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JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Judge sentences third Aum cultist to death for role in Sakamoto killings

A key Aum Shinrikyo figure was sentenced to death Friday for playing an important role in the murders of an anticult lawyer, the lawyer's family and another member who wanted to leave the cult.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Government eyes more big spending

Leaders of the government and the ruling coalition parties effectively agreed Friday that policy-related spending in the fiscal 2001 budget should at least be as expansionary as this year's 48 trillion yen, to help achieve a full-fledged economic recovery.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Debt-hit Kansai airport sinking fast

OSAKA -- Without a 20 billion yen reconstruction effort, those who land at Kansai International Airport may find themselves having to swim to the passenger terminal.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2000

Salaried households pare spending 2.6%

Average consumption spending by households of salaried workers fell an inflation-adjusted 2.6 percent in June from a year earlier for the second straight month of decline, according to a preliminary report released Friday by the Management and Coordination Agency.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2000

Jobless rate climbs back to 4.7%

Japan's jobless rate climbed back to 4.7 percent in June, up 0.1 percentage point from May, the Management and Coordination Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Ministry ignored report on risk of catching CJD

The Health and Welfare Ministry in 1988 ignored a report compiled by a ministry research team warning that transplant patients who received imported dura mater could contract Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare and fatal disease, an internal ministry investigation revealed Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Mori stresses IT as path to self-sustained recovery

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori opened a 13-day extraordinary Diet session Friday by renewing pledges to exert leadership to put the economy on a self-sustained recovery track. He also pledged to work on structural reforms by promoting the development of information technology.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Defense Agency cautious over Korean developments

Although the historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung last month is expected to ease military tension on the peninsula, how this will affect the Asia-Pacific security equation remains unclear, according to the Defense Agency's 2000 white paper, released...
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2000

FRC chief defends payments, benefits from Mitsubishi Trust

A scandal involving the chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission erupted Friday when it was reported that he had received millions of yen in advisory fees as well as money to cover the rental of offices and staff from Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp. over a seven-year period.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Pyongyang offers files on missing pair

North Korea's Red Cross Society has handed its Japanese counterpart files on two missing Japanese, but the pair are not among the 10 Japanese believed to have been abducted by North Korean agents, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2000

DDI to unite cell-phone providers into 'au'

Telecom carrier DDI Corp. said Friday it will merge seven of its eight regional cell-phone service providers on Nov. 1 to increase efficiency, naming the merged entity "au."
COMMUNITY
Jul 29, 2000

The miracle of life awaits at the end of a long, hard road

Organ donation is not something most of us have to think much about. But for Fernando, a Peruvian with a life-threatening kidney condition residing in Tokyo, the only option that offers any hope for the future is a kidney transplant.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 29, 2000

Matsuzaka flirts with no-hitter

Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a no-hitter over eight-plus innings and Susumu Otomo hit a two-run homer to pace the Seibu Lions to a 6-0 victory over the last-placed Kintetsu Buffaloes at the Osaka Dome on Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2000

LDP abandons plan to revise conditions of NCB sale contract

A majority of members on the Liberal Democratic Party's panel on financial matters agreed Friday that it would be difficult to revise the contract allowing the Softbank-led consortium to buy state-run Nippon Credit Bank.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Russia peace treaty stance remains firm

The government on Friday rejected a call by the ruling party's No. 2 man to seek a peace treaty with Russia without setting the resolution of a long-standing territorial dispute between the two countries as a precondition.
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 29, 2000

Jo still looking for a club

Japan striker Shoji Jo is still looking for a club for this season, a Yokohama F. Marinos official said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2000

China continues to bully ARF

At this week's meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bangkok, China will seek support for its opposition to U.S. plans to develop a theater missile defense. That is consistent with China's use of ARF as a forum for undermining support for the U.S. alliance structure in East Asia. China demands a free...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 29, 2000

Kiwi music offers delicious alternatives

For a nation with a population barely equal to that of an international metropolis, New Zealand's vibrant and diverse music scene commands respect for its innovative yet self-effacing approach. From the melodic pop-meisters of the pioneering indie label Flying Nun to the operatic grandeur of Kiri Te...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 29, 2000

Play revives old debate over Nazi A-bomb

"Absence of A-bomb: Were the Nazis duped -- or simply dumb?" So asks the weekly U.S. News & World Report in a piece for its July 24-31 cover story, "Mysteries of History." The question is being revisited now perhaps because of a recent Broadway import from London: Michael Frayn's "Copenhagen."
COMMENTARY
Jul 29, 2000

Putin the big winner at G8 summit

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin, both attending a summit of major industrial powers for the first time, played markedly different roles at the Group of Eight Okinawa summit that ended July 23.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2000

Teaming up to make globalization work

This week, at United Nations headquarters in New York, we have made a bit of history. Global leaders from the worlds of business, labor and civil society came together to forge a new coalition in support of universal values. Why is that necessary?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2000

Foreigners are key to economic reform

There are several indications that the Japanese economy is recovering from a serious depression. It seems that a large number of people share the opinion that structural reform is necessary to continue this recovery and put the economy on a steady and sustainable growth path.
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2000

Tough choices for ASEAN

ASEAN is back. That is the message coming from Bangkok this week as foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations hold their annual get-together. North Korea's debut at the ASEAN Regional Forum, which follows the foreign ministers' meeting, has contributed to the optimism, as has...

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