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JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Miyake chief rules out total evacuation

Miyake Mayor Ko Hasegawa on Thursday said he will recommend that women, children and the elderly leave volcanic Miyake Island but ruled out an islandwide evacuation.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Ex-Tokyo Sowa execs plead not guilty

Five former executives of the failed Tokyo Sowa Bank pleaded not guilty Thursday in their first trial hearing before the Tokyo District Court to charges of conspiring to falsely show that the bank had adequate capital reserves.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Lawmaker's aide held in vote-buying

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office has arrested a private secretary to Kensaku Morita, a House of Representatives lawmaker, for allegedly providing vote-buying money to campaign workers during the Lower House election in June.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2000

Housing starts fell 0.8% in July

July housing starts totaled 101,696 units, down 0.8 percent for the third consecutive year-on-year fall, the Construction Ministry said Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 1, 2000

Giants hit 7 HRs in rout of Tigers

Central League  WonLostTied Pct.GB Yomiuri 66 47 0 .584 - Chunichi 57 51 0 .528 6.5 Yokohama 54 52 1 .509 8.5 Hiroshima 51 58 1 .473 12.5 Yakult 46 56 1 .451 14.5 Hanshin 50 61 1 .450 15.0   Pacific League  WonLostTied Pct.GB Seibu 59 47 4 .557 - Nippon Ham  59 52 1 .532 2.5 Daiei...
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Lawmaker sought over fraud

Joji Yamamoto The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office on Thursday asked Joji Yamamoto, a House of Representatives lawmaker, to report for questioning about his suspected role in misappropriating government salaries paid to two of his secretaries, investigative sources said.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2000

Toyota unveils remodeled luxury car

Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled the remodeled Celsior luxury sedan Thursday as part of its efforts to compete with quality European automobiles.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2000

Ripplewood to run failed insurer

The U.S. investment company Ripplewood Holdings LLC, the parent of Shinsei Bank, will take over the operations of the failed Daiichi Mutual Fire & Marine Insurance Co., industry sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Better society envisioned for disabled people

Five prefectural governors admitted that mistakes have been made in the past concerning people with disabilities and to learn from them to create a society that is easier for disabled people to live in.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2000

NTT remerger mulled

The government and the ruling coalition are considering urging the two regional arms of telecom giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. to merge in spring 2002 -- less than three years after they were split -- according to coalition sources.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Six held for Net fraud since new law enacted

The National Police Agency said Thursday police in Japan have arrested six people on suspicion of Internet fraud since a new law that bans unlawful access to the global online network came into force six months ago.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2000

Budget requests fall 0.2%

General-account budget requests from government ministries and agencies for fiscal 2001 totaled some 84.83 trillion yen, down 0.2 percent from the initial budget for fiscal 2000, Finance Ministry officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Bias suit ruling draws protest

Plaintiff Eiko Shirafuji (second from right) and others form a human chain around the Osaka District Court to protest the court's rejection of a damages suit against Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. over its discrimination against women. OSAKA -- Some 330 people formed a human chain Thursday around...
MORE SPORTS
Sep 1, 2000

Japanese rugby player Iwabuchi hopes to make mark at Saracens

The 2000-01 season will be a significant landmark for Kensuke Iwabuchi. The former Japan international rugby player joined English club Saracens, the team he has dreamed of playing for.
COMMUNITY
Sep 1, 2000

Internet makes itself felt in publishing

Stephen King is currently shaking up American publishers with his experiment in making his novel "The Plant" available for downloading one chapter per month directly from his own Web site. In Japan, too, various ventures are taking place in digital publishing and distribution.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2000

Economists push for transparency

A group of economists and finance professionals from the private sector will today launch what it has termed a "financial NPO" aimed at issuing opinions and recommendations on the nation's financial system.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Mori says he will work toward peace treaty with Russia

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Thursday said he will continue working toward signing a peace treaty with Russia, which would formally end World War II hostilities, by the end of the year.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Derailed work train delays subway

OSAKA -- A rail maintenance train derailed at Nishi-Tanabe Station on the Osaka Midosuji Line early Thursday, affecting some 280,000 commuters, subway officials said.
COMMENTARY
Sep 1, 2000

Faction plots to replace Mori

The focal question in Japanese politics is how the 2001 Upper House election will turn out. Turn-of-the-century politics will hinge on whether the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party will retain its majority in the Upper House, or whether the opposition...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2000

Prospects bleak for Sharif, but may be bleaker still for Musharraf

NEW DELHI -- Pakistan's two most important political figures are facing bleak times.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Sep 1, 2000

Play that funky Okinawan music

Asian folk music has become a rich source for progressive club music. Hang out in one of Tokyo's happening nightspots and one is apt to hear break beats ping-ponging past Indian sitars or fluttering around Balinese gamelan. But when it comes to Okinawan min'yo or traditional music, there hasn't been...
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2000

Industrial output falls for first time in three months

Industrial output in July dropped 0.7 percent from the previous month -- the first decline in three months -- the Ministry of International Trade and Industry reported Wednesday, although officials said an overall trend of modest increase continues.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2000

Snow's offices searched in criminal liability probe

OSAKA -- Police on Wednesday searched the Tokyo head office and Osaka regional office of Snow Brand Milk Products Co. in a bid to establish criminal liability for the outbreak of food-poisoning that affected thousands of consumers in western Japan this summer.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2000

U.S. military lets press view emergency medical drills

U.S. service members stationed in Japan conduct an emergency medical drill Wednesday at the Sagami Grand Depot in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Pref. YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) The U.S. Army stationed in Japan opened to the media Wednesday a weeklong drill on emergency medical operations being conducted at a military site...
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2000

Panel suggests tax breaks for gifts to nonprofit groups

A Liberal Democratic Party committee on Wednesday drew up a proposal to grant tax breaks to firms or individuals that donate to nonprofit organizations, committee officials said.

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