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JAPAN
Mar 9, 2000

Fall in Obuchi's popularity blamed on recent scandals

Public support for Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet has fallen to 41 percent, down 4.6 percentage points from December, an indication of discontent over scandals involving government officials, according to a Kyodo News public opinion survey.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2000

Mori Building plans project with MOMA for museum

In a tieup with the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Mori Building Co. will open a contemporary art museum in Tokyo's Roppongi district in 2003, the company said.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2000

Cash, cops keep officer's stalking quiet

OSAKA -- An Osaka police officer paid 1 million yen to a woman two years ago to privately settle a complaint that he harassed her by repeatedly asking her to go out with him, prefectural police revealed Tuesday.
JAPAN / Media
Mar 2, 2000

Never mind public health; insiders rule

It will be interesting to see how "The Insider" is promoted when it opens here in May. If it wins a bunch of Academy Awards, then the campaign will be easy, but if it doesn't then the PR people will have to be creative. Most Japanese ad campaigns for foreign films rely on stars, but Russell Crowe, who...
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 1, 2000

Always more

In recent columns I explored purchasing English-friendly computers in Japan. Here is a little more information submitted by a reader who thinks it will be useful for those needing extended language capabilities for their computers, but first he has something to say about agreements, both local and international,...
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2000

DDI cuts cash flow to bankrupt Iridium

DDI Corp. President Yusai Okuyama said Thursday that the company would not make an additional investment in Iridium LLC, the financially troubled U.S. satellite telecommunications company. Okuyama also told a regular news conference that Nippon Iridium Corp., which provides satellite phone services...
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2000

Mitsui pulls out of insurers' merger plan

Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co. announced Monday that it will pull out of a three-way merger plan with Nippon Fire & Marine and Koa Fire & Marine, opting instead to strengthen its ties with other Mitsui corporate group firms and seek an alliance with Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co. Speaking...
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2000

State appeals Amagasaki pollution ruling

The central government and Hanshin Expressway Public Corp. filed an appeal Tuesday with the Kobe District Court over a Jan. 31 ruling ordering them to compensate residents in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, for air pollution-related health damages allegedly caused by an expressway. The ruling states that...
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2000

Analysis: Ota's first priority is to refill city coffers

Staff writer OSAKA -- Fusae Ota's election win here Sunday night is good news for local residents and the nation as a whole, in the sense that Osaka has elected the nation's first female governor. It is also good news for Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, because since a win for Ota, a former bureaucrat...
COMMENTARY
Feb 2, 2000

Is the U.S. on the right track?

As we enter the Year of the Dragon, U.S. bilateral relations with key states in Northeast Asia generally appear on track. Ties with America's two key allies, Japan and Korea, remain steady, as the Trilateral Cooperation and Oversight Group process has helped to keep all three in sync when dealing with...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Government to set up antihacker task force

The government Wednesday decided to establish a task force of specialists to prevent computer vandalism by hackers and make a manual at an early date. The decision was made at a meeting of section chiefs from all ministries and government agencies in charge of computer-related issues. Earlier in the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2000

A mother's place is in the Diet

Babies are always news, but an even more special baby than usual is expected in Japan in April. Its mother is a news-maker herself: Diet member and former Olympic speed skater and cyclist Ms. Seiko Hashimoto. Dubbed a "superwoman" of Japanese athletics, Ms. Hashimoto competed in seven consecutive Olympics...
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2000

Internet convergence is changing the rules

In the current global market environment, where Internet-related business alliances are becoming the order of the day, one big-name firm after another is getting on the bandwagon.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2000

90% in plebiscite say no, but dam project stands

The government will proceed with plans to build a dam across the Yoshino River in Shikoku even though a local plebiscite Sunday found over 90 percent of those who voted oppose the project, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Monday. In Tokushima, Gov. Toshio Endo also said the prefecture will continue...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 16, 2000

Dragons getting the real thing in Nilsson

The Central League's Chunichi Dragons have signed free-agent ex-Milwaukee Brewers catcher and bona fide major-leaguer Dave Nilsson, and Dragons manager Senichi Hoshino couldn't be happier. Having lost out to the rival Tokyo Yomiuri Giants for the services of Japanese free-agents Akira Eto and Kimiyasu...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2000

The U.N. should have its day in court

A report in the Jan. 10 issue of The Age newspaper stated that the National Post newspaper of Canada had editorialized that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan should resign. The National Post editorial call was made in the light of the alleged inaction of Annan when he was chief of U.N. peacekeeping forces...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2000

Peers rate Ishihara as not 'approachable'

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara revealed discomposure Friday when questioned about the low rating he received in a survey of 400 metropolitan government employees. "It doesn't show anything," the governor retorted in a regular news conference. Ishihara received an average score of 60 out of 100 in the...
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2000

LDP downplays Osaka rift, backs Ota for governor

Top executives of the Liberal Democratic Party formally decided Tuesday to back a former trade ministry official for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Osaka, despite a rebellion from its Osaka chapter, which supports a different candidate. On Tuesday evening, LDP Secretary General Yoshiro Mori...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2000

What's lurking behind Kan's smile?

Staff writer "Sometimes articles about it are written in a humorous and bantering way," said a grinning Naoto Kan, skillfully evading a reporter's question on Thursday. At his first news conference of the new year, the Democratic Party of Japan's policy chief was asked if he will run in the party's...
JAPAN
Dec 31, 1999

Pyongyang 'spy' tied to hijackers

A man believed to be detained in North Korea entered the country as part of a group organized by a former leader of the Red Army faction, according to sources close to Tokyo-Pyongyang relations. The sources said a five-member group led by Takaya Shiomi, 60, left Narita airport Nov. 30 and arrived in...
JAPAN
Dec 31, 1999

2000 'pivotal' in ties with Pyongyang

Staff writer For better or worse, future historians may characterize 2000 as a pivotal point in Japan's foreign policy toward its hermetic neighbor, North Korea. This is mainly because one of Japan's long-standing diplomatic issues -- normalization talks with Pyongyang -- is likely to enter a critical...
JAPAN
Dec 28, 1999

Miyazawa hits state's dependency on debt

The government must begin fiscal reconstruction to tackle the debt-dependent situation once the economy begins to recover, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Tuesday. The reforms should include tax overhauls and local government reforms, Miyazawa said in his final news conference for the year. The...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Dec 15, 1999

Follow the money

Japan's back. After nearly a decade of economic stagnation, this country is getting its act together.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1999

Light up -- ante up: New tobacco tax on the way

Staff writer The good news -- at last -- for Japan's ailing state coffers spells bad news for Japan's estimated 33.63 million smokers: The nation's most powerful policymaker announced Wednesday that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will consider raising the tax on cigarettes by 40 yen per pack, starting...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 1999

'Knock' to take suit ruling seriously

OSAKA -- Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama told a news conference Tuesday that he would "take seriously" Monday's anticipated ruling in the sexual harassment lawsuit against him, which he did not contest. He also told the day's regular news conference that he would pay compensation if the court orders him...
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 1999

Tough times again for Ozawa

While I was away from Japan on a recent overseas trip, the nation was plunged into political confusion following Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa's threat to leave the ruling three-party coalition. Ozawa suggested that his party could quit the alliance -- which also includes the Liberal Democratic Party...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 1999

Got juice? Cleve does

If my man Cleveland Williams' 35th birthday party at Boogies in Roppongi this past week was not the coolest off-the-hook, mind-blowing, no-holds-barred, woman-chasing, brain-cell-damaging event of the year so far, then I fear the party that might top it. It's a good thing parties like this only happen...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1999

Internet school to grant U.S. diploma

In a new attempt at alternative education, a Japanese venture company said Wednesday it will launch a home school in April in which students use the Internet to study at home in Japan and "graduate" from an American high school.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat