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JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

The Asahara Trial: Guru acted like 'a god'

A former Aum Shinrikyo cult member convicted of killing a fellow cultist in 1994 testified Friday that cult founder Shoko Asahara started behaving as if he were a god toward the end of the 1980s.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

JAS to hire no pilots in fiscal '99

In a rare move for a Japanese airline, Japan Air System Co. announced Friday it will not hire any pilots during fiscal 1999 as part of its structural reform plan.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Mystery ships spark debate on defense

The government is considering legislative amendments to cope with any future intruding vessels, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi told a Diet committee Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Festival trains spotlight on Belgian style

Works of fine art, musical and theatrical performances, soccer and beer will feature in a yearlong campaign to introduce Belgian culture to Japan as a "microcosm of European culture."
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

New war hall said to sidestep nation's guilt

An exhibition hall in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward dedicated to victims of the wars fought by Japan in the 1930s and 1940s will not challenge visitors to think too deeply about how Japan waged those wars and its responsibility for them.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Local Elections '99: Hatoyama and 'symbiosis with nature'

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

MITI panel asks U.S. to fix 'peculiar patent system'

A government panel on industrial property urged the United States on Friday to rectify its "peculiar patent system" to cooperate with the global community in setting highly transparent rules on patent protection, and make acquisition of cross-border patents more efficient.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Ex-Im economist sees dollar settling at 130 yen

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Daihatsu told to fix faulty cars promptly

Daihatsu Motor Co. received a Transport Ministry recommendation Friday to take prompt action on defective cars that should have been subject to a recall.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Incinerator workers become first to file dioxin claims

OSAKA -- Two former workers at an incinerator in Nose, Osaka Prefecture, applied Friday for work-related damages, claiming their illnesses were caused by exposure to high levels of dioxin at the facility.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Nostalgia buffs pay homage to 1918 brothel-turned-restaurant

When Tadafumi Yoshizato was in junior high school, his friends hocked his watch so they could go to Osaka's Tobita Shinchi district to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. Now, Yoshizato, a 61-year-old illustrator, goes to enjoy pleasures of a more nostalgic nature.
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 1999

Banking on the euro

The euro was designed to create economies of scale. A single European currency zone was expected to maximize the reach of companies looking to exploit the new supermarket by rationalizing planning and production costs. Proof of the idea's appeal -- and its inevitability -- is the wave of mergers and...
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Japan to urge firms to acquire Russian technology

The government will encourage Japanese companies to acquire the advanced space and military technology of former Soviet republics for nonmilitary use, officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Gubernatorial campaigns kick off

Campaigning for gubernatorial elections slated for April 11 in 12 prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, started Thursday, kicking off the first round of the quadrennial unified local elections.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

The Asahara Trial: Ex-Aum member mum on murder

Three former Aum Shinrikyo members were brought to the witness stand at Thursday's trial session of cult founder Shoko Asahara in connection with the 1995 kidnap and murder of a Tokyo notary worker, but one of them refused to testify.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Meiji Life to offer diabetes coverage

Meiji Life Insurance Co. said Thursday it will offer diabetes and hypertension sufferers insurance coverage beginning April 2.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Local Elections '99: Showdown in cash-dry Tokyo

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Local Elections '99: LDP tying up with opposition

and YOKO HANI Staff writers
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Japan says it 'understands' use of force

Japan "understands" the use of force NATO undertook against Yugoslavia to prevent a further humanitarian catastrophe, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Thursday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Mar 25, 1999

Cornucopia's savory memories

Spring is here, hard on the heels of Foodex '99, the food-and-beverage spectacular I mentioned two weeks ago during its four-day run at Makuhari Messe.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Sony unit to set up music-distribution service

Digital Media Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corp., will launch a music distribution service through a digital communication satellite broadcaster starting May 12, company officials said Thursday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 25, 1999

Shibuya's best-kept secret -- but you didn't read it here

Publicity can be both good and bad. It can help a restaurant or pub stay open and economically healthy. It can also, however, be the bane of an establishment as well. Too much attention has its downfalls.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 25, 1999

Kokotei: Kamakura cuisine with a view

For most city folk, the best thing about Kamakura is the reassurance that it actually exists. We don't need to go there so often: It's enough to know that, less than an hour away down the JR tracks, there really are quiet backstreets to wander in, temples and monuments exuding a whiff of history, brine...
COMMUNITY
Mar 25, 1999

Nurturing the inner child within us

"Emotional intelligence" is what interests Gabriele Frohlich: the connection between the brain and the heart.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

$4.5 billion in aid pledged to Philippines

Aid donors to the Philippines concluded a two-day Consultative Group meeting Thursday in Tokyo, pledging $4.5 billion in economic aid for 1999 to help Manila combat its economic difficulties.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Greenpeace slams court over arrests, raid

Greenpeace Japan criticized the Tokyo District Court Thursday for not clarifying reasons for the arrest and detention of three Greenpeace activists who staged a demonstration at the March 18 Tokyo Toy Show to protest the use of polyvinyl in toys.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Tepco investors lose lawsuit over atomic reactor

The Tokyo High Court Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by five shareholders of Tokyo Electric Power Co. fighting the resumption of operations at a Tepco atomic reactor in Fukushima Prefecture following an accident in 1989.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Tokorozawa produce not a health threat: ministries

The level of dioxin in produce grown in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, is not substantially above the national average and does not pose any threat to human health, according to a set of emergency government studies released Thursday.
COMMUNITY / CROSSING CULTURES
Mar 25, 1999

Glacial change hard for people more used to avalanche speed

Japan can't change. Change in Japan is glacial. Japanese are stuck in their ways. In Japan, disappointment is what you can expect if you expect change.
COMMUNITY
Mar 25, 1999

Teenage visions of the coming century

Ethiopian Eta Ferahu Tarekegne Gatahun loves lasagna and wants to set a sprint record. Sassy Melissa Corlett, a Hong Kong-born Brit, has no doubts that her future will be fantastic. Eka Sriamarwati, a young Balinese trance dancer, lists a tiny hair clip as her most prized possession. And in Tokyo, Nami...

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