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BUSINESS
May 5, 2001

DoCoMo's 3G service delay raises more questions

Last week's decision by NTT DoCoMo Inc. to scale back the introduction of third generation (3G) mobile phone services confirmed the skepticism of many observers about its launch date. But it proved the company was willing to cut prices to allow more consumers to access its richer, higher-speed content....
JAPAN
May 5, 2001

Covert entry puzzling, analysts say

Japanese experts were divided over why a man claiming to be Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Il, tried to enter Japan under an alias with a forged passport.
BUSINESS
May 3, 2001

BOJ fails to meet targets in bill-buying

The Bank of Japan failed to attract enough offers Wednesday in two rounds of short-term bill-buying aimed at injecting liquidity into the money market.
JAPAN
May 2, 2001

Obituary: Kakuro Nakata

Kakuro Nakata, former head of the Japanese news agency Radiopress Inc., died Monday of pancreatic cancer at a hospital in Tokyo's Ota Ward, his family said Tuesday. He was 84.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
May 1, 2001

Devolution from concrete to marshland

For years it was a concrete reservoir in Barnes, southwest London. The kind of concrete reservoir that accumulates stolen supermarket trolleys, rusting oil drums, glue sniffers and dead cats.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2001

Myanmar's Shan State: a complex tragedy

THAI-MYANMAR BORDER -- Mae Sai is the end of the road in northern Thailand. This is not to suggest that the lackluster town is undeveloped: It does a roaring trade in gemstones (both real and fake), tourist trinkets, snacks and all kinds of contraband. It's literal. The main street, Pahonyotin, runs...
CULTURE / Film
Apr 29, 2001

Cinema Italiano paradiso

Award-winning movie director Takeshi Kitano said Friday that the very mention of the word Italy brings to mind the kind of culture that puts present-day Japan to shame.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2001

New Koizumi Cabinet wins record 86.3% public support

The Cabinet formed by newly elected Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi received a resounding 86.3 percent approval rating in an opinion poll released Saturday by Kyodo News, the highest ever for a Kyodo telephone poll conducted immediately after the formation of a new Cabinet.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

DoCoMo to commence 3G service in October

NTT DoCoMo Inc. officially delayed the launch of its next-generation cellular service from May 30 to Oct. 1 but refused to call it a postponement.
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 27, 2001

FIFA happy about 2002 ticket requests

David H. Will, the chairman of FIFA's World Cup Ticketing Sub-Committee, told a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday that he was "astonished " at the demand for tickets in the host countries, particularly Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2001

'01 Japan Prize laureates visit for award presentation

Laureates for the 2001 Japan Prize on Tuesday expressed joy that their achievements in the areas of environmentally benign materials and marine biology were recognized as having contributed to the public good.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Taiwan's Lee arrives in Japan for checkup

OSAKA -- Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui arrived in Japan on Sunday evening for a five-day stay to have a medical checkup, a visit that China says will be met with a "necessary reaction."
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Apr 23, 2001

Moscow exiles a mogul with good taste

The Kremlin wins one: President Vladimir Putin's bitter critic, Media-Most media empire, is dead. Its assets have been transferred to pro-Kremlin stockholders, its journalists have been fired or silenced and its owner, Vladimir Gusinsky, is hiding abroad.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2001

Terms of Lee trip agreed upon

Japan and representatives of former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui have agreed on the terms of Lee's trip to Japan, paving the way for the issuance of an entry visa, a top-ranking Japanese government official said Friday.
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Apr 19, 2001

Calling all Internauts...

www.zingasia.com An Asia travel site that for some reason wants to be a portal. The only other shopping experience on the Net that offers so much to contemplate is Amazon. But looking for vacation possibilities just isn't the same as browsing through books, and the reams information and suggestions can...
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2001

Bad loans are not the problem, says banking bigwig

The head of the Japanese Bankers Association on Tuesday denied international and domestic assertions that banks' bad loans are responsible for the nation's economic woes.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Decision imminent on Lee visa problem

Japan may decide by as early as this afternoon whether to issue a visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui, who wants to visit Japan later this month to undergo a medical checkup for his heart condition, government sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2001

Decision on Lee visa still in the air

The government has not decided whether to issue a visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui, who wants to visit Japan for a medical checkup, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2001

Japan stays glued to fence on GMO 'traceability' issue

Kyodo News Japan is the focus of mounting attention over its stance on the issue of establishing standards for foods made from genetically modified organisms, a subject taken up by a U.N. task force during a meeting in Japan in March.
COMMENTARY
Apr 13, 2001

Media guilty of hounding Mori from office

Since political parties by definition seek to attain control of government, it is only natural that the Democratic Party and other opposition groups should have demanded Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's resignation in unison. On the other hand, it is incumbent upon journalists to comment on government policies...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2001

Seoul recalls ambassador over textbook controversey

South Korea's ambassador to Japan returned to Seoul on Tuesday in a move to protest Japan's approval last week of a history textbook that many Asian nations say brushes over descriptions of Japan's wartime atrocities.

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