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JAPAN
Feb 8, 2001

Ministry funded Cabinet Secretariat on the sly: officials

Some of the Foreign Ministry's discretionary diplomacy funds were given to the Cabinet Secretariat every year despite legal restrictions on the transfer of budget funds between government organs, some government officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2001

Ministry funded Cabinet Secretariat on the sly: officials

Some of the Foreign Ministry's discretionary diplomacy funds were given to the Cabinet Secretariat every year despite legal restrictions on the transfer of budget funds between government organs, some government officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Construction firms' profits slide

The combined unconsolidated operating profits at Japan's 52 major construction companies declined 29.9 percent to 100.6 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2000, the Research Institute of Construction and Economy said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2001

Four major department stores plan to merge home deliveries

Four of Japan's leading department store chains will jointly launch in April a unified goods home-delivery system in Tokyo and end their separate services, Mitsukoshi Ltd. said Friday.
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Jan 4, 2001

Information disclosure could give power to citizens if they get involved

Satoru Ienishi felt overwhelming anger as he watched a newscast at his Tokyo office on June 13, 1998.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 25, 2000

World fisheries collapsing as technology and demand soar

As this is the season of giving, here is a gift, a riddle:
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2000

Japan, U.S. urged to forget trade spats and rethink focus

Japan and the United States should shift the focus of their economic relationship away from coping with individual trade issues and toward creating a more business-friendly environment, according to a still-classified Foreign Ministry report.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2000

Yatsu hits Yokohama betting tax plan

Yoshio Yatsu, the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said Friday he opposes Yokohama's plan to introduce Japan's first local tax on horse-race betting.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 5, 2000

Blues for the new millennium

The new CD puts a contemporary spin on classic blues-rock. "It's a ticket to the show." That's how Canadian band leader Robin Suchy describes the newly released CD he produced with his 10-man blues band, the Howling Loochie Brothers.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2000

Defense dialogue with Russia set to resume in January

The top Defense Agency bureaucrat will visit Russia in January, marking a resumption of defense dialogue suspended when a Japanese naval officer was found in September to have passed classified documents to a Russian military attache, according to Japanese defense officials.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 23, 2000

The man who never forgets a sake

Haruo Matsuzaki raises the small glass to his nose, sniffs for but a couple of seconds, and takes in a small sip. Slurping in a bit of air, he scribbles for a few seconds into his ever-present tiny notebook, finally expelling the sake into the spittoon next to the table. On to the next.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2000

Residency given despite false 'war orphan' claim

Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka granted a special residency permit Tuesday to a 39-year-old Chinese man and his family who arrived in Japan in 1994 and passed themselves off as the blood relatives of a Japanese "war orphan."
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Nov 7, 2000

A fine fuzzy day out at Rocktober

The inaugural Rocktober festival on Sunday, Oct. 15, at Shiokaze Park in Odaiba, confounded my expectations: I had a great time.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2000

Do the Japanese have a sense of humor?

A Jewish peddler boldly visits the house of a rich nobleman. The place is Rome and the time, well, about 2,000 years ago, plus or minus a few decades here or there.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 29, 2000

Local boy makes good on his own

It is practically impossible to beat the odds and attain major recognition and success in Japan as an individual artist. When an artist does achieve success it is usually the result of a miracle -- or nepotism. It is not uncommon for gallerists who want to promote a particular artist to arrange a show...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2000

An 'extreme' sport that's truly off the wall

As we search for bigger thrills and harder adrenaline rushes, more and more people are pursuing a break from the norm with "extreme" sports.
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Oct 5, 2000

The power of St. John's wort: A herb to make you happy

In these days of miracle medication for nearly any psychological complaint, the botanical alternatives are getting a lot of attention. There have been happiness remedies around for millennia, of course; as with most botanical treatments, the knowledge is ancient.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

Japan should look toward FTAs: report

Japan should actively explore the possibility of concluding free-trade agreements with some developing countries while forging closer economic relations with the United States and other industrialized countries through other types of new bilateral arrangements, according to a government report.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2000

Foreign residents on slow boat to get vote

The Japanese woman was unhappy.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Sep 28, 2000

Have some madeira, my dear

What's fascinating, fortified and fun to discover?
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2000

Whaling issue not black and white

Incensed over Japan's expanded whaling program, Washington has threatened Tokyo with trade sanctions in what the media have largely portrayed as a black and white issue.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 19, 2000

Laos' fractured human map

LAO HILL TRIBES: Traditions and Patterns of Existence, by Stephen Mansfield. Images of Asia: Oxford University Press, 2000. 120 pp., 21 color plates, 24 monochrome, unpriced. In a sense, Laos remains closer to a conglomeration of tribes than it does to a conventional state composed of a unified people....
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2000

Diplomat in spy scandal leaves Japan

A Russian military attache at the Russian Embassy in Tokyo left Japan on Saturday after a senior officer of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force was arrested early Friday for allegedly passing defense secrets to him.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 4, 2000

Eat your beans and drink your beer

There is nothing better than thirst-quenching cold beer on hot summer evenings, and many Japanese would probably agree that one of the best snacks to match with beer is young green soybeans, known as edamame in Japanese.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 31, 2000

Art and history intersect in U.S. ambassador's residence

Most of us only dream of being able to pick out our favorite pieces of art from museums to display in our homes.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2000

Agency to create database of tidelands

The Environment Agency will create a database of tidelands in Japan, making records on topography and fauna over a five-year period to protect those sites, agency officials said Tuesday.

Longform

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