search

 
 
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2000

Trade surplus down 4.6% in first half

Japan's customs-cleared merchandise trade surplus came to 5.73 trillion yen in the first half of fiscal 2000, down 4.6 percent from a year earlier as imports outgrew exports, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2000

Hayami still warns of end to 'zero-rate' policy

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami indicated Monday that the bank is close to ending its "zero-interest-rate" policy, citing brighter prospects for an economic recovery and diminishing deflationary risks.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 25, 2000

Japan unveils Olympic baseball squad

Eight professionals, including Seibu Lions star Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kintetsu Buffaloes slugger Norihiro Nakamura, have joined 16 top amateur players in Japan's baseball squad for the Sydney Olympics in September.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2000

Crack found in oil duct at nuclear power plant

A cracked oil duct has been found at a Fukushima nuclear power plant that was closed Sunday following an oil leak, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2000

Nuclear panel wants Monju reactivated

The Atomic Energy Commission on Monday proposed resuming the operations of Monju, a prototype fast-breeder reactor that was mothballed after an accident in 1995.
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2000

Panel drops idea of 20% consumption tax

A government advisory panel on taxation was planning to recommend in its triennial proposals unveiled July 14 that the consumption tax rate be hiked to 20 percent, only abandoning the idea out of concern over a probable public backlash, panel sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2000

Crown Princess will miss funeral

The Crown Princess will be absent from today's funeral ceremony for the Empress Dowager and related events that will run until Wednesday, the Imperial Household Agency said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2000

5.5 magnitude earthquake shakes Shikine, Kozu islands

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 jolted the islands of Shikine and Kozu in the Izu Islands chain south of Tokyo on Monday morning, the Meteorological Agency said.
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2000

Supermarket sales plummet 4.4%

First-half sales at Japan's supermarkets totaled 7.86 trillion yen, down 4.4 percent from the same period the previous year, an industry association said Monday.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jul 25, 2000

From the streets of Tokyo to Royal Albert Hall

The night before they left for Europe, Japanese group Cicala Mvta (pronounced Chicala Muta) played for about 50 people in Tokyo -- about par for the course for them. When they arrived in London the next day, theirs was the hottest ticket in town. Sort of.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 25, 2000

The debate on Nanjing is now closed

DOCUMENTS ON THE RAPE OF NANKING, edited by Timothy Brook. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 1999, 301 pp., 2,616 yen. AMERICAN GODDESS AT THE RAPE OF NANKING: The Courage of Minnie Vautrin, by Hua-ling Hu. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000, 184 pp. The adversity...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 25, 2000

Making peace in Cambodia

EXITING INDOCHINA: U.S. Leadership of the Cambodia Settlement & Normalization with Vietnam, by Richard H. Solomon, with a foreword by Stanley Karnow. United States Institute of Peace Press, 2000, 113 pp. (paper). Contrary to popular opinion, America's involvement with Vietnam did not end with the...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 25, 2000

So you wanna be a glam-sleaze superstar?

As befits artists whose chosen mode of expression is more or less a comment on somebody else's mode of expression, Swedish pop groups definitely have the best names. The Trampolines play bouncy, never-less-than-fun British pop while the Wannadies mine the rich vein of teenage angst in straightforward...
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2000

JAL, ANA to join airlines in e-market for goods, parts

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said Monday that they will join eight other international airlines in establishing a venture to operate an online market to help them procure goods and services.
COMMENTARY
Jul 25, 2000

Media credibility is at risk

Two recent incidents have revealed the cozy relationship between government and the media in Japan. One is the appointment of a former Yomiuri Shimbun chief editorialist as a member of the National Public Safety Commission. The other is the fact that a member of the Cabinet press club wrote a memo for...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 25, 2000

Fenollosa's study of art is art

EPOCHS OF CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART, by Ernest F. Fenollosa. A facsimile of the 1913 edition. New York, Tokyo, Osaka: ICG Muse, Inc. 440 pp., with original plates, 2,100 yen. Ernest Fenollosa, the man who taught the West about traditional Japanese art, first came to Japan in 1878, when he was invited...
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2000

Dollar likely to test upper limit against yen this week: dealers

The U.S. dollar will likely test its upper limit against the yen this week amid lingering doubts over the health of the Japanese economy.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2000

Magnitude 5 quake hits isles; no casualties seen

An earthquake measuring a preliminary magnitude of 5 hit the Izu Islands chain south of Tokyo on Sunday, the Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2000

Mori seeking contact with Kim Jong Il

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori indicated his readiness Sunday to have direct contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as Tokyo pursues normalized ties with Pyongyang.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2000

Global partnership urged in summit communique

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — The leaders of the Group of Eight major nations adopted a communique Sunday calling for a "new partnership" with other countries — especially developing ones, international organizations and the public in order to cope with the increasingly complex challenges of globalization....
SUMO
Jul 24, 2000

Nagoya Basho ends in both triumph and disappointment

Akebono wrapped up the Nagoya Basho on both triumphant and disappointing notes, losing to fellow-yokozuna Musashimaru in the final bout but finishing his first yusho in more than three years with an excellent 13-2 record and reaching his long-awaited goal of 10 championships.

Longform

The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports