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JAPAN
Apr 23, 1999

Miyazawa to state position on debt-relief at G7 meeting

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa will attend a Monday meeting of the Group of Seven industrial nations in Washington to put forward his ideas to prevent a financial crisis in emerging market countries.
EDITORIALS
Apr 22, 1999

When the military says 'enough'

Going on appearances, there is little reason to compare the elections held in recent days in Algeria and Turkey. Algeria's ballot, held last week, was marked by the withdrawal of all major opposition candidates two days before the poll; not surprisingly turnout was a lackluster 60 percent, although the...
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

Scholar criticizes biased slant in history textbooks

Japanese high school students are subjected to ideologically biased history lessons through their textbooks, a Santa Lucian scholar researching Japanese school textbooks said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

Top court backs damages for miners

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a high court ruling that awarded 460 million yen in damages to 15 former miners suffering from pneumoconiosis and the families of seven deceased workers at the now-defunct Iojima Mine in Nagasaki Prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

New Finance council tasked to study money flow

The Finance Ministry will launch a new advisory council today to study the changing nature of the nation's money flow from saving and investment patterns in the graying society to ongoing financial system reform, Vice Minister Koji Tanami said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

Hitachi, Siemens join on flash memory chip

Hitachi, Ltd. and a semiconductor unit of Germany's Siemens AG announced Thursday they have agreed to jointly develop and manufacture an advanced compact memory chip suitable for portable digital products.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

Yunnan pins tourism hopes on expo

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

BT, AT&T to buy 30% stake in Japan Telecom

AT&T Corp. and British Telecommunications have made a basic agreement with Japan Telecom Co. to buy 15 percent stakes in the firm, sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

Aum biologist unfazed by cult's sarin sample

An Aum Shinrikyo biologist testified at cult founder Shoko Asahara's trial Thursday that he did not think much about the sarin produced at an Aum facility when he was first shown a sample.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

Doyukai chief calls group consolidation nonsense

As the ongoing economic slump continues to plague many firms, some company leaders argue that Japan's four major business organizations, which have separately published a number of reports on similar issues, should somehow be consolidated.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

Sharp-tongued Aoshima exits Tokyo tight-lipped

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Apr 21, 1999

MOF by any other name

The long-running debate over breaking up the Ministry of Finance has ended with a compromise that will keep the ministry more or less as it is -- the most powerful of Japan's government offices. The MOF will be renamed the "Treasury Ministry," and will be charged mainly with fiscal and budgetary affairs,...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

Japan to pledge loans to Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

Hewlett Packard chief talks of split

The chairman and chief executive officer of Hewlett Packard Co. on Wednesday talked about the most difficult question his firm faced in deciding its future -- whether to keep the hard-copy unit with the computing unit.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

JR West decides not to sue the state

West Japan Railway Co. decided Wednesday not to sue the national government over its decision to impose an additional burden on the firm related to the mounting debt left behind by the former Japanese National Railways.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Apr 21, 1999

Under your skin

Take a second, forget about trash-can icons and QWERTY keyboards and ponder the real interface -- our future interaction with technology. How will we navigate the infosphere in 10 years? Will we use mouses or cursors controlled by biofeedback? Will our browser windows be square and scrolled or dynamically...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

Five people win refugee status

The Justice Ministry granted refugee status to five people Wednesday, bringing to seven the total number of refugees recognized this year.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

Professor brings POW drama to stage

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

Trade surplus soared to 14 trillion yen in '98

The nation's surplus in merchandise trade in fiscal 1998 rose 23.1 percent from the year before to 14.1 trillion yen -- the second-largest figure ever after the 14.4 trillion yen surplus in fiscal 1986 -- with a decline in imports outpacing declining exports.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

'Sokaiya' Koike sentenced to the max nine months

The Tokyo District Court sentenced "sokaiya" corporate extortionist Ryuichi Koike to the maximum nine-month prison term Wednesday for extorting 12.4 billion yen in loans and payoffs from the nation's four top securities houses and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

Empress, Foley laud CWAJ feats

Several hundred past and present members of the College Women's Association of Japan, which promotes international education and cross-cultural exchange, celebrated the group's 50th anniversary Wednesday at a luncheon with the Empress and U.S. Ambassador Thomas Foley.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

Survey shows children abused by 9% of moms

About 9 percent of mothers rearing preschool children repeatedly abuse them by beating or denying them necessary care, according to a survey released Wednesday by a Tokyo-based social welfare organization.
EDITORIALS
Apr 20, 1999

Foot-dragging in South Korea

The signs from South Korea are promising. After shrinking 5.8 percent in 1998, the economy registered 3.1 percent growth in the first quarter of 1999. Analysts now forecast that the economy will expand nearly 4 percent this year, twice the original predictions. In one indication of the new mood, government...
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1999

Bankers rename group, welcome foreign members

The Federation of Bankers Associations of Japan officially changed its name Tuesday to the Japanese Bankers Association and decided to include 22 foreign bankers in its membership.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1999

Pharmaceutical wholesaler Goliath in the making

Kuraya Corp., Sanseido Co. and Tokyo Iyakuhin K.K. have agreed to merge next April 1 to create the nation's largest pharmaceutical wholesaler with sales of 918 billion yen for fiscal 2000, the three firms said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1999

State to subsidize R&D at smaller firms

The government said Tuesday it will grant a subsidy of 11 billion yen in the current fiscal year to small and medium-size enterprises in promoting development and research of innovative industrial technology, officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1999

Panel calls for emissions-linked car taxes

The Council for Transport Policy, an advisory panel to the transport minister, wrapped up a recommendation draft Tuesday to adopt different car tax rates based on fuel-efficiency.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1999

Woman escapes train between the rails

A woman who fell off a platform Tuesday morning in front of an approaching train at JR Shinanomachi Station in Tokyo narrowly escaped death by lying flat between the rails as the train roared over her, police said.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1999

Finance panel urges redesign of Asia forex system

Japan should actively participate in designing new foreign exchange systems for crisis-hit Asian countries, an advisory panel to the finance minister said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1999

U.S. English study fair now touring

A fair to provide information about intensive English-language courses at U.S. colleges and other academic institutions will travel to Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo later this month.

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