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JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

Foreigner fingerprinting to end

The government plans to stop its discriminatory treatment of foreigners who refused to be fingerprinted for residency registration when it ends fingerprinting for all aliens next month, Justice Ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

Asthma-triggering substance discovered

A substance that triggers asthma in laboratory mice has been discovered by a group of Japanese researchers, according to an article published Friday in the U.S. journal Science. The substance, prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), brought on asthma by transmitting signals to cells in the lungs and other airways in...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2000

A new era of democracy in Taiwan

TAIPEI -- On Saturday, the Republic of China will hold its second direct election for the presidency and the vice presidency. Throughout Chinese history, the concept of popular sovereignty has never been so strong as it is now. Therefore, this election will surely demonstrate to the international community...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2000

Clinton comes to India, though somewhat too late

NEW DELHI -- U.S. President Bill Clinton arrives in India on Sunday, the region that he recently termed the most dangerous place on Earth. There may be an element of truth in that.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

Reformer calls for overhaul of scandal-hit police system

The scandal-tainted police system must be overhauled, believes Kohei Nakabo, a lawyer who has just been appointed to a new government panel established to advise on police reform.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2000

Sliding market belies budding recovery

As far as the Tokyo stock market is concerned, things have gone steadily downhill since early this month.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

Niigata police reopen case of man missing for 26 years

Police have resumed their investigation into the disappearance of a man in Niigata Prefecture 26 years ago, after the family of a girl believed to have been abducted by North Korean agents said that he too may have been abducted, police sources said Thursday. Investigators have reopened the case on Takashi...
CULTURE / Music
Mar 17, 2000

Catching up with pop auteur Shuntaro Okino

Pastoral retreats generally do not seem conducive to the production of great pop music. Even the Band's extended stays in Woodstock were more about bacchanalian revelry than quiet contemplation. Sensuous hooks and driving beats seem to relate more to the rough and tumble urban world than to any serene...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

U.S. to give back Kadena base radar

Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and Japanese leaders agreed Thursday on the return of control of the radar system at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture to Japan and to resolve an air pollution problem at a U.S. military base in Kanagawa Prefecture, according to Japanese officials.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2000

Opening of insurance market on target for 2001 schedule

Japan will open up a segment of its insurance market to Japanese firms in January 2001 as planned, government officials reaffirmed Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2000

Bill to protect investors wins approval of LDP

The Finance Ministry on Thursday presented the ruling Liberal Democratic Party with a draft bill designed to protect investors in financial products, LDP officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

Mom guilty of failing to save son's life

In a reversal of a previous court decision, a 29-year-old woman was given a suspended prison term Thursday for failing to stop her former husband from being so violent to her three-year-old son that it eventually resulted in the boy's death. The Sapporo High Court reversed the decision by the Sapporo...
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2000

Fueling Angola's war machine

Angola's savage civil war has lasted for a quarter of a century, has claimed 1 million lives (almost 10 percent of the population) and forced many more from their homes. International arbitration has yielded truces and peace agreements, but each has collapsed and the fighting resumed. The United Nations...
SUMO
Mar 16, 2000

Musoyama topples Akebono

OSAKA -- Sekiwake Musoyama looked every inch ozeki material Wednesday as he demolished grand champion Akebono in a clash of unbeaten wrestlers on Day 4 of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2000

SESC calls for brokerage to be punished for fraud

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended Wednesday that financial regulators punish Minami Securities Co. for fraudulently selling corporate bonds, commission officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Talks on modified foods move to working groups

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- Participants at a meeting to establish international standards for genetically modified foods decided Wednesday to move their discussions to working groups.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Foreign draftees may receive payout

A Liberal Democratic Party panel has drawn up a plan to provide 3 million yen per person for Koreans and Taiwanese living in Japan who were drafted by the Imperial Japanese Army and disabled by war injuries, panel officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Olympic gold medalist to aid education reform

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi will appoint Olympic gold medalist Yasuhiro Yamashita and 25 others to his advisory panel on education reform to be launched this month, Obuchi's adviser on education issues said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

British nuclear activist fights for disarmament

A 48-year-old British antinuclear activist proved that direct action by citizens can contribute to global disarmament and even prevent potential mass murder when, in a landmark ruling, she was acquitted for vandalizing a British warplane and a nuclear submarine research facility.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Osaka convention center ready to open

The long-awaited Osaka International Convention Center has now been completed in the Kansai capital's Nakanoshima area and will open April 1.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Zhu Rongji to visit Japan but China won't attend G8

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji announced Wednesday he will visit Japan this year but that China will not participate in the July Group of Eight major nations summit in Okinawa. "Chinese-Japanese relations are developing very well at present," Zhu said at a Beijing press conference, adding that he personally...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Japan, Brazil tie up on aid to developing world

Japan and Brazil have agreed on a "partnership program" for bilateral cooperation in providing technical assistance for developing countries, government sources said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2000

Inflation scare won't loosen purse strings

Most of Japan's modern economic history consists of a long series of achievements pronounced impossible by the outside world. Japan was building the foundations of world-beating steel and electronics industries while Occupation officials urged that scarce resources be devoted to "suitable" exports such...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Election reform bill to go to Diet

The six major political parties agreed Wednesday to submit a bill to reform the nation's electoral system to the Diet as early as next week, laying the groundwork for the next general election, which must be held by the autumn.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2000

IMF calls for more restructuring

Japan needs to continue banking reform and corporate restructuring to achieve sustained economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund said in a report released Tuesday. The report, titled "Post-Bubble Blues," describes how Japan responded to various problems that arose after the easy-money, speculation-driven...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Central Asian states to meet in Sapporo

Ministerial-level officials from five former Soviet republics in Central Asia will meet in Sapporo, probably early next month, for what Japan hopes will be the last round of negotiations on a treaty creating a nuclear weapons-free zone in the region.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2000

Japan Telecom picks Nokia

Japan Telecom has chosen Nokia as a business partner for developing its third-generation mobile network. The agreement allows Nokia to move into the Japanese mobile Internet market, the most advanced in the world for next-generation mobile communications.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Miyazawa miffed Japan ignored in IMF decision

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Wednesday indirectly criticized the United States and European countries for taking it for granted that the managing director of the International Monetary Fund must be a European.
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2000

Spain's right on a roll

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar stunned observers with a landslide win in parliamentary elections held last weekend. The Popular Party victory marks the first time since the death of Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975 that the left has not had a majority in the Spanish Parliament. The outcome is a...
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 16, 2000

Japan sparkles in draw

KOBE -- He couldn't bring back the goals that Japan's senior soccer team has struggled to score in the past few years, but in Wednesday night's 0-0 draw with China, manager Philippe Troussier did bring back some credibility to the much maligned "A" team; he also brought back some excitement; and he even...

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