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JAPAN
Oct 11, 2000

Electronic dictionaries suit older eyes

Portable and handy electronic dictionaries have met with strong sales in recent years, particularly among those over 50.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2000

Emergency voice-mail set up

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corp. said Friday it has set up an emergency voice-mail service for people worried about friends and family in regions of western Japan affected by a powerful earthquake earlier in the day.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2000

Sales of electronic dictionaries enjoy rocketing growth

OSAKA -- Portable electronic dictionaries are enjoying rocketing sales in Japan, largely among middle-aged and elderly customers attracted by the devices' easy-to-read screens and user-friendliness, industry officials say.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2000

Orders for machinery down in July

Domestic machinery orders in the private-sector in July fell a seasonally adjusted 11.7 percent from the previous month, following a rise of 14.4 percent in June, the Economic Planning Agency said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2000

Chip makers plan huge investment

Japan's five major semiconductor chip makers plan to invest a record 954 billion yen this fiscal year to expand or improve manufacturing facilities, company officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2000

Storm halts phone service on Miyake

Torrential rain and thunderstorms hit Miyake Island early Thursday, interrupting telephone services, including mobile phone services, on the east side of the volcanic island some 200 km south of Tokyo, village officials said.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Sep 6, 2000

The horror, the horror

We're back. Did you miss us? That question isn't the product of an (especially) insecure soul. I mean it.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2000

Budget requests fall 0.2%

General-account budget requests from government ministries and agencies for fiscal 2001 totaled some 84.83 trillion yen, down 0.2 percent from the initial budget for fiscal 2000, Finance Ministry officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2000

Industrial output falls for first time in three months

Industrial output in July dropped 0.7 percent from the previous month -- the first decline in three months -- the Ministry of International Trade and Industry reported Wednesday, although officials said an overall trend of modest increase continues.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2000

Market to clear low hurdles, creep upward

The Tokyo stock market has rebounded strongly after confirming its bottom on Aug. 4, when the 225-issue Nikkei average hit 15,666.
COMMUNITY
Aug 27, 2000

SHARE and help the world

SHARE is Japan's version of Medecins Sans Frontieres, a small nongovernment aid organization that sends volunteer doctors, nurses and health workers to assist in stricken areas abroad. It also helps those in need on the domestic front -- women involved in the sex industry and people who have overstayed...
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2000

NEC reorganizes group companies

NEC Corp. will transfer its business of office telephones and point-of-sale devices to affiliated Nitsuko Corp. next April as part of efforts to reorganize NEC group companies, top officials of the two firms announced on Friday.
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.
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2000

The summer 'silly season' everywhere

Europe is on holiday. Go to Paris and you will find half the restaurants shut. Many industries close down for weeks, and their workers flock to holiday resorts. Britain is not much different from the rest of Europe in this respect -- although British firms tend to stagger holidays more than in other...
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2000

Hikari announces lower sales projection

As a result of massive restructuring efforts, Hikari Tsushin Inc. on Mondayy announced a downward revision of its sales projection for the current business year to end in Aug. 31.
COMMUNITY
Aug 20, 2000

You only live once

LONDON -- Virgin Group boss Sir Richard Branson is one of the world's most well-known and visible entrepreneurs. Recently knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, the word "tycoon" would normally apply to a businessman with his financial and political clout.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2000

Motorcycle makers gear up to tackle domestic slump

Despite brisk business in the global market, Japanese motorcycle makers have for years watched their domestic sales slide.
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.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2000

U.S. forces remain critical to Northeast Asian security

WASHINGTON -- There has been a sea change in the political landscape in Northeast Asia, particularly on the Korean Peninsula. In South Korea, the success of multiparty democracy is changing how the United States interacts with its ally. President Kim Dae Jung must deal with voters who increasingly question...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Aug 8, 2000

Keepers of the flame take Gypsy sounds to the world

Under Soviet communism, the ethnic and folk music of Eastern Europe was often hijacked as a form of propaganda. Words were changed to express patriotic sentiments and slogans of peace. In Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, the country's dictator for 25 years, would bus out thousands of peasants to sing such...
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2000

Panel lists IT, environment items for decontrol review

A government commission on Wednesday unveiled a list of 97 items -- focusing mainly on information technology and the environment -- to be reviewed for further deregulation in the current fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2000

Softbank to set up sports site

Softbank Media & Marketing Corp., a media-related business unit of Softbank Corp., announced Friday that it will set up a joint venture with Rivals.com Inc. of the United States to launch a Japanese version of Rivals' sports Web site.
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2000

Regulating body recommended for NTT

To liberalize telecommunications and encourage competition through foreign direct investment here, Japan needs to develop an effective framework for regulating dominant carrier NTT Corp., according to Erkki Liikanen, European commissioner for enterprise and the information society.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2000

MMC may have hidden complaints

Transport authorities have inspected Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s head office in Tokyo and some of its dealers on suspicion it concealed documents regarding complaints from users at the time of a regular inspection, Transport Ministry officials said Tuesday.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.