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JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

High dioxin levels found in Tokyo soil

Dioxin concentrations up to 16 times above national safety guidelines were detected in soil in Tokyo's Ota Ward, making it the nation's second-worst dioxin contamination in a public place, Tokyo metropolitan government officials revealed Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Sep 14, 2000

Smile, take a bath and visualize the gold

SYDNEY -- Yasuko Tajima said she was swimming faster than ever in the 400-meter individual medley relay, Masami Tanaka staked her claim on gold and Takashi Yamamoto might just smile his way into the medals. But head coach Koji Ueno seemed to be hanging on, white-knuckled, to the hope that new training...
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

Mori plans Cabinet reshuffle ahead of shakeup at ministries

The Cabinet should be reshuffled in December to prepare for the consolidation of government ministries and agencies in January, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

Surplus falls for third month in a row

The nation's current account surplus, the broadest measure of trade, decreased 17.6 percent in July from a year earlier to 1.08 trillion yen as imports outpaced exports, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by the Finance Ministry.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

1% growth pledge to be met: EPA

EPA chief Taichi Sakaiya said Wednesday that Japan's economy will grow at a pace of 1 percent or higher in fiscal 2000, as promised earlier by the government.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 14, 2000

Marines snap Hawks' nine-game tear

Tomohiro Kuroki tossed six-hit ball for 8 1/3 innings and picked up his eighth win as the Chiba Lotte Marines ended Daiei's nine-game winning streak by beating the Hawks 3-1 at the Fukuoka Dome on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

Future holding firm sets terms

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp. on Wednesday announced the terms for the April consolidation of their units under a single holding company, a move that will form the nation's fourth-largest banking group.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

Info about Mori and brothel won't be released, cops say

The Metropolitan Police Department has told the Tokyo District Court that it will not provide the court with information on whether Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori was caught in a brothel more than 40 years ago, police sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

Nifty to tie up with German firm T-Online

Nifty Corp., Japan's largest Internet service provider, said Wednesday it will tie up with Germany's Online, the largest ISP in Europe.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

Condos on market rise 13% ahead of tax break deadline

The number of new condominiums put on sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area increased 13.1 percent in August from a year earlier to 4,431 units, the third consecutive monthly gain, a private research institute said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

Shipbuilding alliance is confirmed

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. announced Wednesday a comprehensive shipbuilding alliance that will create Japan's largest shipbuilder.
COMMUNITY
Sep 14, 2000

Part-timers reshaping Japan's work ethic

Yoshinori Ogawa, 27, is a bassist in the rock band Dusty Rose. He considers himself a professional musician, but like many other would-be musicians or thespians, he has not yet reached the point where he can support himself on his music alone.
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 14, 2000

World Cup 2002 tickets to sell Oct. 2

Tickets reserved for residents of Japan for the 2002 World Cup will start selling Oct. 2 after a computer draw selects who can buy them, the Japanese World Cup Organizing Committee (JAWOC) announced Wednesday.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 14, 2000

Bruised flowers: China's hidden army of child laborers

BEIJING -- Hu Changjun was desperate to escape the poverty trap in Wuxi County in southwest China's Sichuan Province. So she couldn't believe her luck when a fellow villager named Changyan offered her work at a joint-venture factory in distant Beijing. "A joint venture means a foreign company, where...
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

State bowing to public in HIV case: Abe's defense

Defense lawyers for hemophilia expert Takeshi Abe, 84, on Wednesday said their client was innocent of professional negligence resulting in death, claiming he prescribed HIV-tainted blood coagulants to a patient in 1985 due to limited knowledge of the product's danger at the time.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 14, 2000

Transpacific chefs pan restaurant gold

The competition could not possibly be more intimidating. San Francisco has more restaurants per capita than any other city in America, maybe more than any place on the entire planet.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Sep 14, 2000

Time to weed out Olympic imposters

So, what's in a name? A lot, apparently.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Sep 14, 2000

The ups and downs of the clematis clan

Clematis is a well-known group of beautiful flowering climbing plants. The clematis group includes evergreen, deciduous, shrublike and herbaceous perennial forms. Today I wish to draw your attention to a couple of native clematis species that deserve better recognition.
OLYMPICS
Sep 14, 2000

Japan boss hoping for eight gold medals

SYDNEY -- Japan's Olympic officials have set the nation's athletes a goal of bringing home five gold medals and a total of 15 medals from the Sydney Olympics.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Sep 14, 2000

Fine old tradition behind world-renowned bubbly

As quick as popping a cork, it seemed, three weeks ago I was on a Brussels-to-Paris high-speed Thalys train, savoring visions of France's picturesque Champagne region.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

Nestle set to quench Japan's thirst for mineral water

KOBE -- It is cheap and safe to drink tap water in Japan. Still, the Nestle group, the world's top maker and supplier of mineral water, sees great potential for growth in the Japanese market.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 14, 2000

Hannibal: Tunisian flavors in Shin-Okubo

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ENVIRONMENT
Sep 14, 2000

Fisheries crashing from pollution in Ariake

The cuisine of the Ariake Sea in northern Kyushu, featured recently in quarterly cultural magazine Fukuoka Style, is a strange one. It's dominated by grotesque, unusual-tasting fish and shellfish simmered heavily in sugar and soy or wrapped in dense layers of seaweed.

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