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JAPAN
Mar 22, 2000

Chinese naval ships on rise near Japan

The number of Chinese naval vessels found in Japan's exclusive economic waters increased sharply this fiscal year, the Maritime Self-Defense Force announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2000

Okamoto freed from prison: lawyer

Japanese Red Army member Kozo Okamoto, who received political asylum from Lebanon on Friday, left a Lebanese prison Monday night, one of his lawyers said Tuesday. But Lebanese authorities have not confirmed whether Okamoto, 52, has actually been released from Beirut's Roumyieh prison.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 22, 2000

Oberland -- garden of springtime delights

In the western part of Hyogo Prefecture, nestled among broadleaf deciduous forests at the foot of Mount Hyo-no-sen (1,510 meters), lies Oberland Garden (also known as Tajima Kogen Botanical Garden). First opened to the public in June 1997, Oberland has a total area of 17 hectares, and boasts over 1,300...
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2000

Minami Securities declared bankrupt by Tokyo court

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday declared Minami Securities Co. bankrupt and issued a formal order barring creditors of the small brokerage from seizing its assets.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2000

Clinton's opportunities in South Asia

ISLAMABAD -- U.S. President Bill Clinton will travel to Pakistan on March 25, on the last leg of his South Asian journey, which began last Sunday. But the few hours he plans to spend in Islamabad may represent more than just a passing phase in Washington's new diplomacy in South Asia.
SUMO
Mar 22, 2000

Takatoriki increases lead in Osaka basho

Ozeki Takanonami snapped out of his funk Tuesday to defeat yokozuna Musashimaru and give stablemate and unbeaten leader Takatoriki some extra daylight at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament. Musashimaru, who came into the day's final bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium with an 8-1 record, lost the initiative...
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2000

Toyota holding company set for June

Toyota Motor Corp. will establish a holding company in June under which affiliated financial companies will offer a wide range of financial services, company officials said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2000

China faces democracy bug

LONDON -- Taiwan's transition to democracy is complete. On Saturday, after half a century of rule by the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), the offshore island's 15 million voters elected a president from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, Chen Shui-bian. "I feel very, very badly about this,"...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 22, 2000

Chinois chic in Tokyo's 'experimental' cyber cafe

Can't be bothered with waitresses? Not in the mood for a menu? Just want to grab a hot beverage and snack, plug in and kick back?
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2000

Palm pilots into Japanese market

The head of a new Japanese subsidiary of California-based Palm Inc. sees Japan as a potentially lucrative market for its hand-held computers.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 22, 2000

Dejima getting back into shape

First-time visitors to Dejima, Nagasaki's historic artificial island, are usually puzzled on arrival. Looking around for water, they find only a kitsch scale model of the island and several oldish buildings. Although Dejima's front sea wall looks authentic enough, landfills have gradually enclosed the...
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 22, 2000

NTT then and now

Last week's column dealt with NHK's fees and why we should pay them. Similarly, there are complaints from readers about paying the initial 72,000 yen plus 2,184 yen consumption tax and 800 yen contract charge to NTT for the standard telephone installation fee. None of this amount is refundable although...
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2000

Leprosy victims demand compensation for injustices

For the past 60 years, 76-year-old Koji Suzuki's life has been contained within a sanitarium for sufferers of leprosy in Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 22, 2000

Won't be fooled again

When asked about the dot-com economy, Tim Dyson was succinct and acid -- almost contemptuous. "There's only one metric," he said. "Stock price."
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2000

Nursing-care plan to get simplified start

The new state-run, nursing-care insurance system for the elderly that takes effect April 1 will begin with simplified "care plans" because the full-fledged programs are not ready, Health and Welfare Ministry officials said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2000

Fighting for the global commons

Protecting the environment is always a popular issue -- until hard choices have to be made. There has been a series of international conferences on the issue, but they have yielded little real progress. In Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and in Kyoto in 1997, attempts to set international standards for environmental...
SUMO
Mar 21, 2000

Taka rebounds to beat Musoyama; Takatoriki stays perfect in Osaka

OSAKA -- Yokozuna Takanohana returned to form Monday with an impressive victory over Musoyama, while rank-and-file grappler Takatoriki remained unbeaten on the ninth day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2000

Myanmar's SPDC signals economic, not political, reforms

Myanmar's military regime is stubborn as a mule. It continues to ignore loud calls from much of the international community to democratize and protect human rights.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2000

Central government officials occupying local posts

At least 742 bureaucrats on loan from central government institutions occupied senior posts in local governments as of Jan. 1, according to ministry and agency reports compiled by Kyodo News on Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2000

Long road back from mind control

Akira Sawaki was just another high school student when he joined Aum Shinrikyo in the winter of 1991, believing the world was full of corruption and wanting to be the one to change it.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 21, 2000

Jo sidelined for season

The injury to striker Shoji Jo has proved much more serious than initially thought, forcing the Valladolid and Japan striker to be sidelined for the rest of the season, the Spanish first division club said Monday. Doctors who examined Jo with magnetic resonance imaging tests on Sunday and Monday said...
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2000

'What ifs' haunt families of Aum's sarin victims

Even five years after the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways, many questions remain.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2000

Troubled Toshiba to keep president

Toshiba Corp. President Taizo Nishimuro will likely remain in the top post even though the firm is expected to post losses for a second consecutive business year, informed sources said.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2000

Power industry to get a jolt of competition

Competition emerging from ongoing market reforms ranging from the financial "Big Bang" to telecommunications deregulation is taking many of Japan's industrial dinosaurs to the verge of extinction.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2000

Snazz sizzles at the heart of underground

This is my first time in Ogikubo, a hole just left of the heart of Tokyo, and hopefully my last. There is nothing here but grayness and cold. I see no beer, hear no talk of beer and, worst of all, taste no beer!
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2000

Tokyo, Seoul agree on education deal

Japan and South Korea agreed Monday to launch a joint educational program in fiscal 2000, under which up to 1,000 South Koreans will study at Japanese state-run universities every year by fiscal 2010. A joint statement issued by Education Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and South Korean Education Minister...
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2000

Staff office softened colonel's punishment

The Ground Self-Defense Force Ground Staff Office helped reduce the punishment for a colonel arrested last Monday for allowing his civilian friends to fire a gun during a 1994 drill, sources at the Defense Agency said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2000

Chubu Electric wants money back

Chubu Electric Power Co. is asking fishery cooperatives in Mie Prefecture to return 1.5 billion yen that it paid them in 1994 for their cooperation in winning support for a nuclear power plant. The project was shelved due to local opposition.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2000

Hitachi to open showroom for public e-service demos

Hitachi Ltd. will open a showroom in central Tokyo on March 30 to let people experience its system for getting online services from public offices that the government plans to launch in the next few years, company sources said Monday.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 21, 2000

Mercy, sorrow and sacrifice in spring Kabukiza program

The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo has been celebrating the advent of spring this month with attractive afternoon and evening programs, featuring Danjuro Ichikawa, Koshiro Matsumoto and Kikugoro Onoe in title roles, and leading senior actors such as Uzaemon Ichimura, Tomijuro Nakamura and onnagata veteran...

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