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JAPAN
Aug 31, 2000

Extremist murdered in knife attack

A 48-year-old leftist extremist was stabbed to death by a group of knife-wielding men wearing masks Wednesday morning in front of JR Uguisudani Station in Tokyo's Taito Ward, apparently the victim of an internal dispute within an ultraleftist group, police said.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 31, 2000

Art and history intersect in U.S. ambassador's residence

Most of us only dream of being able to pick out our favorite pieces of art from museums to display in our homes.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2000

Yoshino dam project may yet proceed; foes irked

OSAKA -- Opponents to the controversial Yoshino River dam project in Tokushima are dissatisfied with a ruling coalition proposal made earlier this week that the 100 billion yen project be returned to the drawing board.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2000

NTT allows competitor in its doors

Faced with mounting criticism over stalling and exclusionary tactics, telecom giant NTT East Corp. for the first time has allowed a competitor to set up broad-band interconnection equipment within its compound in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2000

Talks to hold up Kitakyushu as environmental success story

Asia, with more than half the world's population and economies that continue to grow, poses one of the biggest environmental challenges of the coming century. The United Nations predicts that by 2025 more than half the region's population will have moved to the already packed metropolises.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2000

Joint team probes Snow fiasco

The Osaka Municipal Government on Monday launched a joint study group of experts with the Health and Welfare Ministry that will investigate the causes of Snow Brand Milk Products Co.'s mass food-poisoning incident and attempt to recommend countermeasures.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2000

Japan called on to help redevelop Panama Canal

Nearly a century after Japanese engineer Akira Aoyama contributed to the construction of the Panama Canal, Panama is now seeking fresh investment and expert advice from Japan to redevelop the world's crucial waterway to serve 21st-century needs.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2000

Mori to push for expansion of UNSC

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori plans to call for an increase in the number of both permanent and nonpermanent members of the U.N. Security Council in a brief speech he will deliver Sept. 7 at the U.N. Millennium Summit in New York, government sources said Sunday.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2000

Managing Japan's monetary policy

The Bank of Japan announced Aug. 11 that it would abandon its "zero-interest rate" policy, by which is meant that the money market interest rate at the shortest end of terms would be virtually zero.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2000

Railway union to vote on ending JR dispute

The National Railway Workers Union (Kokuro) decided Saturday to vote in September on accepting a proposal by four political parties aimed at resolving the union's long-standing dispute with Japan Railway group firms, Kokuro officials said.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2000

Endoscope users report problems

Nearly 75 percent of users of Toshiba Corp.'s electronic endoscope have experienced problems with the product, according to the results of a survey made available Saturday.
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2000

Japan to push WTO dialogue with China

Japan will propose to China that the two nations establish a high-level regular forum for dialogue on matters related to the World Trade Organization, government sources said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2000

Making peace the hard way

Next month, the United Nations convenes its Millennium Summit. One of the key issues the world body must face in the next century is its role in peacekeeping operations. The magnitude of the challenges were made plain this week when a special commission released its final report. It makes for grim reading....
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2000

The case against Japan's whaling program

While U.S. President Bill Clinton was signing legislation to protect the oceans, Japan expanded its whale hunt in the North Pacific. In defiance of international pleas from Clinton, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and other leaders, Japan has gone beyond hunting smaller minke whales to include the...
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2000

Defense Agency to seek tanker aircraft

The Defense Agency plans to seek government approval to acquire a tanker aircraft for aerial refueling for the Air Self-Defense Force in the next fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2000

State needs to publicize economic reality

When the Bank of Japan ended its 18-month-old "zero-interest-rate" policy it capped speculation over the controversial shift in monetary policy.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2000

TSE to tie up with two Chinese stock exchanges

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is planning to conclude broad business tieups with China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges next year, TSE officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2000

FSA approves cross-sales at life, nonlife insurers

The Financial Services Agency has decided to allow life and nonlife insurance firms to sell each other's products for commission fees, industry sources said Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Aug 23, 2000

Rare cacti thriving in Kansai subtropics

The cactus and succulent house at Amagasaki Botanic Garden is a virtual gene bank of rare and endangered plants. AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- Once the site of a factory, Kami-Sakabe Nishi Park is a compact botanical garden with an interesting collection of plants, set in the heart of a large industrial...
EDITORIALS
Aug 22, 2000

Wahid gets a reprieve

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has outfoxed his opponents again. Facing an insurrection within the Parliament, the president recently apologized for past behavior and then delegated many of his duties to Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri. It is a shrewd move by the wily Mr. Wahid. Whether...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 22, 2000

Soseki never dreamed of this

TEN NIGHTS' DREAMS, by Natsume Soseki. Translated by Takumi Kashima, Kyoko Nonaka, Hideki Oiwa, Horikatsu Kawashima and Katsunori Fujioka. London: Soseki Museum in London, 2000. 64 pp., unpriced. In 1908, and already an established popular writer, Natsume Soseki turned to more experimental forms of...
COMMUNITY
Aug 20, 2000

Contestants jump at chance to net annual award for catching goldfish

YAMATO KORIYAMA, Nara Pref. -- Similar to the high school baseball championships at Koshien, it is a national championship with 2,000 participants striving to be Japan's No. 1. It could even be compared to the Olympic Games, where contestants have to go through a qualifying round before they reach the...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2000

Socialist International surveys the scene

The Socialist International's Asia Pacific Committee met Aug. 7-8 in Wellington, New Zealand, at the invitation of Helen Clark, the Labor prime minister. The urgent issue on the agenda was Fiji. Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, the Fiji Labor Party leader who had been overthrown, explained the background....

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat