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JAPAN
Jul 4, 2000

Mori re-elected prime minister, selects his new Cabinet

A majority of House of Representatives members voted to have Mori -- president of the Liberal Democratic Party -- keep the prime ministership as the Diet convened for a three-day special session. Mori was also re-elected prime minister by the House of Councilors.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2000

Detention of ex-minister Nakao extended

The Tokyo District Court has decided to allow former Construction Minister Eiichi Nakao to be detained for another 10 days through July 11, sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2000

Cabinet OKs Diet session to pick prime minister

Members of the Cabinet on Saturday approved the convening of a special three-day Diet session from Tuesday to select a prime minister, launch a new Cabinet and hold deliberations.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2000

The 'island' village among giants

Though it's one of Tokyo's busiest school districts, the area around JR Yoyogi Station lacks the lively atmosphere that marks other teenage haunts.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2000

LDP works out city merger strategy

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has decided on a plan to encourage towns and villages across the country to merge into cities, party sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2000

Snow low-fat milk makes over 1,500 sick in Kansai

OSAKA -- Health authorities have announced that 1,524 people have complained of illness in Osaka and seven other prefectures in western Japan after drinking low-fat milk products produced by Snow Brand Milk Products Co.
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2000

Germany says 'no nukes'

The agreement reached earlier this month between the German government and major electric-power companies to phase out that country's commercial nuclear program in about 30 years came as a fresh reminder of the global shift away from nuclear energy production. The "irreversible" landmark agreement is...
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2000

Mori selects Ozato to chair LDP's Executive Council

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has informally appointed Sadatoshi Ozato, former chief of the Management and Coordination Agency, as chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Executive Council, LDP sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

FRC details rules on injecting capital into credit institutions

The Financial Reconstruction Commission unveiled guidelines Thursday for the injection of capital into credit associations and credit unions, the collapse of which could wreak havoc on local economies.
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2000

Setback for ruling coalition

The June 25 Lower House election ended with a voter turnout of only 62.49 percent. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party suffered a sharp setback, with its strength decreasing to 233 seats from a pre-election figure of 271. On the other hand, the top opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, saw...
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2000

Nikkei claims heavy dealing linked to SQ fixation day

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. said Wednesday that a special quotation fixation day was a major factor behind the heavy trading of specific issues during the two days before the announcement of a change in the benchmark Nikkei stock average's components in April, denying a report linking the deals to...
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2000

Japan's voters call for change

Voters apparently called for a change in the nation's politics in Sunday's elections for the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party of Japan consolidated its position as the No. 1 opposition party by winning an additional 35 seats, although it failed to win enough votes to allow it to establish...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 29, 2000

Marriage guide for men begs the question, 'Et tu, Brutus?'

In the cultural wars secular liberalism continues its slow, laborious march toward victory (two steps forward, one step back), but one bastion of male-centered tradition remains inviolate: the marriage proposal. Men do the asking, and women wait for them to ask. The vector indicated by this dynamic mimics...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 28, 2000

All thumbs

In past columns, I've expressed my support for those people you've probably seen silently staring at their cell-phone screens, furiously typing away or intently scrolling. I recently joined their growing number. I think of it as a test drive; others might call it an occupational hazard. At any rate,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 27, 2000

Art, enlightenment and empire

THE IDEALS OF THE EAST, by Okakura Kakuzo. Tokyo: ICG Muse Inc., 2000, 250 pp., 1,300 yen.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Coalition parties stand by Mori

Despite the setback that the ruling bloc suffered at the hands of the public in Sunday's election for the House of Representatives, top leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition allies agreed Monday that Yoshiro Mori should stay on as prime minister.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Ruling coalition secures majority

The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling triumvirate suffered a major setback but secured a majority in the Lower House in the general election held Sunday.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Coalition wins a stable majority

The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling triumvirate suffered a major setback but managed to secure a comfortable majority in the Lower House in Sunday's general election.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jun 24, 2000

An unknown craftsman from Mashiko

Many of you are familiar with the name and works of Shoji Hamada (1894-1977), arguably the most widely famed of all Japanese potters. When he settled in the backwater potting town of Mashiko, Tochigi Prefecture, in Taisho 13 (1924), no one imagined that he would turn the conservative potters' world upside...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2000

Network to monitor pollution

Japan plans to set up an Internet-based program to monitor the environment in the Asia-Pacific region in an effort to assist in the early detection of environmental degradation, Environment Agency sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2000

Good management heeds environment, not culture: scholars

The economic performances of Japan and the United States have contrasted sharply over the past two decades, with Japan's boom in the 1980s and the strong U.S. recovery in the 1990s exposing differences in management styles and the changing nature of models of success.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2000

Sanwa plans Internet bank by yearend

Sanwa Bank said Wednesday it plans to establish an Internet bank in July at the earliest, with an eye to launching deposit-taking and settlement operations by year's end.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2000

Vote with criteria in mind: Hosokawa

Voters should cast their ballots in Sunday's election by asking themselves if the government has steered Japan in a desirable direction and whether it has reinforced the people's trust in politics, former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa says.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2000

Mori downplays election predictions favoring LDP

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Tuesday played down favorable election predictions for his Liberal Democratic Party in the latest newspaper opinion polls.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2000

Age is not all that matters

With the volume favored by candidates' loudspeaker cars, it can be difficult to tell what issues they are addressing in the campaign leading up to Sunday's election for the House of Representatives. Both the ruling and opposition parties are engaging in the usual name-calling and sloganeering and not...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jun 20, 2000

This next one's for Mom: getting their Crispy Nuts off

"What you doing tonight?" asks Paul. "I'm going to see Crispy Nuts at Antiknock," I answer.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2000

Expat candidates enter the political fray

As campaigning for Sunday's Lower House election heats up, two candidates are lucky to have a guaranteed point of interest — one comes from Finland, the other from China.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2000

Panel proposes carbon tax on fossil fuels

The government's Tax Commission is to propose a carbon tax on gasoline, coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels as a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in an interim report to be presented to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori next month, commission sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2000

A portal to style and fashion

Tokyo's Harajuku district — encompassing Omotesando Boulevard, modeled on the Champs Elysees, and the countless side streets and alleys that surround it — hosts some of the nation's most fashionable cafes and restaurants.

Longform

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