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JAPAN
May 8, 2001

New Cabinet a breath of fresh air

The newly formed and enormously popular Koizumi Cabinet picked up another accolade Monday when a group of antismoking advocates noticed it contains only one smoker, the least number of any recent Cabinet.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2001

Nagasakiya gets breathing room

Supermarket chain operator Nagasakiya Co., which is currently protected from creditors under the corporate rehabilitation law, said Monday it has been granted six more months to compile a business rehabilitation plan, due partly to the large number of its creditors.
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Japan wants temporary UNSC seat

Japan has decided to run in an annual election in 2004 for a nonpermanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, the Foreign Ministry announced Monday.
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Widow's appeal over stocks rejected

The Tokyo High Court has thrown out an appeal by the widow of a supporter of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi demanding the return of shares in NTT DoCoMo Inc. from the late prime minister's chief secretary, her lawyer said Monday.
JAPAN
May 6, 2001

Transsexuals set to file civil lawsuits

A group of six people who have undergone sex-change operations will file civil suits May 24 seeking to have their new genders recorded on their family registrations, an activist supporting transsexuals said Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 6, 2001

Drumming up some PR for the old neighborhood

Most of the current travel-information programs you see on TV are stylistic offshoots of TBS's long-running "Soko ga Shiritai," which has been off the air for several years now. One of the few variety shows that has done something different with the format is TV Tokyo's "Shutsubotsu! Ad-Machikku Tengoku"...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
May 6, 2001

Shochu among bamboo

Tokyo's neighborhoods always offer one or two little bars (or sunakku) where down-home drinkers can shake off the workday blues. The greater Jiyugaoka area offers more options than most, and its most recent and welcome addition is Fukukaze.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 6, 2001

Funny hair beats dark blue suits and bad teeth

One can gauge the emotions now churning through certain portions of the Liberal Democratic Party by a tearful comment made by a member of the Hashimoto faction following the unveiling of a memorial statue of the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in Okinawa last week. The politician was not crying over...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
May 6, 2001

Zeni Geva, up from the earth's bowels

K.K. Null is a name that conjures up a wicked and cruel nihilistic super-villain that could kick Ultraman's butt before breakfast and polish off the X-Men before afternoon tea. It's the perfect name for a dark lord of the underground, which is exactly what he is.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 5, 2001

Kuroki sparkles on return to Marines

Lotte ace Tomohiro Kuroki pitched a two-hitter over eight scoreless innings to stay unbeaten for his fourth win as the Marines beat the Orix BlueWave 2-0 at Chiba Marine Stadium on Friday.
JAPAN
May 5, 2001

Covert entry puzzling, analysts say

Japanese experts were divided over why a man claiming to be Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Il, tried to enter Japan under an alias with a forged passport.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2001

EU enters the Korean minefield

No doubt European Union leaders acted with the best of intentions when they undertook their Korean initiative. Concerned about a perceived lack of U.S. support for reconciliation between North and South, they have interjected themselves into the Korean dialogue. Their first foray has paid off: North...
JAPAN
May 5, 2001

Aging U.S. POWs still await slave labor redress

OSAKA -- For 56 years, Ben Comstock, 82, an American captured by Japanese forces on Wake Island in December 1941, has been waiting.
JAPAN
May 4, 2001

Internet signals making waves with radio astronomy project

The growing number of Internet service providers using fixed wireless access technology is posing a problem for radio astronomers in Japan because the transmissions are threatening a project to explore the outer reaches of space.
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2001

BJP's bond with nationalists quietly eases

NEW DELHI -- India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now begun to play a tune which is embarrassingly jarring to its much-touted Hindutva ("Hinduness") policy.
JAPAN
May 4, 2001

Constitution turns 54 as battle lines drawn up for and against reform

Groups for and against revision of the Constitution held rallies in Tokyo on Thursday to mark the 54th anniversary of the supreme law amid increasing calls for its revision from political leaders, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
JAPAN
May 4, 2001

Humanitarian groups yet to hit their stride

Staff Writer When the Diet was immersed in heated debate in 1992 over whether to send Self-Defense Forces troops to Cambodia for U.N. peacekeeping operations, Toshihiro Shimizu thought that something very important was missing from the discussions.
JAPAN
May 2, 2001

Koseki admits embezzlement, breach of trust as KSD chief

Tadao Koseki, former president of mutual aid foundation KSD, pleaded guilty Tuesday to embezzling about 81 million yen from the organization and to breach of trust that caused it to incur losses of 168 million yen.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2001

A new generation in Hanoi

By all appearances, Vietnam has concluded its Ninth Party Congress with a ringing endorsement of reform. The decision to remove Mr. Le Kha Phieu as Communist Party secretary general and replace him with Mr. Nong Duc Manh is a clear sign of growing impatience with old-style ideologues. Mr. Manh is the...
BUSINESS
May 1, 2001

Major retailers strive to form new identity

One of the most popular areas on the food floor at Isetan's Tachikawa branch offers not groceries, but quick recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
May 1, 2001

Moriyama eyes judicial reform, backs death penalty

It is important to carry out judicial reforms in order to ensure that the public has better access to legal services, according to newly appointed Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama.
JAPAN
May 1, 2001

OECD environment strategy faces hurdles

In its first environmental strategy to be adopted later this month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is expected to embrace a five-point plan calling for members to slash subsidies that hurt the environment and introduce incentives to stem environmental damage.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2001

Katayama against privatizing posts, favors stronger NTT

Junichiro Koizumi's inauguration as prime minister might have lifted the hopes of those who seek the privatization of the nation's postal services.
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2001

Monetary policies may collide as globalized economy emerges

As the globalization of the world's economies goes on, it will become natural for the monetary policies of one major country to affect the policies of others. After all, money flows across national borders.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2001

Myanmar solutions require three-way talks

Myanmar's junta, the State Peace and Development Council, is engaged in secret reconciliation talks with democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi. For now, exiled dissidents and ethnic opponents of the junta watch cautiously from the sidelines. Any solution to Myanmar's problems, though, will have to consider...

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