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JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

Dioxin study predictable but surprising

In the first national study of dioxin levels in multiple mediums, the Environment Agency found generally average contamination levels, but also a few surprises, the agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

Toyota unveils remodeled Crown series

In an attempt to stimulate the market for large passenger cars, Toyota Motor Corp. on Friday launched a fully remodeled lineup of its flagship luxury sedan, the Crown.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

Yugoslavian ambassador slams NATO

Yugoslav Ambassador Radoslav Bulajic said Friday that the 79-day NATO bombing campaign against his country was a serious crime against the civilian population, international law, peace and humanity.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

Finance officials, entrepreneurs hit it off in rare meeting

It could have been an odd combination: Financial Ministry officials -- who are often criticized for mismanaged economic policy -- and the nation's leading entrepreneurs like Softbank Corp.'s Masayoshi Son -- who don't want government intervention.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

PC giants to merge monitor operations

In a move to compete against Taiwanese and South Korean rivals, NEC Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. will merge their domestic and overseas computer monitor operations next January, officials of the two firms announced Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

DPJ threesome give final pitches

The three candidates for the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election made their final appeals to the public Friday in Tokyo, concluding 14 days of stumping that took them through 14 cities across the country.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

More bumps ahead on road to new coalition

Following Tuesday's re-election of Keizo Obuchi as Liberal Democratic Party president, the secretaries general of three would-be political allies met for the first time Friday to launch full-scale talks toward forming a tripartite coalition.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

MOX ships may dock next week

International Greenpeace activists and local antinuclear groups said Friday that two British ships carrying mixed uranium-plutonium fuel for nuclear power plants would likely dock at their offloading points on Sept. 27 and Sept. 30.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

Typhoon season rattles Chubu

For many residents of the Chubu region, the typhoon season brings with it a sense of trepidation.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 24, 1999

Ellington's 100th birthday feted with Japan premiere

Numerous jazz concerts have been offered this year to celebrate the 100th year since the birth of Duke Ellington, but trumpeter Mike Price says they've got the focus all wrong.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

Lawyer, professor accuse police of coercion

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

Pyongyang thaw tied to missile freeze

Japan is ready to lift sanctions against North Korea once Pyongyang clarifies its moratorium on missile tests, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi reiterated Friday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 1999

No mandate for Mr. Obuchi

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi has been re-elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party by warding off the challenge from former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato and former LDP policy chief Taku Yamasaki. Many LDP Diet members have been quick to see his impressive victory as a vote of confidence...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 1999

Man held in theft of 3.5 million yen

Tokyo police on Thursday arrested a 36-year-old man for allegedly using a stolen bank card to withdraw around 3.5 million yen from a stranger's savings account.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 1999

Typhoon No. 18 bears down on Kyushu

A large and strong typhoon was heading north by northeast Thursday in waters south of Kyushu and may approach the northern part of the island by morning, according to the Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 1999

Will G7 nations agree to rein in yen?

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami will attend a meeting Saturday of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Washington, at a time when policy coordination over the yen's rapid rise against the dollar is being closely watched.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 1999

Newborn abandoned in church lot

OSAKA -- A newborn baby was found abandoned in a church parking lot in Osaka early Thursday, local police said.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Sep 23, 1999

Chill out with the right white

With Japan's summer still parching throats as it turns its muggy-hot head toward autumn, let's turn our thoughts, and our thirsts, to wines for refreshment as the heat lingers on.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 1999

Translator bridges Japan-Spain gap

SEVILLE, Spain -- Seville in the summer is so hot, they say, that even the dogs don't go outside. The athletes didn't at the recent World Championships, at least from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The white walls of the city reflect the southern Spanish sun down the narrow corridors that resemble wintry Alpine passes...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 1999

'Tako-yaki' tentacles grip Kanto region

OSAKA -- "Tako-yaki," the dumplings with octopus chunks that many people consider a traditional Kansai treat, are gaining popularity in other parts of the country, including the Kanto region, according to Osaka-based Zojirushi Corp.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 23, 1999

Kinoji: A sanctuary of simple elegance

Kinoji lies well off the beaten track, on an unremarkable stretch of a nondescript avenue. But that only makes it easier to spot the bold, contemporary lines of the five-story architects' building, in which Kinoji occupies the basement level.
COMMUNITY
Sep 23, 1999

Tenure in bronze for Todai's foreign professors

The number of outdoor statues of foreigners (five) on the campus of the University of Tokyo might seem unusually high for a Japanese institution.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 23, 1999

Osaka still has reasons to be proud of its brewing culture

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CULTURE / Stage
Sep 23, 1999

Through the lens of kyogen

Mansai Nomura gave his first kyogen performance at age 4, appeared in Akira Kurosawa's "Ran" at age 17 and began lecturing in aesthetics at Tokyo University when he was 25. No wonder he hadn't much time for my tardiness.
COMMUNITY
Sep 23, 1999

A woman on the narrow road

One might not imagine that Lesley Downer -- author of books on Basho's travels, Japan's richest family and now geisha -- started out in the culinary arena.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 1999

Australia's belated epiphany

SYDNEY -- As an Australian-led multinational rescue mission landed at burned-out Dili on Monday, a shocked nation is asking: How could Indonesia have permitted such horror? And could we have done more to prevent this Asian holocaust?
JAPAN
Sep 22, 1999

Ex-pop idol, manager admit to drug use

A former member and the ex-manager of the popular rock group Four Leaves admitted Wednesday at their first Tokyo District Court hearing that they took illegal stimulant drugs.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 1999

Nonaka says he won't join the next Cabinet

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka on Wednesday told Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi that he intends to resign when the new Cabinet is formed.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 1999

High waves hamper MOX fuel delivery

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 22, 1999

Obuchi talks of a mandate for coalition

One day after winning re-election in a sweeping victory as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said he is confident that his plan to form a new tripartite coalition with the Liberal Party and New Komeito has been endorsed by his party colleagues.

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