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BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2000

Today's full decontrols may put air fares in a dive

While the entry of new airlines two years ago accelerated industry competition in Japan, fares are likely to drop further as full deregulation is introduced today.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2000

Panel recommends making new constitution by 2008

A new Constitution should be introduced in 2008, the head of the Upper House's constitutional research panel reiterated Tuesday. Masakuni Murakami, a senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party, told the Upper House plenary session that he aims to wrap up discussions by the panel by 2005 have the...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 1, 2000

Because of memory, because of hope

BRIDGE ACROSS BROKEN TIME: Chinese and Jewish Cultural Memory, by Vera Schwarcz. New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1998, 232 pp. (cloth). Staff writer Rarely does a book challenge a reader -- or a reviewer -- as this one does. "Bridge Across Broken Time" is equal parts academic study, meditation...
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2000

Defense official held in 300 million yen bilking

OSAKA -- An official of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency has been arrested for attempting to swindle 300 million yen out of a company executive by offering a bogus business transaction with the Defense Agency, prosecutors said Tuesday. Tatsuro Kitamura, 43, a labor relations official at...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2000

Deregulation likely to send air fares into nosedive

Staff writer While the entry of new airlines two years ago accelerated competition in the industry in Japan, fares are likely to drop further as full deregulation is introduced today. The revised Civil Aeronautics Law will eliminate regulations on domestic air fares. As a result, domestic airlines will...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2000

Disaster dictated Ginza make-overs

JR Yurakucho Station is a well-known gateway to the shopping paradise of Tokyo's Ginza district, whose very name invokes images of luxury and big-name brands.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 29, 2000

Traditional art gets the seal of approval

You need them to register a birth certificate, to marry, to open a bank account and even to receive a parcel. You might say the hanko validates every official occasion in Japan.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2000

Finance meeting ends rates speculation

Last week's Group of Seven meeting of financial leaders in Tokyo provided Japan with an opportunity to clear up doubts about its monetary policy options.
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 28, 2000

Irish dance fever comes to Japan

Lord of the Dance, an Irish dance troupe which has been seen by 7 million people in 18 countries since its 1996 debut, is finally coming to Japan to wow audiences with its world-renowned performance.
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2000

Freedom Party gets its chance

Political deadlock has brought Austria's far-right Freedom Party to the brink of power. That has created unease among those who worry that joining the Cabinet will legitimize the party's extreme views -- and those of like-minded political groups elsewhere in Europe. Freedom's views are troublesome, but...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2000

Restructuring, but with a human touch

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The most popular "buzzwords" in this time of change must surely be "globalization" and "restructuring." Allow me to indulge in one more reference to the latter with some remarks that may be quickly criticized as an example of "old-school, bureaucratic" thinking.
SPORTS
Jan 27, 2000

Vermeil: the epitome of coaching, class

ATLANTA -- The old coach has done it again.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 27, 2000

Wineries to complement your travel plans

In the dead of winter, what's a wine lover to do? I'm almost tempted to say "Bring back the hot, spicy wine," the body-warming concoction quaffed at stalls in town center squares all over Europe toward year's end. It's a splendid custom, but actually what I had in mind is winery visits in California....
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 27, 2000

Culinary fire power, Szechwan style

They've never been big on central heating over in the Middle Kingdom. In rural Sichuan, when the icy winter gales blow in from across the Gobi desert, there's only one prescription for keeping the cold at bay: spicy food -- especially the fiery local hotpots -- at regular intervals and in generous quantities....
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2000

Restore time-honored electoral system

There are a number of things wrong with the Japanese political system. One is the combination of the single-seat constituency and proportional representation systems to elect the members of the House of Representatives. I also believe that the present system of electing the members of the House of Councilors...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Japan, U.S. leaders to huddle on foreign investment

Staff writer Japan and the United States will hold a conference of senior government officials and business leaders in Tokyo on March 1 to discuss ways to further accelerate direct foreign investment in Japan, government sources said Wednesday. According to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

