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BUSINESS
May 10, 2000

Matsushita's memory card up against Sony's product

In a bid to compete against Sony Corp.'s Memory Stick, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. will introduce a product in June featuring a small flash memory card named the SD Memory Card, Matsushita announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 10, 2000

New arrest warrants served in cold remedy murder case

Police on Tuesday issued fresh arrest warrants for a moneylender and three others on suspicion of murdering a former pachinko parlor worker in hopes of claiming a life insurance payout. The four are suspected of administering lethal doses of a cold medicine ingredient over a long period of time to 61-year-old...
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2000

Crime knows no boundaries

Crime was very much on people's minds during this year's Golden Week holiday period. While the calendar made it possible for record numbers of Japanese to travel abroad, those who stayed behind for whatever reason were transfixed by news of two appalling crimes one day apart, each allegedly committed...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Takashimaya enters Nagoya on quest for piece of the pie

NAGOYA -- For 20 years, the city with the nation's highest private savings rate had only four major department stores.
SUMO
May 9, 2000

Kaio claims second ozeki scalp

Komusubi Kaio forced out Chiyotaikai to claim his second ozeki scalp of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday and keep the early pace with unbeaten grand champions Akebono and Takanohana.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 9, 2000

Giants shut down Swallows 4-0

Pinch-hit slugger Akira Eto belted a grand slam and rookie Hisanori Takahashi went the distance while tossing a three-hitter Sunday as the Yomiuri Giants blanked the Yakult Swallows 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

NTT to buy U.S. Net firm

NTT Communications Corp. announced Monday that it will acquire Verio Inc. of the United States, a major Internet service provider, in order to become a "full-service player" in Asia, Europe and the U.S.
OLYMPICS
May 9, 2000

Hiroyama earns ticket to Sydney

Harumi Hiroyama, denied a berth on Japan's highly touted Olympic marathon team, snared a ticket to the Sydney Games on Sunday with a victory in the women's 10,000 meters at the Mito International track and field meet. Hiroyama broke away from the pack with 4,000 meters remaining in the race at Mito Municipal...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

U.S. planned atomic attacks from Japan

The U.S. military had plans to launch nuclear attacks from Japan's main islands in the 1960s in the event of a crisis in the region, according to State Department documents. The secret communications, declassified in July 1998, indicated U.S. forces were prepared to transport nuclear weapons deployed...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Longer Golden Week spurs huge turnout

Some 68.1 million people spent their Golden Week holidays at major tourist attractions or events this year, an increase of roughly 14.3 million from last year, the National Police Agency said Monday.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

39 court districts have no practicing lawyers

Japan's lawyers are disproportionately concentrated in Tokyo, leaving 39 district court jurisdictions out of 253 nationwide with no practicing lawyers, according to a report issued Monday by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

Nasdaq Japan to debut with eight companies

The Osaka Securities Exchange announced Monday that eight firms will be listed on the Nasdaq Japan market when it debuts June 19.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

OECD official calls for deregulation

A top official of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday urged Japan to accelerate regulatory reform to help spur economic growth led by information and communications technology.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Algerian minister's visit to mark warming of ties

Algerian Foreign Minister Youcef Yousfi plans to visit Tokyo at the end of this month, a trip that will mark the end of decades of near-estrangement between Japan and the North African country.
COMMENTARY
May 9, 2000

Hold the line with Russia

The St. Petersburg summit held April 29 between Japan's new prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, and Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin marked a new stage in bilateral negotiations on signing a peace treaty. The two nations had earlier agreed to settle their territorial dispute on the Northern Territories...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Second ibis hatches at Sado breeding site

The second crested ibis bred in captivity in Japan hatched Monday morning at a conservation center on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, prefectural officials said. The chick began chipping at the shell of its egg -- one of three laid in April by Yang Yang, a female ibis from China -- on Sunday morning....
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Gov. Inamine repeats call for Nago base time limit

Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine urged the central government Monday to impose a 15-year time limit on the U.S. military's use of an airport to be built in northern Okinawa Prefecture. "The Japanese government cannot hold negotiations with the United States without establishing a solid stance. The central...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

First 2,000 yen bank note rolls off mint's printers

With a push of a button the first-ever 2,000 yen bill was christened with the serial number "A000001A" on Monday, kicking off printing of the new bank note.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 9, 2000

Kafu's sure but fleeting touch

AMERICAN STORIES, by Nagai Kafu. Translated and with an introduction by Mitsuko Iriye. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000, 240 pp., unpriced. In 1903, the young man who was to become one of Japan's finest writers left for the United States. He did not particularly want to go -- he would have...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Osu survives with blend of old and new

NAGOYA -- Young people browse through the shirts and jeans at a used clothes store, while an elderly woman picks up some tea at a shop around back. On the street, a young couple eating ice cream pass a man with a computer.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
May 9, 2000

Dr. John carries the torch, while Lenine fans the flames

Dr. John has worn a lot of musical hats during his 45-year career. Born Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. in New Orleans in 1940, he was soon deep in the local music scene, playing guitar with many top R&B acts before switching to piano and forming his own group. Taking the music of the Crescent City...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Hijacker recounts being bullied

The 17-year-old youth arrested for hijacking a bus and fatally stabbing a passenger last week is giving investigators a detailed account of bullying he suffered at his junior high school, police sources said Monday. The youth, who was apprehended Thursday after police stormed the vehicle as it was parked...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

AXA Nichidan Life exec eyes challenges

The challenges surrounding the newly launched AXA Nichidan Life Insurance Co. and Japan's insurance industry do not elude Hisashi Ohgaki, the firm's executive director and chief products and marketing officer.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Sumida fireworks face G8 delay

The popular annual Sumida River fireworks in Tokyo will be postponed by one month until Aug. 26 because police will be too busy in July providing security for the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa Prefecture, fireworks organizers said Monday.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Tokyo court detains acquitted Nepalese man

The Tokyo High Court on Monday decided to allow prosecutors to detain a 33-year-old Nepalese man who was acquitted last month in a 1997 murder case.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

Imai welcomes Keidanren union with Nikkeiren

Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), said Monday that he supports the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations' (Nikkeiren) setting up a committee to consider a possible merger with Keidanren.
CULTURE / Books
May 9, 2000

Testing times for Japan-U.S. alliance

ALLIANCE ADRIFT, by Yoichi Funabashi. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1999, 501 pp., $49.95 (cloth). The jacket of this hefty chronicle of the recent history of Japan-U.S. security relations proclaims that Japan has found its Bob Woodward. Consider yourself warned.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

City strives to school foreign youth

TOYOTA, Aichi Pref. -- When the bell signals the end of the day at Homi Junior High School here, students run out of the building to play on the grounds.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

'Love Bug' virus swamps Japan's firms

More than 84,000 e-mail messages carrying the "Love Bug" computer virus had been detected as of Monday evening in Japan, leading antivirus software provider Trend Micro Inc. said.
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2000

They call it 'avant-pop,' but hum along if you like

Pop aficionados often feel the need to be apologetic. Few would would openly admit to preferring those early bouncy Beatles singles to the Fab Four's more musically adventurous output of later years, or to having danced around the living room to "La Vida Loca." Even the shiny surfaces of Cornelius are...

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