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JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

12-year air pollution suit officially ends

OSAKA -- A 12-year air pollution suit was finally resolved Friday as residents of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, and the central government and an expressway operator formally settled the case at the Osaka High Court after the state pledged to take specific steps to reduce harmful vehicle emissions.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Matsushita to make cellphones in Latin America

OSAKA -- Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., the nation's leading maker of mobile phones, is considering building a new plant in Mexico or South America to enhance overseas production, the company's president said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

Slovakia hopes for Japanese Embassy in capital

Slovakia wants Japan to establish an embassy in its capital, Bratislava, and scrap visa requirements to enhance bilateral ties, according to Jozef Migas, president of the National Council -- Slovakia's parliament.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

Sides reach settlement over air pollution suit

OSAKA -- An out-of-court settlement was reached Friday in a 12-year air pollution suit filed against the state and an expressway operator by residents of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, who claim they or deceased family members developed asthma and other illnesses due to harmful substances released by motor...
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

Matsushita sets sights on 2003

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Thursday that it expects to raise annual group sales to about 9 trillion yen in fiscal 2003, up about 20 percent from the current level.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2000

Dual corporate tax system eyed

The Home Affairs Ministry on Tuesday proposed a dual corporate tax system that would force businesses to pay local taxes, even if they are operating in the red.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2000

Tieup to create largest chemical firm in nation

Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Mitsui Chemicals Inc., Japan's second- and third-largest chemical firms, said Friday they will integrate their management by October 2003 in a bid to survive intensified global competition.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2000

Japan to promote commercial use of space station

The Space Activities Commission on Monday compiled a draft report that includes the promotion of commercial use as well as scientific and technological research at a Japanese laboratory to be built within the International Space Station, commission officials said.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2000

Chemical firms plan integration

Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. -- Japan's No. 2 and No. 3 chemical manufacturers -- will integrate their management and possibly merge outright as early as the fall of next year, company sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2000

Ruling bloc to keep majority: projection

The three-party ruling coalition will keep its majority in the House of Councilors -- albeit by a narrow margin -- in next summer's election, which is to be held under a new electoral system, according to a Kyodo News projection.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2000

System to track sea radiation from nuclear mishaps

Japanese maritime authorities will launch a computer system by March 2004 to trace radiation in seas after accidents involving vessels carrying cargo such as spent nuclear fuel, according to Transport Ministry officials.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 26, 2000

Everyman Redgrave anything but in boat

LONDON -- From across a crowded room, Steve Redgrave hardly looks like a legendary athlete. He's lanky, excessively polite and his hair is thinning at an alarmingly quick rate. He walks around wearing a sheepish grin and his laugh is loud and long. If you didn't know any better, you'd swear he's the...
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2000

Rich seniors must pay more: social security panel

An advisory panel to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori wants rich elderly people to contribute to social security again to contain the rise in costs being paid by working people, the panel's final report says.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2000

11 trillion yen plan gets official nod

The government adopted a comprehensive stimulus package Thursday worth nearly 11 trillion yen in its latest bid to place the long-stagnant economy on a full-fledged recovery track.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2000

Compromise bid fails to quiet Diet

The ruling and opposition camps remained at odds on Tuesday after both sides effectively rejected mediation efforts by the Upper House president to resolve the drawn-out row over revision of the electoral system.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2000

Olympic success puts Sydney at the top

SYDNEY -- So you liked watching the world's best-ever Olympic Games? Wait, there's more. Hold that remote control for the next sports extravaganza from Australia, the Sydney 2000 Paralympics.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2000

Taiwan shift away from reactors may deal blow to Japanese firms

Taiwan's Economics Ministry has taken a step toward loosening the island's reliance on nuclear power in a move that could be a major blow to Japanese firms in the atomic power industry.
OLYMPICS
Oct 2, 2000

Olympics end -- the party begins

SYDNEY -- The world's premier sporting carnival drew to a close in an extravaganza of sight and sound Sunday as the Olympic host city prepared to party the night away to bid farewell to the last Summer Games of the 20th Century.
OLYMPICS
Oct 2, 2000

Olympics draw to a close

SYDNEY -- They came, they saw and some even conquered, but Sydney was the undisputed winner as the Games drew to a close Sunday and the last medals were being decided. These Olympics will be exalted as the best Games ever.
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2000

Matsushita to join Toray in plasma display panels

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toray Industries Inc. announced Thursday that the two companies have agreed to set up a joint venture next month by integrating their plasma display panel businesses.
OLYMPICS
Sep 27, 2000

Diver Terauchi finishes eighth

(Kyodo) Japanese hope Ken Terauchi finished a creditable eighth out of 12 in the men's 3-meter springboard final Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2000

Capital relocation scheme under attack

The Liberal Democratic Party and one of its two allies, the New Conservative Party, plan to start adjusting opinions within the ruling bloc on freezing the government's plan to relocate the functions of the central government outside Tokyo, party sources said.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2000

FRC approves banks' plan to set up Mizuho Holdings

The Financial Reconstruction Commission approved a plan Thursday by Fuji Bank, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan to set up a holding company as well as a plan by a Sakura Bank-led consortium to form an Internet bank.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Sep 7, 2000

Dream Team foes face mission impossible

I left Team USA's practice on Tuesday with one lingering thought: poor Angola. At the time, I didn't even know exactly where Angola was (it turns out it's just north of Namibia along the Rio Cunene, if that helps any). But here's what I already knew about the country: It has a basketball team that's...

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.