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JAPAN
May 28, 1999

Panel ponders ways to reverse falling birthrate

Amid the declining birthrate, the government held its first meeting Friday of Cabinet ministers to discuss ways to encourage young couples to have more children.
JAPAN
May 28, 1999

Lower House panel passes wiretap bills, snubs opposition

The Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee ignored an opposition boycott and approved a package of controversial bills Friday evening that would allow law enforcement authorities to wiretap private communications during investigations into organized crime.
JAPAN
May 28, 1999

Industrial output drops after '98 book-closings

Japan's industrial production dropped a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent in April from the previous month, marking the first decline in three months, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report released Friday.
EDITORIALS
May 27, 1999

Tiny, but deadly killers

A silent killer has been stalking Malaysia. Since October, over 250 people have been sickened and over 100 have died as a result of a mysterious viral infection. Despite intensive government measures to combat the outbreak, it continues to baffle health investigators. There is uncertainty about the virus'...
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Killer-rapist gets life term for revenge murder

A 57-year-old convicted murderer and rapist was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for exacting revenge -- just two months after getting out of prison -- by killing the woman he had raped seven years earlier.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Hitachi posts first consolidated loss

The unfavorable semiconductor business and restructuring expenses forced Hitachi Ltd. into the red in the business year that ended March 31, with a consolidated net loss of 338.8 billion yen,the firm announced on Thursday.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Labor minister urges restraint in payroll cuts

Labor Minister Akira Amari urged industrial sector leaders Thursday to refrain from payroll cuts, pointing to bleak prospects for the nation's job situation.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

RCC plans to purchase bad loans in June

The Resolution and Collection Corp. hopes to start buying bad loans from healthy banks in late June or July, its president said Thursday.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Matsushita looking to fund breakthroughs

OSAKA-- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. will set aside some 500 million yen annually to nurture extremely promising research ideas that have yet to embark on the path to realization, a company official said Thursday.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Diving air fares pull ANA into net loss

All Nippon Airways posted 6.6 billion yen in net losses in the business year that ended March 31 on 903 billion yen in sales, down 0.8 percent from the previous year, carrier officials reported Thursday.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

LDP envisions more jobs via public-private cooperation

A Liberal Democratic Party task force on Thursday drafted a set of measures to create new jobs by implementing public works projects and utilizing nonprofit organizations, party sources said.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Automakers' profits sink in domestic slump

The economic slump continued to plague the nation's five major automakers in fiscal 1998, forcing some to accelerate restructuring efforts, according to their annual earnings reports released as of Thursday.
COMMUNITY
May 27, 1999

Tokyo market's quiet riot of color

Beneath cascades of purple orchids, ferns uncoil like emerald snakes. Tokyo's wholesale flower market is a quiet riot of color.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Impromptu wiretap talks spark opposition boycott

With no opposition party members present, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and two other political groups on Thursday began discussing a package of revised bills to allow law enforcement officials the use of wiretaps during organized crime investigations.
LIFE / Travel
May 27, 1999

Up, up and away in clear Saipan

A Japan Airlines Boeing 747 passed in front of me as I was taxiing to the runway in my rented Cessna 172. "Saipan Tower. 230. Request takeoff clearance," I said, trying to sound as if I had been doing this all my life.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 27, 1999

High adventure

Have you decided where you are going to spend New Year's Eve? It should be someplace where you wouldn't mind staying if any of our normal, every day support systems should fail. One unconcerned gentleman has made reservations for a flight over Antarctica. Experts will be on board the 747 to explain about...
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Hotline to hear gripes on smoking

OSAKA -- Prior to World No-Smoking Day on Monday, a citizens' group here will open a one-day telephone hotline Saturday for people troubled by tobacco smoke.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
May 27, 1999

Respect for the forest's elders

The Hokkaido University Botanic Garden is situated right in the heart of Sapporo, within easy reach of Sapporo Station. I really love to see trees grown at their best, and for those of you who feel the same, a visit to this garden is essential.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Storm, winds wreak havoc on Honshu

Strong winds and rain hit a wide area of Japan on Thursday, leaving one person dead and 15 people injured in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Dead notary's sister takes stand against Aum

A former Aum Shinrikyo follower whose brother was allegedly abducted and drugged to death by cultists testified before the Tokyo District Court on Thursday that the cult's continuing activities threaten the lives of herself and other relatives.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
May 27, 1999

Old and new blended perfectly at Otani

A pebble's throw away from the Akasaka Mitsuke subway station, the Hotel New Otani (which happens to be in the midst of celebrating 35 years as one of Tokyo's premier hotels) might just offer the solution to savvy travelers' "been there, done that" blues.
EDITORIALS
May 26, 1999

The IMF is called to account

The International Monetary Fund has already received a lot of flak from private experts for giving the wrong advice to troubled Asian economies. Another analysis to that effect, therefore, is nothing new. What is new -- and significant -- is that the Japanese government, in an official report, has now...
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

DPJ group eyes new strategy to counter LDP

In an effort to come up with a new strategy to compete with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of Japan on Wednesday established a policy study group.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Foley defends Yokota base in meeting with Ishihara

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley stressed the importance of the U.S. Yokota Air Base in a meeting with Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara Wednesday, saying the base is "an essential part of U.S. forces' operations in Japan" and "a major hub of our transportation and supply services in East Asia."
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Bill on official flag, anthem still on the way: Nonaka

The government still intends to submit a bill to make the Hinomaru the official flag and "Kimigayo" the national anthem during the current Diet session, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Wednesday, denying reports that the government had given up on the bill for this session.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

NTT reports sales, profit fall in '98

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. on Wednesday reported a decline in sales and pretax profit on a non-consolidated basis for the business year that ended March 31 following a decrease in revenue from ordinary telephone use.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Home-based entrepreneurs network for respect

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Election of LDP chief likely to be moved up to August

The Liberal Democratic Party is likely to hold its presidential election in mid-August, a little more than a month before Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's term as party president expires, sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Cops start crime-victim support plan

A police station in Tokyo's Nakano Ward on Wednesday launched a support program for crime victims to provide psychological care in cooperation with the municipal government and local hospitals, sources said.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

The 401(K) Approach: Skandia eyes pension plan gains

First in an occasional series

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