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JAPAN
Mar 19, 2000

Major Red Army incidents

The following is a chronology of major incidents involving members of the Japanese Red Army:
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2000

Out of step on executions

Japanese judges appear ready to remain out of step with much of the rest of the civilized world by continuing to impose the death penalty. Some officials responsible for the administration of justice in this country compound the issue by the apparent avidity with which they defend and support capital...
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

Oil firms to integrate operations to trim costs

Japan Energy Corp. and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. said Friday they have reached a basic agreement to integrate their oil refining and distribution operations.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2000

85 trillion yen debt-laden budget ties record for swift approval

The Diet approved an 84.99 trillion yen state budget for fiscal 2000 in record-equaling time Friday evening.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2000

Cohen dismisses 15-year limitation on U.S. military use of new heliport

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen on Friday rejected the 15-year time limit proposed by the mayor of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, for a new heliport to relocate the helicopter operations at Futenma Air Station.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

Ito-Yokado, Sony unveil bank plans

Ito-Yokado Co. and Sony Corp. separately unveiled basic plans to set up banking subsidiaries to a Liberal Democratic Party panel Friday, according to a senior LDP official.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

Private think tanks predict 0.5-2.1% growth in 2000

Ten major private-sector research institutes and banks project that Japan's economy will grow an inflation-adjusted 0.5-2.1 percent in fiscal 2000, through March 31, 2001.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2000

Japan, human rights and the WTO

The 135-member World Trade Organization has announced that it will start global negotiations on trade in agriculture beginning March 20. There is yet to be agreement on the negotiating format, scope of discussions and time frame. But we do know the talks will take years -- and that they will be very...
SUMO
Mar 18, 2000

Takatoriki remains unbeaten in Osaka

OSAKA -- Musashigawa stablemates Musashimaru, Musoyama and Miyabiyama posted impressive wins Friday to stay on the heels of unbeaten rank-and-filer Takatoriki on the sixth day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

Kyocera to quit Iridium phone project

Kyocera Corp. announced Friday that it will pull the plug on its seven-year involvement in the Iridium global wireless telephone service project.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2000

Bills on rights of crime victims passed

The government on Friday approved a package of bills recognizing the rights of crime victims and their families.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2000

Aichi 'to be flexible' on expo

Aichi Prefecture will be flexible in revising its proposal for razing a forest in Seto for the World Expo 2005, although it has not yet committed to shelving the controversial housing plan, Gov. Masaaki Kanda said during a meeting with environmental group heads in Tokyo on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2000

Taiwan goes to the polls at a critical time

Four years ago, Taiwanese cast votes in the island's first ever direct presidential election as China lobbed missiles into the Taiwan Strait. This time around, the fireworks are coming not from the Chinese mainland, but from a three-way, neck-and-neck race that has Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party (KMT)...
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

Economic recovery on the horizon, EPA says

The economy is showing signs of nearing a sustainable recovery course for the first time since the recession began in April 1997, the Economic Planning Agency said Friday in its monthly report for March.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 18, 2000

Shakuhachi tips and tunes to welcome in the spring season

If you want to learn more about the shakuhachi and various performance techniques, observe a variety of instruments for sale and hear a selection of original pieces played by young performers, then I recommend the Senshu Kobo Sunday Clinic and Open Lesson.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 18, 2000

Rules said key to easing modified-food fear

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- As the trade in biotechnology-derived foods increases, consumer concerns over the safety of such foods are growing.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 18, 2000

GMO foe sees standards as WTO lever

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- If the international community can set up strict safety standards on genetically modified foods, it would give countries a tool to stop the import of such foods to protect their people, said Jean Halloran, a representative of Consumers International.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

Companies plan e-commerce site

Nissho Iwai Corp. and NTT-ME Information Xing Inc. (NTT-X), a Web site management company affiliated with NTT Corp., said Friday they will form a joint company by the end of this month to offer comprehensive electronic commerce.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 18, 2000

Japanese legend's sweetest hero

...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 18, 2000

Getting your roots crossed

Contemporary art on the cutting edge and traditional crafts firmly rooted in the past seem poles apart. But what if their paths crossed? One answer to the question is currently on show in Tokyo's Sumida Ward, where various crafts -- from ivory carving to hagoita battledores -- have been given a new twist...
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

MITI plans entrepreneurs forum

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry said Friday that it has set up a national forum to nurture Japanese entrepreneurs as part of efforts to revitalize the economy.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2000

Lawyers for top Aum lieutenant ask for clemency

Defense lawyers for senior Aum Shinrikyo figure Kiyohide Hayakawa asked the Tokyo District Court on Friday not to issue a death sentence for their client, citing what they called Hayakawa's sincere attitude in telling the truth.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 18, 2000

Distant echoes from a desert lute

"We are not reviving the original music of over 1,000 years ago," says Sukeyasu Shiba, director of the leading independent gagaku (court music) group Reigakusha, which will present a concert March 23 of music from over 1,000 years ago.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

Finance Ministry strips Minami Securities' registration over bogus bonds

The Finance Ministry on Friday canceled the business registration of Minami Securities Co. for its allegedly fraudulent sales of corporate bonds and dubious asset management, saying the local brokerage violated the Securities and Exchange Law.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2000

Embattled triumvirate seeks to rally the public before polls

Although Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi encountered little difficulty in securing Diet passage of the fiscal 2000 budget Friday, the likelihood of him dissolving the Lower House for general elections in the near future seems more distant than ever.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

GSDF crime coverup alleged

The Ground Self-Defense Force is suspected of systematically covering up a criminal case involving a colonel in 1994, the Defense Agency said Thursday.

Longform

Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free