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JAPAN
Aug 23, 1999

Ministry applauds tribank megamerger

The Finance Ministry applauds a plan by Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan to form a full-scale alliance, Vice Finance Minister Nobuaki Usui said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 1999

LDP factions form Obuchi HQ

Representatives from five Liberal Democratic Party factions agreed Monday to form a joint election campaign headquarters to support re-election of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi as party president, faction officials said.
EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 1999

A super-bank in the making

A "super-bank" will soon be born in Japan. If everything goes according to plan, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan will combine to create a gigantic financial group with assets that will eclipse all other banking institutions in the world. The fact that the three banks...
COMMENTARY
Aug 21, 1999

Mr. Robertson's agenda

LONDON -- The appointment of George Robertson, formerly the British secretary of state for defense, as secretary general of NATO has rekindled discussion on a number of important defense issues facing Europe. Robertson should be able to influence the outcome, but decisions will largely rest with the...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 1999

South Asia's dwindling hopes for peace

ISLAMABAD -- Weeks of lingering hopes for a limited improvement in relations between South Asia's two large nuclear-armed neighbors, India and Pakistan, were shattered in less than two minutes when an Indian fighter jet shot down a Pakistani naval patrol aircraft.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 1999

No mystery to doing business in China

It seems that many so-called China experts try to enhance the value of their services by attributing a certain amount of "inscrutability" to the Chinese that only they can decipher. Besides being a patently offensive assertion, this is also grossly misleading.
CULTURE / Art / ARTS AND ARTISANS
Aug 21, 1999

Fanning the flame for sensu

When you open up a sensu (folding fan), or ogi as they are also known, a unique little world opens up in front of you.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 1999

'20th-century American Prints' complement permanent collection

The Kawamura Museum opened in 1990 to house and exhibit works of art from the collection of Dainippon Ink and Chemicals. The permanent collection is a varied one, containing many fine examples from different periods of Western and Japanese art. Included among the major works are pieces by Rembrandt,...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Aug 21, 1999

Cool sounds for a hot season at Japanese music recitals

Summertime is usually a slow time for hogaku performances. In the old days, the halls weren't air-conditioned, and neither the performers nor the audience cared to sit for hours in the heat. The serious hogaku performance season and music festivals began in the autumn months, along with the cool breezes...
EDITORIALS
Aug 20, 1999

Ethics drive is losing steam

The Diet earlier this month approved an ethics-in-government bill, more than a year after it was introduced under the initiative of former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. The way in which is was handled, however, indicates that the political drive to stamp out corruption has lost steam.
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 1999

A season for political typhoons

The Japanese political world entered a summer recess when the extended ordinary Diet session closed Aug. 13. The session, convoked in January and extended in June for 57 days, passed a series of important bills, thanks to a legislative tieup among the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 1999

Officials hard-pressed for river disaster solutions

Local government authorities have not found any solution to prevent accidents similar to the one that took place a week ago when 18 campers on the Kurokura River were swept away in the town of Yamakita, Kanagawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 1999

Demo flights to boast Y2K safety

The country's three major airlines will jointly conduct demonstration flights next month to show that airplanes will not be threatened by the Year 2000 computer problem, industry sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 1999

Will wiretap law catch mob off guard?

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 20, 1999

LDP, New Komeito plan policy accord by September

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito agreed Friday to form a basic agreement on five key policy areas by the end of the month, taking another step toward a tripartite alliance, officials of the two parties said.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 20, 1999

Plotting the return of a '70s icon

Prodigy's Keith Flint declared himself a big fan. Gary Barlow says, "he was my reason for getting into the business. The man is a God." Britain's most infamous tabloid, The Sun, chimes in with, "The legend is reinstated for a whole new generation."
JAPAN
Aug 20, 1999

New British envoy urges more market restructuring

New British ambassador to Japan Stephen Gomersall suggested Friday that Japan could learn from wide-scale restructuring measures Britain implemented in the 1980s, and also called for further deregulation of Japan's markets.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Aug 20, 1999

Meanies: '10% weird,' 90 percent addictive

There are certain shambolic punk rock moments, usually involving beer or hard spirits, when an otherwise imbecilic song becomes an anthem. In a drunken haze, the driving force of the Buzzcocks' "Orgasm Addict," G.G. Allin's "Expose Yourself to Kids" or anything by the Ramones rises to the level of "The...
JAPAN
Aug 19, 1999

Sumitomo Metal may spin off iron plants

In a move to accelerate its restructuring efforts, Sumitomo Metal Industries is considering spinning off two of its iron manufacturing plants into separate companies, company sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 1999

DKB, Fuji, IBJ plan to create world's biggest bank

Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan on Thursday acknowledged they are talking about forming an alliance to create the world's largest banking group in terms of assets.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 1999

Tokyo to host U.N. regional hearing

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 19, 1999

Nippon Life feeling assured of 401(k) role for small firms

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 19, 1999

Exec leaves 10 billion yen inheritance

Takashi Fukuda, former chairman of Fukuda Electronics Co., who died last August at 81, left some 10.6 billion yen taxable inheritance, Tokyo tax officials revealed Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 1999

Kobe seabed survey begins amid airport protests

KOBE -- City officials Thursday began surveying the sea bottom off Port Island to prepare for construction of Kobe airport, scheduled to begin in mid-September, while airport opponents continued to call on the mayor to stop the project.
EDITORIALS
Aug 18, 1999

All eyes on Mr. Bush

The Republican campaign for the U.S. presidential elections has drawn its first blood. A mere 15 months ahead of the actual ballot, the party hopefuls descended upon Ames, Iowa, to participate in an unofficial straw poll that has no standing in the nomination process, which begins next February. Originally,...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Aug 18, 1999

Faster, faster, faster

The vast majority of people access the Internet through a telephone modem. Plug it in, turn on your machine and ... wait. And wait. And wait a little more. First, there is the search for the modem, then the connection, then the handshaking. Once you're online, you wait for the software to load, the right...
JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Transport plans 'green tax' as bait for cleaner cars

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Alleged gang-rapists put on probation

The Tokyo Family Court has decided to place four former students of Keio University's department of medicine arrested on rape charges under probation, it was learned Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Prof gives shtick a shot to loosen up academia stodge

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Obuchi, Kato open campaign offices for LDP race

Liberal Democratic Party factions led by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and former party Secretary General Koichi Kato separately opened election campaign headquarters in Tokyo Wednesday for next month's party presidential race.

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