Search - 2000

 
 
Events
Oct 2, 2001

Nation's cable music man turns his attention to broadband

OSAKA -- Music, as we're often reminded, is a universal language. In Japan it is also ubiquitous.
Events
Oct 2, 2001

Nara Station spared wrecking ball

NARA -- After three years of fuss, Haruyuki Chichibu felt relieved -- the Nara Prefectural Government announced last month that it would not demolish the 67-year-old JR Nara Station building.
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2001

World tourism industry predicts swift recovery

OSAKA -- Despite the pall of fear hanging over the travel industry as a result of the recent terrorist attacks in the United States and the likelihood that increased insurance premiums will result in the closure of several airlines, representatives of the international tourism industry have predicted...
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2001

Japan planned initiative for Middle East peace

In an unprecedented -- but eventually unrealized -- diplomatic initiative to achieve peace in the Middle East, Japan considered brokering a summit between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jordan next month, government sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 30, 2001

An ancient cult with contemporary significance

ENDURING IDENTITIES. The Guise of Shinto in Contemporary Japan, by John K. Nelson. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2000, 324 pp., 5,271 yen (paper) In 1475, a fight erupted between the priests of a shrine in Kyoto and local farmers, who claimed that the priests had unlawfully driven them off...
COMMUNITY
Sep 30, 2001

We are here to help you

The British archaeologist Howard Carter was excavating in the Valley of the Kings in 1922 when he found a wall bearing the seal of Tutankhamen from the 14th century B.C. He made a small hole and peered through. From his journal:
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 29, 2001

Yomiuri manager Nagashima retires at end of season

Yomiuri Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima will step down from the helm of Japan's most popular baseball team at the end of the season, chairman of the board Tsuneo Watanabe said at a press conference Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2001

Ex-health official guilty in patient's AIDS death

The Tokyo District Court on Friday found a former health ministry senior bureaucrat guilty of professional negligence after he approved the continued use of HIV-tainted blood products, causing the death from AIDS of a patient.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2001

CPI falls for 24th straight month

The key gauge of consumer prices in Tokyo posted a 1.2 percent year-on-year fall in September -- its 24th straight month of decline -- mainly due to falls in housing rents and personal computers, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2001

Mycal chief quits after two weeks

The failed supermarket chain Mycal Corp. announced Friday that Kazuo Urano, a director, has taken over the presidency from Kozo Yamashita, who only held the post for two weeks.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2001

Fifth Foreign Ministry official fired

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday fired an official who had been indicted earlier in the day for allegedly padding hotel bills and swindling the government out of public money, Deputy Vice Foreign Minister Kyoji Komachi said.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2001

Unemployment stays at 5%

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at a record-high 5 percent for the second consecutive month in August, sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2001

Isuzu sells base in restructuring effort

In a bid to accelerate its restructuring, Isuzu Motor Ltd. said Thursday it has sold its headquarters building and land in Tokyo to Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 27, 2001

Buffaloes clinch pennant in grand style

Pinch-hitter Hirotoshi Kitagawa crushed a "sayonara" grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, giving the Kintetsu Buffaloes their first Pacific League crown in 12 years.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 27, 2001

Counting down to environmental doom

An English friend, teasing, once asked whether Americans have a sense of irony. We certainly do, I replied, though perhaps less so than the English who, for generations, never saw the sun set and now live in darkness much of the year.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2001

Government's outstanding debt reaches 557.19 trillion yen

The Japanese government's outstanding debt stood at a record-high 557.19 trillion yen at the end of June, up from 538.39 trillion yen at the end of March, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 26, 2001

A kiss in the darkroom

When I spoke with curator Michiko Kasahara about the Tokyo Museum of Photography's new exhibition, "A Kiss in the Dark," the first thing she wanted to explain was the show's intriguing title. Her catalog essay expands:
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2001

Ministry names new chief of Asian affairs

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday named Hitoshi Tanaka, director general of the economic affairs bureau, as head of the bureau in charge of Asian and Oceanian affairs.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2001

37% of temporary workers desire regular employment: survey

Thirty-seven percent of temporary workers in Japan want to become permanent employees mainly because their current wages are low, according to a survey released recently by a temporary workers' association.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 2001

Fact and fiction meet in re-creation of Ainu past

HARUKOR: An Ainu Woman's Tale, by Katsuichi Honda. Translated by Kyoko Selden. University of California Press, 2000, 315 pp., $19.95 (paper). When I was a university student in Kyoto during the 1960s, Katsuichi Honda was the most glamorous adventurer-journalist of the day.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2001

Obituary: Lee Chang Sok

Lee Chang Sok, a South Korean resident of Japan who served in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and sued for payment of a war pension, died at a Kyoto hospital Friday morning, his family said. He was 75.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Troubled youngsters turn to friends, not family

Young people are more likely to turn to friends in times of trouble than their parents or teachers, with most youngsters both dependent on and fearful of their peers' opinions, according to a government survey released Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

Global summit to issue call to arms against disease

Japan will host an international symposium early next month to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in the fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2001

Vodafone unit to launch Japan Telecom takeover

British cellular operator Vodafone Group PLC will today launch an agreed takeover bid over Japan Telecom Co. through a wholly owned subsidiary and take full control of the nation's third-largest operator with up to a 66.7 percent stake, Vodafone announced Thursday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2001

Kawasaki Heavy, IHI torpedo tieup

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. have called off their plan to integrate shipbuilding operations, the two companies announced Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2001

Transport ministry seeks to privatize public bodies

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry on Wednesday unveiled a plan to privatize four public corporations under its jurisdiction.

Longform

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