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LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jan 10, 2001

What's it all about, IT?

2001 may well be the year of the IT revolution, but as far as I'm concerned, we're talking about utilITy. From here on, usefulness is going to be the benchmark for information technologies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2001

Reflections on an imbroglio in Vientiane

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- On the eve of the recent important meeting between the European Union and ASEAN in Vientiane, Laos, a great uneasiness and disappointment prevailed in ASEAN capitals because of the perceived lack of interest in ASEAN on Europe's part.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 10, 2001

Three decades of Mario and friends

In the beginning (about 30 years ago), geeky college students in the United States stole into engineering buildings at night and turned huge and expensive mainframes into playgrounds.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2001

IBJ to leave lending rate at 2.1%

The Industrial Bank of Japan, Shinsei Bank and Aozora Bank said Tuesday that they will leave the long-term prime lending rate at 2.1 percent, as fluctuations in the coupon rate on five-year debentures remain in a narrow range.
COMMENTARY
Jan 10, 2001

Tests loom for U.S.-China ties

How will the election of George W. Bush affect U.S.-China relations? The conventional wisdom was that a Gore administration would have been more favorable to China -- a questionable assumption based in part on the belief that Al Gore would be more inclined to continue President Bill Clinton's policies...
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2001

Civil servants upbeat on reorganized bureaucracy

Bureaucrats in their 20s and 30s were apprehensive but upbeat Tuesday when work started in earnest following the biggest administrative shakeup since the end of World War II.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2001

Evidence of exam leak destroyed

Investigators suspect an executive of Ohu University in Fukushima Prefecture instructed school officials to destroy papers related to a leaked exam immediately after the incident came to light, police sources said Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Jan 10, 2001

Daimyo's garden: tall trees among the embassies

Arisugawa Memorial Park has an area of 3.6 hectares and is the largest park in Tokyo's Minato Ward. The collection of tall mature trees gives the park a pleasing woodland effect.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 10, 2001

Asian news and connections

atimes.comAlmost immediately after the Asia Times added Western standards to Asian journalism back in 1996, it was pushed under by the debt it took on to launch, becoming one of the first bankruptcies of the region's financial meltdown. Now it's back, at least online, and although it's still a mere shadow...
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2001

Cellphone shipments set to hit 420 million

Worldwide shipments of mobile phones will likely reach 420 million units in 2000, far outpacing the 280 million shipped in 1999, the Japanese unit of U.S. high-tech consulting firm GartnerGroup Inc. said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2001

Man stabs vendor at Tokyo station

Police arrested a 63-year-old man Monday for robbery and assault after he stabbed a male shop clerk near the Yaesu central exit of JR Tokyo Station.
EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2001

Ministry shakeup just a beginning

The government reorganization that took effect last Saturday is designed to create an administrative system more responsive to the needs of the times, with politicians, not bureaucrats, taking the initiative in shaping public policy. In the most drastic bureaucratic reform in half a century, the number...
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2001

Liberal Party 'prep school' opened

The Liberal Party on Monday formally opened its "prep school" for future politicians at a hall in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2001

Curb in emissions to cut economic growth: panel

A U.N. panel on climate change predicts industrialized countries' economic growth will be cut 0.2 to 2 percentage points if they reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to the levels agreed to under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, according to a study obtained by Kyodo News.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2001

Lenders grow tighter, charge more: survey

Banks and other private financiers in Japan are becoming more selective in their lending practices and charging higher interest rates on loans to small businesses that have a greater dependence on borrowing, according to a survey unveiled Monday by a government financier.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji