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JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Justice Ministry confirms two death-row executions

Two death-row inmates, including one who was seeking a retrial, were executed Friday morning, the Justice Ministry said The ministry, as usual in such cases, did not release the names in its brief press release, but judiciary sources identified the two as Teruo Ono, 62, and Kazuo Sagawa, 48. The two...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Art group attempts to heal those ravaged by war

Staff writer In these days of "Pokemon" mania, who wouldn't want a personal note from Pikachu? Hector Sierra, 34, a fine arts doctoral student from Colombia, might not seem like the most likely recipient. But the filmmaker and NGO coordinator was as tickled as any kid. Arriving days before Sierra was...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Kepco may cut off MOX supplier

Staff writer OSAKA -- Kansai Electric Power Co. said Friday that it may end its relationship with the British company that manufactures mixed plutonium-uranium fuel (MOX) following revelations the firm falsified data for a batch of it due to have been burned early next year in Kepco's No. 4 reactor in...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Ministry to hike allowance to care for seniors, kids

The Labor Ministry plans to raise government allowances for workers who take time off work to care for infants and ailing family members, officials said. The allowances for both child- and nursing-care leave will be raised from the current 25 percent of a worker's wage to 40 percent, the officials said....
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Donors pledge total of $522 million to East Timor

Aid donors for East Timor concluded a two-day fundraising gathering Friday in Tokyo, pledging a total of $522 million in a three-year package to help advance the territory's transition to independence. The meeting, the first of its kind since East Timor rejected Indonesian rule in a September referendum,...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Netherlands to mark 400 years with Japan

When the world ushers in the last year of the millennium on Jan. 1, the Netherlands and Japan will be celebrating another historic landmark. 2000 marks 400 years since the Dutch trading ship Liefde landed on the shores of Oita Prefecture. To mark the occasion, more than 400 events will be held in Japan...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

100 billion yen base carrot waved at north Okinawa

Tokyo is ready to disburse 100 billion yen over the coming 10 years to boost the economy of northern Okinawa if the area accepts a new airport for the U.S. Marine Corps, the central government told Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine on Friday. For a start, the central government would allocate 10 billion yen...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Prosecutors seek death penalty for cultist in lawyer's slaying

Prosecutors demanded the death penalty Friday for Aum Shinrikyo figure Kiyohide Hayakawa over his alleged role in the November 1989 slaying of a Yokohama lawyer, the attorney's wife and their baby son. Hayakawa, 50, once one of Aum founder Shoko Asahara's closest aides, has also been charged with other...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 1999

Legendary Ray Charles shines and polishes his musical gems

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CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 1999

Flaming Lips dampen the fire with absurdity

Though it's sad that major labels no longer have the patience to actively develop deserving artists, they at least know who's good and seem willing to allow musicians with something interesting to say to say it. How else do you explain the career of the Flaming Lips?
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Obuchi hints budget before snap elections

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Friday hinted he does not intend to dissolve the Lower House and call general elections until the budget for the next fiscal year passes the Diet in late March. His comment came amid lingering speculation about the timing for the elections, including early January, when...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

Japan to host people-smuggling symposium

Japan will host the first international symposium exclusively focusing on ways to combat the increasingly serious problem of human smuggling in the Asia-Pacific region in mid-January, Foreign Ministry officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

Tokyo, Seoul agree to improve mutual investment

In a further step toward the conclusion next year of a bilateral investment pact, Japan and South Korea agreed in Tokyo on Thursday to expedite joint efforts to improve investment between the two countries. The agreement was made at the second round of talks of the bilateral government and private-sector...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

Crime on the rise; arrests on the wane

Police are making fewer arrests while the number of serious crimes are on the increase, a survey released Thursday by the National Police Agency shows. According to the survey, arrests for such crimes as murder, robbery, and indecent assault -- those classified by police as "serious crimes" -- decreased...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

LTCB sues former execs for 6.3 billion yen in damages

The Long-term Credit Bank of Japan decided Thursday to sue 15 former bank executives, demanding 6.3 billion yen in damages for massive losses they allegedly caused the bank, LTCB officials said. Based on a decision reached at a board meeting Thursday morning, the bank, currently under state control,...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

New subway line to be named Oedo

Tokyo's No. 12 subway line will be named the Oedo Line, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Transportation said, dumping a misnomer selected last month amid much fanfare. The previously selected name -- Tokyo Kanjo (Loop) Line -- doesn't make any sense, said Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara on...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

Tokyo, Pyongyang to meet in China for normalization talks

Japan and North Korea will hold a series of meetings from Sunday to Tuesday in Beijing in an effort to resolve long-standing humanitarian concerns and resume talks for normalizing diplomatic relations, the government announced Thursday. A meeting between the two countries' Red Cross societies is scheduled...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

Push vowed to pass seat-cut bill next session

The government will do its utmost to pass the controversial bill for reducing Lower House seats during the upcoming ordinary Diet session, Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said Thursday.Aoki's remarks followed the renewal of an agreement reached Wednesday night between the Liberal Democratic Party...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

DDI, KDD and IDO merge against NTT

DDI Corp., KDD Corp. and IDO Corp. have agreed to form a three-way merger in October in an effort to create a comprehensive telecom carrier that can compete with the dominant NTT group, top officials of the three carriers announced Thursday. The merger will combine the corporate resources of the three...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

Syllabus for English classes under fire

MITO, Ibaraki Pref. -- The future of English education in Japan was the subject of a heated debate earlier this month as four panelists gathered at Mito College to trade their views. Panel coordinator Yukiko Amakawa, associate professor of Mito College, was joined by Gregory Clark, president of Tama...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

Education panel OKs performance-based pay

The education committee of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Thursday approved a plan that will lead to the city's public school teachers being paid according to performance, rather than experience. The scheme, to go into effect with the start of the school year in April, aims to boost teaching quality...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 1999

GE takes Toho Mutual contracts on conditions

GE Capital Edison Life Insurance Co. has agreed to take over contracts left by the failed Toho Mutual Life Insurance Co. provided that an insurance industry group shoulder 340 billion yen of expected losses, industry sources said Thursday. The Life Insurance Association of Japan and GE Capital Edison...
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1999

Regional Special: Chubu

Regional Special: Chubu>Sekigahara to mark 400th anniversary of epic battle> Staff writer SEKIGAHARA, Gifu Pref. -- For most of the world, next year is a celebration of the new millennium. For Japan, it is also the 400th anniversary of the Battle of Sekigahara -- perhaps the most famous internal battle...
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1999

Japan to send yen loans for Swaziland road

Staff writer Japan for the first time will provide official yen loans to Swaziland, a landlocked country surrounded by Mozambique to the north and South Africa to the south, government sources said Wednesday. The loans will finance a road project that will eventually link the southern African country...
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1999

Merger with Liberals an option, Obuchi says

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Wednesday acknowledged that a merger between his Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party is a possibility. "It is a fact that some members of the two parties are seeking the merger, saying that the policies of the parties are not so different," Obuchi said. "I appreciate...
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1999

Liberal Party left in limbo after abandonment of bill

Liberal Party members failed to reach a consensus over whether to leave the ruling triumvirate Wednesday night, leaving the future course of the little conservative party still unclear. Debate on the Liberal Party's future has heated up since Tuesday night, when it became clear that a bill to reduce...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Dec 15, 1999

Follow the money

Japan's back. After nearly a decade of economic stagnation, this country is getting its act together.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1999

106,000 police scheduled for New Year's Eve

A total of 106,000 police officers nationwide will be on duty overnight from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1 to deal with any possible problems at the turn of the millennium, the National Police Agency said Wednesday. The total is 2 1/2 times more than the usual 40,000 officers on overnight duty. A total of 105,000...
JAPAN
Dec 15, 1999

Fields takes helm of Mazda

Mazda Motor Corp. announced Wednesday that President James E. Miller has been replaced by his 38-year-old deputy, Mark Fields. Fields, who became vice president only two weeks ago, has stepped up to the top post as the youngest to do so in the firm's history. Miller, 58, resigned from the presidency...
EDITORIALS
Dec 14, 1999

'Get out or die'

Russia has always talked tough. Last week, the world got a double dose of invective, however. First, residents of the Chechen capital of Grozny were told to "get out or die" before the Russian military launched an assault. A few days later, Russian President Boris Yeltsin expressed his displeasure with...

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals