Search - 2000

 
 
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Nuclear safety panel urges vigilance

The government's panel on nuclear safety issued a report Tuesday calling for continued efforts to prevent nuclear accidents, noting that the vigilance maintained since Japan's worst nuclear accident in 1999 has prevented another from occurring.
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2001

A small step forward in Irkutsk

Both Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the achievements made at their talks Sunday in Irkutsk, Siberia. Assessing the same meeting, however, the two leaders inadvertently acknowledged publicly that they were giving different interpretations of the talks on the...
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

Ex-professors admit role in leaking dental exam

A former university professor and an ex-member of the committee that prepares the national dental examinations admitted Monday to being involved in the leaking of exam questions in violation of the Dental Practitioners Law.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2001

Honda prepares to build transportation system in Singapore

Honda Motor Co. said Monday that it will start research next month on a new transportation system in Singapore under which people will share environmentally friendly vehicles.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 27, 2001

Movement that weaves an otherworldly spell

It's not often that a dance production lives up to an ambitious title, but "Luminous," by Saburo Teshigawara and the dance company Karas, certainly does.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 27, 2001

States, nations and identities

ASIAN NATIONALISM, edited by Michael Leifer. Routledge, 2000, pp. 196, 17.99 British pounds (paper). In many ways, an understanding of nationalism is essential to understanding contemporary Asia. For many Asian nations, the colonial experience is only a generation away. They are still wrestling with...
SUMO
Mar 26, 2001

Kaio captures title in Osaka

Ozeki Kaio won the Osaka Haru Basho on Sunday with a 13-2 record after he defeated fellow ozeki Musoyama and yokozuna Takanohana lost to Musashimaru at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2001

Yatsu urges temporary curb on China's vegetable imports

The government should temporarily curb soaring farm product imports from China before it concludes a survey of their impact on the domestic market, Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshio Yatsu said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2001

Contractor applies for court protection

Fujiko Co. applied to the Tokyo District Court on Friday for protection from creditors under the fast-track corporate rehabilitation law, the midsize Japanese contractor said.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2001

Japanese shortwave services fading out in cyberspace age

For Michiteru Takagi, 76, Sunday will signal the end of a daily ritual he has practiced for 42 years.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2001

Owing 980 billion yen, Tokyo Mutual fails

In the insurance industry's fifth failure in fiscal 2000, midtier insurer Tokyo Mutual Life Insurance Co. filed for court protection from its creditors Friday after it was denied capital assistance from its main bank, Daiwa Bank.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2001

Chip makers to make 20% cut in capital outlays

Five major Japanese semiconductor makers are expected to reduce their combined capital investment by around 20 percent in fiscal 2001 due to uncertainty over demand for information technology products, industry sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2001

Land prices seal decade of decline by falling 4.9%

Land prices in Japan declined by an average of 4.9 percent in the year to Jan. 1, falling for the 10th consecutive year amid the nation's prolonged economic slump, the Land Ministry said in a report released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2001

Imports to be curbed via quarantine crackdown

In an effort to curtail surging vegetable imports to Japan, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry will effectively introduce curbs on the volume of products that are permitted to clear quarantine, ministry sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2001

2001 budget set to clear Diet Monday

The ruling and opposition parties agreed Thursday to vote Monday on the fiscal 2001 budget both at the House of Councilors Budget Committee and during the chamber's plenary session, making it certain the budget will pass the Diet before the April 1 start of the new fiscal year.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 23, 2001

Mori planning major overhaul for BayStars

It's been said that life is all about truth and time. Well, truth be told, new Yokohama BayStars manager Masaaki Mori would prefer to spend as much of the time he has left on Earth doing what he loves most -- working in baseball.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 23, 2001

Giants' Maru-chan talks softly and carries a big stick

No one would've blamed Domingo Martinez if he never returned to Japan after the 1998 baseball season. After hitting .283 and smacking 30 home runs for the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions that year, the designated hitter wasn't given a gold watch or even a thank-you note for his efforts. Instead he...
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2001

Afghan refugees to get emergency aid

Japan said Wednesday it will offer $1.86 million in emergency grants to provide relief to Afghans who have fled their homes in the face of a prolonged civil war and natural disasters, the Foreign Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2001

Sato in Sega hot seat

Sega Corp. announced Wednesday that Vice President Hideki Sato has taken over the firm's presidency, following the death of Isao Okawa from heart failure Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2001

Japan bans pork from Netherlands

Japan decided Wednesday to temporarily halt imports of pork and pork products from the Netherlands following reports of a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease there, farm ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2001

FSA eases stance to speed up loan disposal at banks

The Financial Services Agency has said it will not order banks to improve their operations even if they fall into the red -- provided they clear their net business profit targets and adhere to other criteria.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2001

S&P drops Aozora Bank to BB-pi

U.S. credit-rating agency Standard & Poor's has assigned Aozora Bank a credit rating of BB-pi, which is considered speculative.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Mar 21, 2001

Detective work in snow country

Though farther south you are already reveling in springlike breezes, the steady accumulation of snow in the northern third of Japan continues to provide an opportunity for detective work.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2001

Manager of volunteer group suspected of embezzling welfare money

OSAKA -- The manager of a volunteer group in Osaka has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling welfare support money from a homeless man, police said Monday.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 20, 2001

Globalization does its work on Japan

GLOBALIZATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN, edited by J.S. Eades, Tom Gill and Harumi Befu. Trans Pacific Press, Melbourne, 2000. 295 pp., 3,250 yen (paper). The word "globalization" is used with increasing frequency these days. It is variously employed to describe the increasing degrees...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

State of deflation declared as assessment is downgraded

The government on Friday downgraded its overall economic evaluation for the second consecutive month, saying the nation's recovery appears to be stalling on weak production stemming from the U.S. economic slowdown.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

171 fires per day in 2000: agency

There were 62,418 fires in Japan last year, up 3,892, or 6.7 percent, from 1999 for a second straight year of increase, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Friday.

Longform

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