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JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

Environment Agency rises a rank

In less than a month, the Environment Agency will -- at least in theory -- get its hands on a bigger piece of the administrative pie.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2000

Subcommittee reviews corporate laws

A subcommittee under the Industrial Structural Council, an advisory panel to the minister of international trade and industry, on Friday compiled a set of proposals to revise corporate laws to make corporate management more responsive and flexible.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

Sogo executives ordered to pay 6 billion yen

The Tokyo District Court on Friday ordered ex-Sogo Co. Chairman Hiroo Mizushima and 16 other former executives to pay about 6 billion yen to the department store chain for mismanagement in a series of shady and allegedly illegal business deals.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2000

IT sectors lead machinery orders to 11th month of increase

Core machinery orders to Japanese manufacturers in October rose a seasonally adjusted 8.3 percent from the previous month to 1.088 trillion yen on the back of brisk demand from information technology-related sectors, the Economic Planning Agency said Friday.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 9, 2000

Bringing Russia and Japan together

Permit me a brief personal anecdote if you will: Some 20 years ago, a cold December night in Toronto found me inspired to chip, using my house keys, a few raisin-sized shards of concrete from the base of that city's newly-constructed CN Tower. Friends I mailed the little gray jewels to would later remark...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 9, 2000

Nishiki-e outshine Chinese prints

"The Birth of Nishiki-e," the current exhibition at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art, claims to be an attempt to explore Chinese influence on ukiyo-e, Japanese print art.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Dec 9, 2000

Ogi wants Haneda to go international

Tokyo's Haneda airport should be an international hub and the new megaministry that will control most public works budgets should draw up a grand design for the nation's airport network, said the woman who will head the megaministry.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

Hashimoto proposes including chiefs of health, economy in budget body

Ryutaro Hashimoto, the newly appointed minister for administrative reform, on Friday repeated his call for the health and industry ministers to sit on a new budget and economic policy body to be launched next month.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

NGOs open sex slave tribunal

Nongovernmental organizations began a five-day people's tribunal Friday in Tokyo to clarify the criminal role of the government and Japanese soldiers in regards to violence against women during the war.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2000

Civil servants' winter bonuses stay on wane for second consecutive year

Government employees received their annual winter bonus allowance Friday but few of them were cheering.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2000

Japan to demand slower rise in mandated imports of rice

Japan decided Friday to demand a slower pace of growth of mandated rice imports in order to protect Japanese rice farmers from cheap imports, government officials said.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Dec 9, 2000

The tiny treasures of Hikaru Shimamura

The great 20th-century Japanese potter Kanjiro Kawai (1890-1966) marveled at items that were small and most people overlooked: a stone, a leaf, a box of matches. He would toss them over and over again in his hands.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2000

Refuges are running out for Pinochet

LONDON -- The freedom to murder your fellow citizens with impunity used to be what made up for the long hours and all the paperwork. Some people simply wouldn't have taken the job of president without it, and Augusto Pinochet was one of them. If somebody had told the former Chilean dictator that he would...
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Auto-parts makers report improved earnings in first half

Japanese auto-parts makers registered improved earnings in the first half of fiscal 2000 as their sales grew both at home and abroad, the Japan Auto-Parts Industries Association said in a report released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Yen may no longer be king of the mountain

The yen's days as the world's strongest currency may be drawing to a close.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Mori again outlines his IT dreams

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori once again pledged Thursday to carry out drastic reforms of the nation's economy by supporting the development of information technology.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2000

Japan, China to improve efforts against crime

Japan and China agreed Thursday to cooperate further in combating organized international crimes, such as drug smuggling and the illegal entry of Chinese citizens into Japan, Foreign Ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

No need for BOJ to renew zero-rate policy, Muto says

Vice Finance Minister Toshiro Muto said Thursday that the Bank of Japan does not need to restore a "zero-interest-rate" policy, despite calls by some politicians for a further easing of monetary policy.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Microscopic-object maker developed

NEC Corp., Seiko Instruments Inc. and Himeji Institute of Technology announced Thursday they have developed the technology to build complex microscopic objects using a gallium ion beam that enables, for example, the creation of what they say is the world's smallest wine glass in just 10 minutes.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Finance to cut lending rates to 2%

Ministry will also reduce postal savings deposit rate by a similar amount
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Matsushita to make cellphones in Latin America

OSAKA -- Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., the nation's leading maker of mobile phones, is considering building a new plant in Mexico or South America to enhance overseas production, the company's president said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2000

Monju touts safety campaign in restart bid

TSURUGA, Fukui Pref. -- Five years after a sodium leak and fire shut down the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor here, the battle over whether it should be put back into operation still rages.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2000

Let disabled pursue medicine career: panel

An advisory panel to the health and welfare minister began studying ways Thursday to revise laws that bar disabled people from working as medical professionals.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2000

Securing LDP power is greatest task: Koga

The LDP's new secretary general said Thursday his greatest task will be ensuring that the tripartite coalition remains in power by securing a majority in next summer's House of Councilors election.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Inspections planned for newcomers to banking

A government advisory panel on Thursday compiled a set of rules calling for financial regulators to be authorized to inspect major nonfinancial shareholders of banks.

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