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JAPAN
Mar 30, 2000

Asahara's children get to go to elementary school next week

Despite opposition from local residents, two children of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara will be allowed to attend a local elementary school in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, from next week, local education officials said Wednesday. The Otawara Municipal Board of Education said it has mailed a letter...
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2000

Tepco cuts capital outlay 17% for 2000

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that it has revised its projected capital outlay for fiscal 2000 downward to 1.08 trillion yen, 17 percent less than its initial projection made last year.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2000

Matsushita to set up unit for groupwide data system

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. will establish an in-house company Saturday to create a shared information system within the Matsushita group, company officials said Wednesday.
LIFE
Mar 30, 2000

A gathering of cultures and characters

Surrounded by trees, birdsong and a riot of cherry blossoms as you head up the hill into the nature preserve surrounding Tokurinji Temple, you can easily forget that a moment ago you were in the middle of Nagoya, one of Japan's largest cities. When you enter the temple grounds during the annual Hana...
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2000

Survey reveals 1.7% rise in car ownership

A record 78.6 percent of households owned automobiles in 1999, up 1.7 percentage points over 1997, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said in a biennial survey Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2000

Toyota tops 10 million in Europe

Sales of Toyota cars have topped the 10 million mark in Europe, nearly four decades after the Japanese automaker began marketing its cars in the region, Toyota Motor Europe Marketing and Engineering (TMME) said Tuesday. Toyota delivered its 10 millionth vehicle -- an Avensis -- to a customer in Germany...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 30, 2000

Exhibition ticket giveaway

Ten pairs of tickets to the "National Treasures of Japan" exhibition, being held at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park through May 7, will be given away to 10 Japan Times readers.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2000

Cult lawyer gets 12 years for sarin attack

A former Aum Shinrikyo lawyer was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Wednesday for attempting to kill attorney Taro Takimoto with sarin gas in May 1994.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2000

2.1 million people studying Japanese overseas, up 60% from '93

The number of people studying Japanese overseas reached 2.1 million in 1998, up 30 percent from five years earlier, according to a Japan Foundation survey announced Wednesday.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 30, 2000

Natural beauty care is more than just sweetness and light

Continuing in our sweets-for-the-sweet mood, try the following honey and sugar baths and full-body treatments for a wakeup call to body and spirit. All of these treatments are simple, inexpensive and amazingly effective. They are also delicious. Happy sweet spring!
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 30, 2000

The fun of slipsliding away

You persevered. You sweated, ignominiously landed on your backside and ignored the relentless pounding of fall after fall so that you could master the art of snow boarding. But now that you feel as cool on the slopes as you thought you looked when you first zipped up your baggy shell pants, you are helplessly...
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2000

FSA eyes insurance-for-murder scams

The Financial Supervisory Agency plans to conduct an investigation into the sales activities of life insurers to forestall a recurrence of a series of insurance-for-murder cases, FSA officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2000

Dawn of fiscal year turning financial heads

The focus of stock trading has switched to deliveries for the coming month, and inves- tors are turning their attention to what the next fiscal year may have in store.
JAPAN / Media
Mar 30, 2000

Medium is the message, no matter the language

The government's recent proposal to make English Japan's official second language has generally been met with approval. The proposal takes on quixotic overtones, however, when you consider the fact that almost no one in the government itself can actually speak English.
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2000

The man in the mirror

To no one's surprise, Mr. Vladimir Putin won Russia's presidential election Sunday. Although the acting president did top the 50 percent level, which allowed him to escape a runoff ballot, the narrowness of his margin was an eye-opener. The much-anticipated landslide never materialized, the Communist...
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 29, 2000

Troussier lashes out at lack of cooperation by JFA

A day before the Japan Olympic team's friendly against New Zealand, Japan manager Philippe Troussier expressed his frustration with the Japan Football Association for its lack of cooperation in setting his preparation schedule with the Olympic team.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2000

Forged suicide note tied to killings for insurance

A suicide note left by a man who was found drowned in Saitama Prefecture in 1995 is believed to have been forged, police sources investigating a series of alleged murder-for-insurance scams said Tuesday. The sources said police are trying to determine whether Shuichi Sato's suicide note to his Filipino...
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2000

Obuchi aims to maintain coalition

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Tuesday morning expressed his intention to maintain the current framework of the tripartite coalition and realize policy goals set by the three ruling parties.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2000

Firms diversify to tap nursing care system

As the government is preparing to introduce a new insurance system to deal with Japan's rapidly aging population, major companies are gearing up to partake in the potentially lucrative market of caring for the elderly.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2000

Expo pavilion to be made of paper

The Japan Pavilion to be built for Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany, will be one of the world's largest structures made out of paper, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 29, 2000

Giants show major league class with 9-5 victory over N.Y. Mets

Yoshinobu Takahashi and Domingo Martinez both connected for two-run homers Tuesday as the Yomiuri Giants cruised to a 9-5 victory over the New York Mets for their second straight win against their major league counterparts.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2000

MMC eyes DaimlerChrysler

A day after announcing a capital tieup between DaimlerChrysler AG and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., MMC President Katsuhiko Kawasoe indicated Tuesday that the Japanese automaker may obtain a stake in the German-American firm in the future.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2000

Bank chairman resigns to be with ill wife

The chairman of Tokai Bank announced his resignation Tuesday in order to spend the rest of his days caring for his ailing wife. Satoru Nishigaki, 65, said during an emotional news conference that he would step down at the end of the week but continue serving as a consultant for the Nagoya-based city...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 29, 2000

Get Shorty

For many of us living in Japan, the Academy Awards ceremony serves as a reminder of where we are in the bigger scheme of things: behind the curve. We often haven't seen many of the nominated or winning films, some won't be here for another year, and others might not come at all. This is a distribution...
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2000

Former Yamaichi president given 2 1/2-year prison term

Two former top executives of the defunct Yamaichi Securities Co. were given prison terms, one suspended, by the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday for conspiring to conceal more than 200 billion yen in losses from shareholders between fiscal 1995 and 1997.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2000

Japan to unveil new exchange-student goal to G8

The government plans to unveil a plan to double the number of foreign students in Japan from the current 56,000 by 2010 during the upcoming meeting of Group of Eight education ministers in Tokyo and Okinawa, the Education Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2000

Keidanren wants private sector in postal services

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) proposed Tuesday that private entities be allowed to get involved in state-run postal services early in order to accelerate the system's streamlining.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 29, 2000

Cubs rally past Lions 6-5 in final tuneup

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. -- Sammy Sosa couldn't provide any ninth-inning heroics for the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. Lucky for them, Mark Grace and Damon Buford could.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2000

DoCoMo ordered to pay 11 billion yen for tax dodge

Tax authorities have said NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. (NTT DoCoMo) and its group failed to properly declare a 26 billion yen-plus taxable investment in equipment for its personal handy-phone system over a one-year period beginning in April 1998, NTT DoCoMo announced Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 29, 2000

Today amphibians, tomorrow maybe us?

Part 3 of a series

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