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BUSINESS
May 5, 2000

Sowa Bank fabricated capital base

Tokyo Sowa Bank, a regional bank declared insolvent last June, fictitiously replenished its capital base in 1997 and 1998 to inflate its capital-adequacy ratio, industry sources said Thursday.
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2000

Two Murakamis mull quake in Japanese life

A look at recent best-seller lists reveals several familiar faces. "Eien no Ko," a two-volume novel about the long-term effects of child abuse, is back with the broadcasting of a TV dramatization (Monday nights on NTV). There's another mystery by Nishimura Kyotaro and a book for improving one's English,...
BUSINESS
May 5, 2000

Bluetooth wants bite of mobile market

Portable computers' claim to fame is that they allow you to access and send information anytime and anywhere. But what if you leave a cable at home or bring the wrong one on a business trip?
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
May 5, 2000

Classification, distinction and ecumenism

There is a tendency in Japan to adhere to strict classifications and distinctions. This is especially true in regards to music. Hogaku is one kind of music, Western classical is another. Pop and world music belong to yet other genres. Each genre is considered entirely separate, and performers, audiences...
BUSINESS
May 5, 2000

Fashion chain Uniqlo aims at global casualization

With the resounding success of its Uniqlo casual fashion chain in Japan, Yamaguchi-based Fast Retailing Co. now has its eye on overseas markets with hopes of becoming the world's No. 1.
JAPAN
May 5, 2000

Chronology of bus hijacking

The following is a chronology of the 15-hour bus hijacking in Kyushu that ended Thursday morning after one woman was killed and at least four others were injured.
JAPAN
May 5, 2000

Japan's black reality grist for novel detective

Over a decade ago, Peter Tasker decided to challenge the cowboys and Indians.
CULTURE / Art
May 5, 2000

Swimming 'Sea Monkeys' and rolling digital mice

Sometimes you just get lucky. That, better than anything else, works for me as the reason why the unfocused, gadget-dependent and low-tech exhibition "New Media New Face/New York" manages, against the odds, to end up being a fairly good show.
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2000

Santana keeps the flame -- with a little help from friends

Eric Clapton's appearance halfway through Carlos Santana's April 28 concert at the Budokan, the last date on his recent Japan tour, was unexpected but, in hindsight, not surprising.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 5, 2000

BlueWave complete sweep of Fighters, widen PL lead

Yasuo Fujii hit a three-run homer and Koichi Oshima doubled home the winning run Thursday as the Orix BlueWave swept their three-game series with the Nippon Ham Fighters with a 4-3 victory in Kobe.
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2000

Healing with grassroots harmony

Japanese-Jamaican-Korean fusion? Korean-flavored Japanese rock with a bit of Memphis blues thrown in? It's hard to put a label on the multiethnic multigenre sounds of the Pak Poe Band.
EDITORIALS
May 4, 2000

Make the high seas safe

It seems hard to believe, but pirates still roam the seas. The International Chamber of Commerce reported 285 attacks on ships in 1999, up from 42 in 1991, but even that statistic is assumed to be a fraction of the actual number. Nearly three-quarters of the attacks occur in Southeast Asian waters. A...
EDITORIALS
May 4, 2000

A swashbuckler sheathes his sword

Mr. George Soros, "the man who broke the British pound" in 1992 and forced Britain from the European exchange-rate mechanism, is going to wind down his aggressive investment funds. Citing market volatility and dwindling returns, he decided last week "to bring an epoch to an end." He is abandoning the...
JAPAN
May 4, 2000

Bureaucracy had large role in political power play

Kyodo News On the night of April 2, when then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi suffered a stroke and fell into a coma, Teijiro Furukawa was one of the few people immediately informed, and he promptly busied himself arranging for a smooth transfer of power.
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2000

U.S. foreign policy overlooks democratic progress in Asia

ROBERT A. MANNING Special to The Japan Times KUALA LUMPUR A series of fascinating recent displays of democracy entrenching itself in East Asia imply an important critique of, and profound lessons for, U.S. foreign policy, making that question a central one. Yet with the notable exception of Taiwan's...
JAPAN
May 4, 2000

Divisions run deeper on Constitution Day

Activists from the left and right of the political spectrum staged rallies Wednesday as Japan observed its 53rd Constitution Day, coinciding with an increase in interest in the document because of the establishment of Diet panels to study its revision.
BUSINESS
May 4, 2000

IBJ portal promises to take e-commerce in new direction

The Industrial Bank of Japan plans to develop an Internet-based system that will enable companies to import and export products as well as settle payments online, sources close to the project said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 4, 2000

Should Constitution lead or follow?

Wednesday marked the first time Constitution Day -- commemorating the day the document was put into effect in 1947 -- coincided with lawmakers locking horns over whether to change the sacred charter.

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