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JAPAN
Oct 24, 2000

Japan, Russia agree to seek new avenue

Japan and Russia on Monday agreed to seek new ways to resolve territorial disputes by the end of this year, now that it appears unlikely the row over a group of islands off Hokkaido will be resolved in time to conclude a bilateral peace treaty this year as planned.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2000

Troubled insurer Kyoei seeks court protection

Kyoei Life Insurance Co., a troubled midsize insurer with liabilities of about 4.5 trillion yen, filed for protection from creditors with the Tokyo District Court on Friday, making it the largest life insurer to collapse since World War II, company officials said.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 6, 2000

Festival to celebrate composer Ikuma Dan

"Dan Year 2000," a nine-month festival featuring the works of Japanese composer Ikuma Dan, will begin Oct. 15.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 3, 2000

Diners, look before you eat

AT THE JAPANESE TABLE, by Richard Hosking. Images of Asia. Oxford University Press, 2000, 70 pp., 22 color plates, 19 b/w, unpriced. THE ESSENCE OF JAPANESE CUISINE: An Essay on Food and Culture, by Michael Ashkenazi and Jeanne Jacob. Richmond/Surrey: Curzon Press, 2000, 252 pp., 11 b/w photos, 45 British...
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2000

Police promises are not enough

A feature of the National Police Agency's new white paper for 2000 is its recognition of the need to repair the tarnished image of Japan's scandal-tainted police forces. In a preface titled "Aiming to Regain the Nation's Trust," the document for the first time ever in a report of this kind tackles the...
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2000

Snow Brand to cut 1,300 jobs, form alliance with Nestle

Snow Brand Milk Products Co., which was embroiled in a massive food-poisoning scandal this summer, unveiled a major restructuring plan Tuesday that includes cutting 1,300 jobs -- 20 percent of its workforce -- within 21/2 years and closing its Osaka plant.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2000

Government debt surpasses 500 trillion yen, GDP

The government's outstanding debt at the end of June totaled 502.3687 trillion yen, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier and topping the 500 trillion yen mark for the first time, the Finance Ministry reported Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2000

Domestic auto output up for seventh month

Domestic motor vehicle production in August rose 7.1 percent on the year to 695,620 units for the seventh straight month of year-on-year rise, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Monday.
OLYMPICS
Sep 26, 2000

Observers stunned by Takahashi's feat

SYDNEY -- The Olympic host nation has taken a break from self-aggrandizement to applaud Naoko Takahashi for raising the standard for all marathons to come with her record-breaking time in the women's marathon Sunday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2000

State admits CJD-tainted dura mater was imported

Contradicting its previous claims, the government has admitted that Japan probably imported German medical products that reportedly caused Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease even after the United States had warned of the danger in 1987.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2000

World Bank warns lack of reforms may sabotage East Asian recovery

The World Bank said Monday that East Asian economies could slip back into another recession if lingering weaknesses in the banking and corporate sectors continue to be ignored.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 19, 2000

Poetry that brings countries together

THE WEATHER IN JAPAN, by Michael Longley. Jonathan Cape, 2000, 70 pp., 8 British pounds. HAY, by Paul MULDOON. Faber & Faber, 140 pp., 7.99 British pounds. A SMELL OF FISH, by Matthew Sweeney. Jonathan Cape, 2000, 64 pp., 8 British pounds. Irland and Japan: two countries at the far extremities of the...
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Sep 17, 2000

Tokyo poets get a night out to Howl

Howl, the bar in Aoyama, was founded just after Allen Ginsberg's death in 1997.
OLYMPICS
Sep 16, 2000

Olympic rings and the color of money

Just about everybody in the world knows it is happening, but exactly what is it?
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

1% growth pledge to be met: EPA

EPA chief Taichi Sakaiya said Wednesday that Japan's economy will grow at a pace of 1 percent or higher in fiscal 2000, as promised earlier by the government.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2000

Extra Diet session to begin Sept. 21

Senior government and ruling coalition officials have agreed to convene a 72-day extraordinary Diet session to begin on Sept. 21 and end Dec. 1, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Monday.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Sep 12, 2000

Intercultural influences

East-West fusions are nothing new. Nearly 100 years ago, some Western classical music was influenced by Indian classical or Javanese gamelan music. In the 1950s, violinist Yehudi Menuhin performed with Indian sarod player Ali Akbar Khan and sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. By the 1960s, John Coltrane was...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 10, 2000

That Fukuoka Dome Japan Series screw-up

While it's pretty much a foregone conclusion the Yomiuri Giants are going to win their first Central League pennant in four years, the Pacific League race is a dandy that threatens to go to the Oct. 9 wire with three teams in the running: the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, Seibu Lions and Nippon Ham Fighters....
COMMENTARY
Sep 9, 2000

Parties plan for the 2001 vote

A new political season begins in Japan when an extraordinary Diet session starts later this month.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2000

Top five steelmakers to forgo dividends

Japan's top five steelmakers will not pay dividends for the first half of fiscal 2000 as they continue to face a difficult business climate, according to consolidated earnings projections for the April to September period released Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2000

Chip makers plan huge investment

Japan's five major semiconductor chip makers plan to invest a record 954 billion yen this fiscal year to expand or improve manufacturing facilities, company officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2000

Toshiba transforms for IT revolution

Back in the 1960s, a TV set, a refrigerator and a washing machine symbolized affluence for Japanese households. They were dubbed the "three sacred treasures" -- an analogy to the sword, mirror and sacred bead treasured by the Imperial Household.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2000

Mori, Putin make little progress

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded their two-day summit in Tokyo on Tuesday, agreeing to continue peace treaty negotiations toward the yearend deadline but with a territorial dispute stuck at an impasse.
EDITORIALS
Sep 4, 2000

Budget reform, not budget tricks

The government budget for fiscal 2001 is shaping up now that the Finance Ministry has received requests from all ministries and agencies. Their estimates, which include debt payments and revenue transfers to local governments, total about 84.8 trillion yen, down 0.2 percent from the initial budget for...
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2000

Budget requests fall 0.2%

General-account budget requests from government ministries and agencies for fiscal 2001 totaled some 84.83 trillion yen, down 0.2 percent from the initial budget for fiscal 2000, Finance Ministry officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2000

Market to clear low hurdles, creep upward

The Tokyo stock market has rebounded strongly after confirming its bottom on Aug. 4, when the 225-issue Nikkei average hit 15,666.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2000

Windows Me to hit shelves Sept. 23

Microsoft Co. said Monday that it will start sales of the Japanese version of its latest edition of the Windows operating system on Sept. 23, with the upgrade to be released the day before.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 27, 2000

West is best as Pixi shines

RIFU, Miyagi Pref. -- East is East but West was best on Saturday night as the J-West team beat the J-East squad 5-2 in the 2000 J. League Tarami All-Star Soccer match at Miyagi Stadium, one of the venues for the 2002 World Cup.
COMMENTARY
Aug 25, 2000

Turbulent times await Mori

Japan's new political season will open in late September, when an extraordinary Diet session starts after the summer recess. Politics in the upcoming year will be marked by three potential turning points.

Longform

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