U.N. drug program calls for more funds

Staff writer The head of the United Nations Drug-Control Program hopes Japan will devote more of its U.N. contribution to the program, claiming it is cost-effective in the domestic war against narcotics. Pointing out Japan's declining contribution to the Vienna-based UNDCP, Executive Director Pino Arlacchi...
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2000

Sakura, Toshiba, Mitsui join Singapore e-commerce venture

Sakura Bank, Toshiba Corp., Mitsui & Co. and a Singapore telecommunications firm announced Tuesday that they will team up to offer e-commerce services to businesses.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2000

Think before giving nonbankers licenses, JBA chief urges

The relationship banks will have with nonfinanciers trying to enter the industry should be clarified before authorities decide to grant them banking licenses, Katsuyuki Sugita, chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association, said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2000

Kobe Steel exec admits paying 'sokaiya' 30 million yen

OSAKA -- A former managing director of Kobe Steel Ltd. admitted during his first court hearing Tuesday that the firm paid 30 million yen in cash to a "sokaiya" corporate extortionist in violation of the Commercial Code. Hiroshi Kajiwara, 58, acknowledged the facts outlined by prosecutors and said he...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2000

Taiwan turns table on terrible temblor

In the early hours of Sept. 21, 1999, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Taiwan. Within 45 seconds, over 2,000 people lost their lives and property damage amounted to billions of dollars. Fortunately, the epicenter was not in a densely populated metropolitan area, for the loss of life and property would...
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2000

A new economic theory for a new millennium

The arrival of the new millennium offers us an opportunity to consider matters from a longer term point of view. While it is impossible to predict the events of the coming 1,000 years -- pause to consider that of today's seven leading industrialized coun- tries, only Japan, France and Britain existed...
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2000

Aum by any other name...

Desperate people -- and groups -- can be expected to take desperate steps. The carefully orchestrated public relations campaign in which the Aum Shinrikyo cult is now engaged, including changing the cult name to Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, for a "fresh start," seems like little more...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2000

Enhancing global security

The business of the world has changed almost beyond recognition over the course of the last 100 years. At the turn of the last century, Japan was the first country outside Europe to break into the ranks of the great powers. Yet even until World War II, international affairs were largely Eurocentric in...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2000

Vision, not structure, is key to recovery

This is a time of unprecedented opportunity for Japan. It may seem strange to speak of opportunity when the country's political and economic experts are struggling with the challenges of structural change. However, I believe the current pessimism in the country is the result of two misconceptions.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2000

Tough times require radical measures

This year's spring wage-bargaining season has barely started and a sense of confrontation is already in the air. The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) has called for a 2 percent increase in the "regular pay hike" plus at least a 1 percent increase in basic pay. The Japan Federation of Employers'...
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2000

Sofia envoy urges more business ties

Bulgarian Ambassador Petar Andonov, who has been in Tokyo since August 1998, said Friday that he wants to see Japanese Internet-based technology companies cooperating with Bulgarian firms. This is "very important" for the future development of the two countries' economic relations and will make optimal...
JAPAN / Media
Jan 20, 2000

Of the people, for the people: the mass appeal of konbini

Though Japan is famous for importing technology from the West and then sending it back in cheaper and better form, business practices remain homegrown. The shining exception is convenience stores, an American concept that has been so successful here that one could say it subsidized the rest of the Japanese...
COMMUNITY
Jan 20, 2000

Multifaceted legacy is rock solid

The public will never know what Ronald Winston looks like. Until he dies, that is.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2000

Britain steps up scrutiny of BNFL-Kepco links

Staff writer OSAKA -- The British Parliament is stepping up calls for an investigation into the relationship between a British utilities company and Kansai Electric Power Co. following the company's admission that it falsified nuclear fuel data for Kepco's nuclear power plants in Fukui Prefecture. On...

Longform

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