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COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2000

Is the Bank of Japan right?

LONDON -- The governor of the Bank of Japan, Masaru Hayami, and the majority of the BOJ's policy council have drawn criticism from the Japanese government and leaders of Japanese industry for the decision to end the BOJ's zero-interest-rate policy. These criticisms have been echoed in the British press....
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2000

LDP sidelines 17.2 billion yen loan to China

The Liberal Democratic Party said Thursday that it will postpone approval of a plan to loan 17.2 billion yen to China to protest recent Chinese naval activity in and around Japanese territorial waters, LDP officials said.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2000

Imports outpace exports as surplus drops 19.3%

Japan's trade surplus fell 19.3 percent in July from a year earlier to 1 trillion yen as the increase in imports outpaced that of exports, maintaining the seesaw pattern that has prevailed over the past several months, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2000

RCC waiving billions of yen in debts

The Resolution and Collection Corp. has given up its claims on loans worth dozens of billions of yen it inherited from failed financial institutions since its inception in April 1999, it was learned Thursday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 24, 2000

Where new discoveries and old favorites await

For exploring the world of sake, nothing is more helpful than a reliable sake retailer with a wide and varying selection. There are many such retailers in all parts of Japan, and developing a good relationship with one is key.
EDITORIALS
Aug 23, 2000

Pride before a fall

After a nine-day rescue operation that transfixed the world, the Russian government announced Monday that all 118 crew members of the downed submarine Kursk were dead. An international rescue team discovered that all the compartments in the vessel were flooded; it is likely that almost all of the crew...
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2000

Budget to again top 80 trillion yen in 2001

General-account budget requests from government ministries and agencies for fiscal 2001 are likely to total about 84 trillion yen, exceeding the 80 trillion yen mark for the third year in a row, government sources said Tuesday.
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.
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Aug 23, 2000

Eye scream

lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/uc004810.jpg Not only did the U.S. government give us the Internet, but it has posted a recipe for vanilla ice cream as well. It's actually a photo of a recipe handwritten by Thomas Jefferson, one of the architects of that government, sometime in the 1780s. Click on "Holograph...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 20, 2000

Keiko Itoh

LONDON -- From next May to early 2002 a series of cultural and educational events together known as Japan 2001 is scheduled to take place throughout Britain. As one of the official programs of Japan 2001, a photo exhibition is to be staged by the Japanese Residents' Association (U.K.).
COMMUNITY
Aug 20, 2000

Messages from Hanshin quake survivors move to the Internet

KOBE -- Masano Goto still exchanges letters with people from other prefectures who helped her overcome difficulties in the aftermath of the devastating Great Hanshin Earthquake in January 1995, which claimed more than 6,000 lives.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2000

Mori to embark on diplomatic tour in Asia

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori leaves today for an eight-day trip to four Southwest Asian countries, during which he is expected to call on India and Pakistan to sign an international treaty banning tests of nuclear weapons.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2000

South Asia's place in Japan's agenda

DHAKA -- Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori will undertake a visit to South Asia starting Sunday. His brief itinerary will take him to three capitals in the region -- Dhaka, New Delhi and Islamabad.
EDITORIALS
Aug 18, 2000

When technology fails

Two accidents have claimed international attention this summer. A Concorde supersonic airliner crashed after takeoff in Paris last month, killing 114 people. Today, the world is riveted by the unfolding disaster involving the Russian submarine Kursk, trapped on the floor of the Barents Sea with 118 sailors...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2000

State-owned enterprises continue to hinder Chinese growth

WASHINGTON -- In January, Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Wu Bangguo said that whether or not China gets into the World Trade Organization, China's policy would be "to reform and build a market economy." Now that China is assured of entering the WTO, the hard work of transforming China's socialist market...
BUSINESS
Aug 17, 2000

GM unit seeks benefits from Internet revolution

The advent of the Internet age is bringing new opportunities not only to electronic venture businesses but also to companies in traditional industries.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2000

Scholar suspected of leaking exam questions faces disgrace

The Health and Welfare Ministry on Wednesday urged a university professor sitting on the committee that formulates National Dentistry Examination questions to refrain from attending today's committee meeting due to suspicions he had earlier leaked questions.
COMMUNITY
Aug 17, 2000

Preparing to teach for the next 500 years

It is remarkable that in 150 years of mainstream education, there has been little serious investigation into how the human brain learns. An exception is the work of Bulgarian scientist Dr. Georgi Lozanov, who began studies and experiments in the 1950s.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2000

Phone firms not obligated to aid bugging

The government will not ask telephone companies to voluntarily participate in police wiretapping operations, Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka said Tuesday, the day that Japan's first-ever wiretapping law took effect.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2000

Aum followers down by 10: report

The Aum Shinrikyo religious group had 1,140 members as of Aug. 1, down 10 from three months ago, according to a report the group submitted Tuesday to the Public Security Investigation Agency.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2000

Record paper production expected

Paper production in Japan will likely rise to a record high this year, reflecting an information technology-led economic recovery, industry officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2000

Wage conditions stronger: BOJ

The Bank of Japan slightly upgraded its evaluation of income conditions for salaried workers while confirming the ongoing gradual economic recovery in a closely watched monthly report released Tuesday.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 16, 2000

The hippies were right -- go macrobiotic!

FUKUOKA -- Is it possible to re-create the clean, almost-vegetarian Japanese cuisine of the past?
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2000

Ministry to launch new lifestyle survey next year

The Health and Welfare Ministry will launch a survey next year to track the lives of newborns and certain groups of adults in a bid to better understand social problems such as the dwindling birthrate, ministry sources said Monday.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2000

Making a run for the horse mackerel

Abundant, easy to catch and good to eat: an apt description of the scrappy little Japanese horse mackerel. Records show that the fish has been a Japanese favorite since the Nara Period, over 1,000 years ago, and it still has its aficionados today. Many Japanese anglers pursue this popular fish in preference...

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake