urged the president of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Hiroshi Okuda, to try to ensure there are no further coverups of customer complaints in the auto industry, ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2000

EPA leaves assessment of economy unchanged

The Economic Planning Agency on Thursday left intact for the third straight month its view that the economy is gradually moving toward a self-sustaining recovery.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2000

Sakaiya concerned oil prices will hurt exports

Economic Planning Agency chief Taichi Sakaiya expressed wariness Thursday about the recent rise in crude oil prices, implying it could lead to a reduction in Japanese exports to other parts of Asia.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Koreans welcome 'cultural invasion'

SEOUL -- The Japanese are coming -- but this time they're being welcomed with open arms.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2000

Looking for Mori's successor

A couple of weeks ago, Koichi Kato, former secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, appeared at a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. Kato is receiving growing public attention as a potential contender for the post of prime minister to replace unpopular Yoshiro...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 15, 2000

The periphery vs. the center

LOCAL VOICES, NATIONAL ISSUES: The Impact of Local Initiative in Japanese Policy-making, edited by Sheila A. Smith. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000, 136 pp., $32.95 (cloth). For students of power and politics in Japan, Tokyo is where the action is. Important decisions are made in...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 15, 2000

An activist Emperor, pulling the strings

HIROHITO AND THE MAKING OF MODERN JAPAN, by Herbert P. Bix. New York: HarperCollins, 2000, 800 pp, $28 (cloth). This is a blistering and persuasive reassessment of Emperor Showa's reign, debunking the various myths that have accumulated about his allegedly powerless role in Japan's prolonged period...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Lung cancer forum adopts declaration against smoking

An international conference on lung cancer in Tokyo attended by 2,500 doctors and researchers adopted a declaration Thursday calling for governments around the world to implement policies against smoking.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2000

Business leaders push 401(k) model

Japan's four major business groups called on the government Thursday to resubmit at the extraordinary Diet session set to start next week a bill to introduce a defined-contribution pension system as an option for salaried workers.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Sep 15, 2000

Pixies' legacy a mixed influence in Japan

If commercial success were a measure of a band's future influence than Rush and Peaches & Herb would be the prevailing inspirations for pop music today.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2000

What did Russia want?

...
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

80% of Japanese die at medical centers

About 80 percent of Japanese died at hospitals and clinics in recent years, compared with just over 50 percent in the United States and Britain, according to a report by a think tank affiliated with the Health and Welfare Ministry.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

Toshiba, Tessera sign licensing deal

Toshiba Corp. and Tessera Inc., a leading provider and licenser of chip-scale packaging technology based in San Jose, Calif., said Wednesday they have signed a technology licensing agreement.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

Coast guard pushes global piracy fight

Japan needs to join hands with other countries to fight increasing maritime-related crime worldwide, particularly pirate attacks in Southeast Asian waters, according to an annual report the Japan Coast Guard released earlier this week.

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