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JAPAN
Nov 2, 1999

Japan to lift ban on flights to Pyongyang

The government announced on Tuesday that it will resume charter flights to North Korea, easing sanctions it imposed in September 1998 after a North Korean missile flew over Japan.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 1999

HP gears up for aggressive Japan campaign

Consumers and business partners in Japan will become increasingly important in the next century for Hewlett Packard Co. to expand its share in the information technology market, Carly Fiorina, new president and chief executive officer of the firm, told reporters Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 1999

LDP panel set to debate Yasukuni Shrine issues

The Liberal Democratic Party said Tuesday it will set up an informal panel within the party to discuss issues concerning Yasukuni Shrine, LDP Secretary General Yoshiro Mori said.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 1999

Yokoyama stays mute in sex suit

OSAKA -- Lawyers for Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama on Monday again remained silent in court over sexual harassment charges against their client, effectively accepting defeat in the 15 million yen damages suit brought by a 21-year-old female university student.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 1999

Banks urged to curb loans to 'shoko'

Financial Reconstruction Commission Chairman Michio Ochi said Friday that he has urged Katsuyuki Sugita, chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association, to restrain bank lending to "shoko" commercial loan companies.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 1999

Fly over your own land, Ishihara tells U.S. base

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara is demanding that the U.S. military halt low-altitude helicopter flights over civilian areas near Yokota Air Base.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 1999

Nasdaq is ready to go head-to-head with Mothers

Staff writer
COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Oct 24, 1999

Farewell to Russia's final Romanov

Few years in recent Russian history have been as turbulent as 1999. In five months, from May till October, the country has seen three different prime ministers, an Islamic fundamentalist invasion in Dagestan and five terrorist assaults against Russian cities that cost the lives of 300 civilians. In the...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Oct 24, 1999

Never-ending need

There could have been no better selection for the Nobel Peace Prize than Doctors Without Borders with its volunteers who ignore hardships and dangers and go to the world's most troubled places. Doctors Without Borders is a symbol, standing for many other organizations, groups and individuals who give...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1999

More aid offered to Timor refugees

The government will offer humanitarian aid supplies for East Timorese refugees through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 1999

'Nissan is in bad shape'

That blunt comment says it all. At a press conference Monday, Mr. Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's chief operating officer, ticked off the company's failings: mismanagement, inefficient production, lack of vision, unappealing products. Their impact has been plain: Nissan, Japan's second largest carmaker, has lost...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1999

Osaka mayor to seek second term

OSAKA -- Osaka Mayor Takafumi Isomura on Wednesday formally announced his intention to seek a second term of office.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 20, 1999

Trying times for bees

VANCOUVER, Canada -- For millions of years, honeybees have been doing what they do best -- transforming the nectar from blossoms into thick, sweet honey. Since the development of agriculture, they have also been ensuring that the pollination necessary for the production of the world's fruits and vegetables...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1999

Tokyo appeals to WTO over U.S. duties on steel

In a move that is likely to anger Washington and stir up controversy in the forthcoming round of global trade talks, Tokyo decided Wednesday to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the U.S. decision in June to impose anti-dumping duties on Japanese hot-rolled steel imports.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 1999

Japan's biggest nonlife insurer scheduled for 2002

Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Nippon Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and Koa Fire & Marine Insurance Co. formally announced Tuesday they will form a holding company by April 2002 to create the nation's largest nonlife insurer.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 1999

Dioxin levels fall but benzene still above limits

Dioxin levels in air throughout Japan improved in 1998, but levels of benzene -- a potent carcinogen found in automobile exhaust -- are still above government safety levels, according to the government's most comprehensive survey of harmful airborne chemicals.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 1999

Nissan Motor to cut five factories, 21,000 jobs

Nissan Motor Co. revealed Monday a drastic restructuring plan that includes closing five factories and slashing 21,000 jobs worldwide.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 1999

A dream to revive the woolly mammoth

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 18, 1999

Usui to monitor Dow's effect

The Finance Ministry intends to keep a careful watch on how Friday's plunge in the New York stock market could affect the Japanese economy, Vice Finance Minister Nobuaki Usui said Monday.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1999

Fukaya says a united front crucial at WTO trade talks

Trade chief Takashi Fukaya reiterated his determination Friday to seek a united front with the European Union and other economies against Washington's agriculture-oriented strategy in upcoming trade liberalization talks, scheduled to start in Seattle late next month.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1999

Negotiations stall over sale of Toho Mutual

The Life Insurance Association of Japan has given up on its plan to sell the failed Toho Mutual Life Insurance Co. by the end of this year, association chairman Tomijiro Morita said Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1999

'No more friction' with BOJ, Miyazawa says

The apparent friction between the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Japan over monetary policy has ended following the bank's clear announcement Wednesday on monetary easing, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1999

Convenience stores in race for Y2K compliance

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1999

Professor calls for legal panel to aid media victims

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1999

Mission to scout East Timor aid flights

The Japanese government will send a six-day mission to West Timor on Sunday to study whether Self-Defense Forces aircraft can be used to transport supplies from Indonesia to East Timorese refugees, Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 1999

Palestinians to open Japan office

The Palestinian Authority hopes to establish a representative office in Japan in the near future, a minister of the authority said Thursday in Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Oct 10, 1999

Loyalty

A gentleman writes with great affection about his hairbrush. It is, he says, a very nice, heavy hairbrush with a teak back and it is in need of new boar bristles, not surprising since he has used it for 20 years. He hopes to find a shop that can do this kind of work, but where?
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 1999

Skeletons in Yeltsin's closet

The debate over who lost Russia is intensifying as the U.S. presidential election draws near. Although the United States' policies toward post-Soviet Russia have been bipartisan, politicians sense that Vice President Al Gore is especially vulnerable because of his cochairmanship of the Gore-Chernomyrdin...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 1999

Chongqing leads the next China boom

Japan is poised to lead foreign investment in the next important phase of China's development, centered on Chongqing, an inland city whose name most outsiders have never heard.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 1999

Kono pines for Yeltsin's Japan visit

Foreign Minister Yohei Kono reiterated Tokyo's earnest hope Friday that a date can be set soon for Russian President Boris Yeltsin's visit to Japan -- a long-delayed bilateral summit expected to take place by the end of this year.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?