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JAPAN
Jun 10, 1999

Appliance recycling comes to fore

A throwaway society has produced mountains of waste, creating a nightmare that all dumps in this country may be filled in the next seven to eight years.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 9, 1999

The random walk

Hoping to tap into that Amazon.com magic right here in Japan, Softbank (a software and publishing company), Seven-Eleven, Yahoo! Japan and Tohan, a book publisher and distributor, last week announced a joint venture to sell books online. e-Shopping! Books (who thinks up these names?) plans to open for...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 1999

Local governments, businesses form Kansai council

OSAKA — Local governments and business organizations in Kansai and surrounding areas set up a joint council Wednesday to revitalize the regional economy.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 1999

Taxes to fund portion of Minamata payments

The government is expected to subsidize chemical firm Chisso Corp.'s compensation payments to victims of pollution-related diseases caused by the firm's plant in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 1999

Recovery hinges on fast action

Following U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's comments suggesting a change in U.S. monetary policy, the surging U.S. stock market has apparently entered an adjustment phase. To prevent the booming U.S. economy from overheating, it is necessary to fine-tune monetary policy.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 1999

Enterprise Spirit: Internships turn jobless into entrepreneurs

28th in a series of occasional articles about venture businesses
JAPAN
Jun 3, 1999

Immigrants: Foreign laborers attempt to organize

First of two parts
JAPAN
Jun 3, 1999

Obuchi takes competition woes to industry leaders

Japan needs to promote joint projects between the government and the private sector to strengthen its industrial technology, government and business leaders agreed Thursday at a state panel on beefing up industrial competitiveness.
JAPAN
May 28, 1999

Panel ponders ways to reverse falling birthrate

Amid the declining birthrate, the government held its first meeting Friday of Cabinet ministers to discuss ways to encourage young couples to have more children.
JAPAN
May 21, 1999

Ritsumeikan plans global university in Oita

KYOTO -- Ritsumeikan University will establish a new international university in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, next year, Ritsumeikan officials said Friday.
JAPAN
May 21, 1999

Politicians cycle around Diet to raise pollution awareness

Thirty lawmakers pedaled bicycles Friday around the Diet building in a public appeal for the Earth-friendly vehicles.
JAPAN
May 20, 1999

Marrow donors in short supply in Japan

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 20, 1999

Economy has leveled out, but recovery nowhere in sight: BOJ

The economy has stopped deteriorating but a recovery is not yet in sight, the Bank of Japan said in a monthly economic assessment released Thursday.
COMMUNITY
May 19, 1999

Redevelopment fiasco leaves locals in limbo

KOFU, Yamanashi Pref. -- The home of Yutaka Endo (not his real name) resembles one in a lesser-developed nation. His living room walls are stained where the rain has leaked through cracks; the wind whistles through warped window and door frames.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
May 19, 1999

Journeying into the valley of death

"Death Valley," noted our guidebook, "is an inhuman environment: barren and monotonous, burning hot and almost entirely without shade or water." In short, the ideal antidote to Japan's rainy season, which is why we went.
LIFE / Travel
May 13, 1999

Nishi-Ogikubo -- waist-high in green

Tokyoites complain about Tokyo: its chaotic haphazardness, its sprawling largeness, its adamant refusal to be beautiful. Like the room of a teenage boy, it keeps accumulating things, things, things. Then everything is kicked under the bed and the boy goes out for a cheeseburger. Tokyoites can only shrug...
JAPAN
May 12, 1999

Is Japan ready for World Cup fans?

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 12, 1999

Quad ministers back China's WTO bid

Trade ministers from the European Union, Canada, Japan and the United States endorsed a statement Wednesday calling for China's accession to the World Trade Organization by November.
JAPAN
May 12, 1999

World electric firms' meeting hosted in Kyoto

KYOTO -- While differing in policy priorities, eight major electric utility firms from six nations acknowledged the need Wednesday to adjust to fast-changing market conditions.
JAPAN
May 11, 1999

Osaka apologizes for PCB-laden soil

OSAKA -- Osaka Deputy Mayor Junichi Seki apologized Monday for using PCB-laden soil in the construction of Yumeshima Island in Osaka Bay, where the city plans to build an athlete's village for the 2008 Olympics.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Osaka touts guidelines for a greener Olympics

OSAKA -- As part of efforts to be named host city of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Osaka unveiled draft guidelines Monday for reducing environmental burdens from the large-scale event.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Quad talks begin today in Tokyo

Trade ministers from the United States, the European Union, Canada and Japan will begin two days of talks in Tokyo today centered on preparations for the next global trade liberalization negotiations to be held under the auspices of the World Trade Organization.
JAPAN
May 7, 1999

Dioxin: Levels high in incinerator-happy Japan

Last in a series Staff writer
JAPAN
May 6, 1999

Low-pollution vehicles need higher profile

The government needs to boost efforts to promote low-pollution cars, according to an interim report released by a panel under the Environment Agency on Friday.
JAPAN
May 6, 1999

Dioxin: Seveso disaster testament to effects of dioxin

Third in a series
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Dioxin: Proximity to Tokyo dooms Tokorozawa

Second in a seriesStaff writer
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

74% of firms project pension fund shortages

More than 70 percent of the nation's corporate pension programs at the end of March were either short on reserves or expecting a shortage soon, according to survey results released Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 1999

Ishihara calls for foreigners' rights

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Tuesday that the Constitution should be amended to recognize the rights of foreign nationals settled in Japan on a long-term basis.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 1999

Construction chief links dam's fate to plebiscite

The controversial Yoshino River dam project will be scrapped if residents of Tokushima hold a plebiscite and a majority of the voters oppose it, Construction Minister Katsutsugu Sekiya said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 1999

Victims in their own homes

One of Japan's best-kept secrets is the extent to which many of its children are subjected to violence or other abuse inside their own homes. The results, announced this week, of a survey conducted earlier this year by the Tokyo-based Center for Child Abuse Prevention among 500 young mothers of children...

Longform

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