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JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

Sony, Toyota enter data service venture with IIJ

A joint data communications venture established by Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Corp. and Internet Initiative Japan Inc. announced Tuesday that it will begin high-speed data services of up to 600 megabits per second in April for corporate users.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

Japan Energy to halve workforce by 2003

In a desperate restructuring move, major oil refiner and distributor Japan Energy Corp. said Tuesday it will nearly halve its workforce by 2003 to survive ever-intensifying competition.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

Iranian envoy urges deeper relations

Iranian Ambassador Manouchehr Mottaki, in Tokyo since 1995, wants to see Japan further deepen its relations with Iran and other Persian Gulf countries by promoting relations in various fields, not only trade.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

Aichi officially gives up Fujimae dumping plan

Aichi Prefecture officially told the central government Tuesday that local authorities will drop their plan to turn Nagoya's Fujimae tidal flats, the nation's most popular stopover for migratory birds, into a garbage landfill.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

State OKs administrative streamlining outline

The government adopted an administrative reform outline Tuesday that aims to create a slimmer and more efficient government in January 2001.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

Justice Ministry revises guardian plan

In an effort to cope with Japan's rapidly aging society, the Justice Ministry's Legislative Council has mapped out a new legal framework to protect the assets of legally incompetent adults, the council announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

Major banks plan unprecedented fundraising hike

Japan's 17 major banks decided as of Tuesday to raise a total of 8 trillion yen to 9 trillion yen, including several trillion yen in public funds, to shore up their capital bases, industry sources said.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1999

Kobe asks ministry to OK airport plan

KOBE — The Kobe Municipal Government applied Tuesday to the Transport Ministry for approval of its plan to reclaim land off the port of Kobe to build a new airport.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Softbank, Broadcast.com plan Web venture

Softbank Corp. and Broadcast.com Inc., both leading U.S.-based video and audio Internet broadcasting companies, will set up a joint venture to provide a Japanese-language Web broadcasting service, the firms announced Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Free short-term parking aims to appease violators

In a bid to help solve Osaka's notorious parking woes, city authorities said they will offer 30 minutes of free parking at public lots near JR Osaka Station on weekdays.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Thai canal envisioned to promote trade

To boost regional investment and cross-border trade in Southeast Asia, Gen. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, a former Thai prime minister, is advocating a bold plan to cut a canal across the narrow part of southern Thailand between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Daiwa, Sumitomo set venture with T. Rowe, R. Fleming

Daiwa Securities Co. and Sumitomo Bank announced Monday that they will form a joint venture with T. Rowe Price Associates, a major U.S. asset management firm, to offer mutual funds tailored to Japanese customers.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Fujimae dump plan to be scrapped

NAGOYA — The city of Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture have jointly decided to scrap their plan to convert the environmentally sensitive Fujimae tidelands into a landfill, informed sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Outlook still grim for Kansai economy

The economic outlook in the Kansai region remains grim despite a few positive signs in recent months, such as increased public works spending and a rise in sales of certain products, head of Bank of Japan's Osaka branch said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Osaka floods in own disaster movie

Imagine the following: During a particularly wet rainy season, runoff water flows into tributaries of the Yodogawa River faster than a series of dams, built to avoid such a problem, can handle it.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Logistic SDF support of U.N. forces constitutional: Obuchi

The Constitution allows the Self-Defense Forces to provide logistic support to United Nations-led multinational forces, but the provision of weapons and ammunition by the SDF will be determined on a case-by-case basis, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 1999

Trade surplus soared to record high in '98

The nation's surplus in merchandise trade in 1998 soared 40.1 percent from a year earlier to a record 13.98 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report released Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 1999

The state of the union is good

U.S. President Bill Clinton has done it again. Last year, against the backdrop of revelations of his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, Mr. Clinton presented a State of the Union message that managed to transcend the scandal already swirling around the presidency. This year, the president...
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 1999

An Olympic-size mess

What a difference a year makes. One year ago, Nagano City was pulling out the stops to welcome athletes from all over the world for a mammoth festival on ice and snow. Such was the universal appeal of the Olympic Games that even warring nations laid down their arms for the duration of the competition...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

Nakajima pleads guilty to all charges

Former Lower House lawmaker Yojiro Nakajima, currently standing trial for vote-buying, pleaded guilty Friday before the Tokyo District Court to falsifying statements on the use of political subsidies, taking bribes from Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. and defrauding the state of 10 million yen.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

Tokyo promises expense disclosure in fiscal '99

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will disclose all social expenses by the governor and other top officials from fiscal 1999, officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

Health gadgets calculate body fat, 'ideal shape'

Appealing to the health-crazed masses, a new crop of portable health gadgets is proving popular with consumers.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

Miyazawa suggests restraint to avoid steel trade row

Japan should make efforts to prevent its increasing exports to the United States from developing into a political issue, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

Problem loan tally hits 73 trillion yen

Problem loans held by the nation's 142 banks totaled 73 trillion yen as of Sept. 30, edging up from 71.7 trillion yen logged six months earlier, according to a government report released Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

American Express plans securities firm

American Express Financial Advisors Inc., a financial planning company within the American Express group, will launch business in Japan as a securities firm, company officials announced Friday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 22, 1999

Jordan wasn't NBA's 'greatest'

This column originally ran in the print edition of The Japan Times on Jan. 22, 1999, approximately nine months before Wilt Chamberlain died.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

DaimlerChrysler begins tieup talks with Nissan

The chairmen of DaimlerChrysler AG said Friday they opened tieup talks with Nissan Motor Co. Thursday night, but refused to divulge details of their discussions with Nissan President Yoshikazu Hanawa.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

Bureaucrats to be cut by 25% over 10 years

The Liberal Democratic Party and Liberal Party reached a formal agreement at working-level discussions Friday to cut the number of bureaucrats by 25 percent over a 10-year period starting next year.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

Cheap yen loans may finance Cambodian port

Japan is considering extending about 4 billion yen in yen loans to Cambodia during fiscal 1999, which begins in April, for repairs and expansion of the capacity of Sihanoukville port, government sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1999

NTT acquires 80% stake in AutoWeb

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. purchased an 80 percent stake in AutoWeb Communications Inc., a computer software company in the United States, the carrier announced Friday.

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