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JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Employees' mental health on decline

The mental health of company employees has deteriorated significantly since fiscal 1996, with anxiety and obsessive behavior on the rise, according to a survey conducted by a private research institute.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 29, 2001

American culture now just part of the furniture

Following decades of hot pursuit, Japan feels it no longer needs to catch up with the U.S. Fifth in a series Staff writer Who would have believed 50 years ago that the hatred spawned during World War II could dissipate to the extent that former enemies now reminisce about shared cultural experiences,...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 29, 2001

Crafting a way back to natural Kyushu living

An exhibition of photographs, pottery and woodwork made by participants in an nonprofit organization, Eco Link Association, with a view to increasing public awareness of environmental issues will be held Sept. 1-9 at Session House Garden in Kagurazaka, Shinjuku Ward.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Aug 29, 2001

Fed set to slash interest rates once again

There appears a good chance the U.S. Federal Reserve will lower interest rates again at its Oct. 2 policy-setting committee meeting.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 29, 2001

Is self-promotion the deep need of his soul?

It's hard not to be impressed with all the things Takashi Murakami has done. Still shy of 40, he enjoys a level of international recognition shared by perhaps no more than a dozen of the world's leading contemporary artists.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Trio held in loan scam tied to credit union NSK

Three people, including the head of a Tokyo-based consulting company, were arrested Tuesday for allegedly swindling a credit union out of some 160 million yen.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 29, 2001

Charlie Haden: 'Nocturne'

Bolero is the Latin American equivalent of ballads -- slow, romantic, mid-tempo and loaded with sentimentality. As such, it is a style of music more suited to dancers moving cheek-to-cheek by candlelight than to a cutting-edge improvisational jazz artist. But on his latest release on the Gitanes label,...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Entertainment firm in tax evasion tangle

Entertainment production firm Rising Production Co., which counts pop stars Namie Amuro and Da Pump in its stable, was found by tax officials to have evaded taxes on income of 2 billion yen in the three years to August 1999, sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Koizumi targets rising joblessness

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday told his Cabinet ministers to take additional steps to deal with rising unemployment.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Kawakami to replace JICA head Saito

Veteran diplomat Takao Kawakami will replace Kunihiko Saito as head of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2001

Pressure on reforms likely as bleeding starts

The nation's unemployment rate, which hit an all-time high of 5 percent in July, may present the greatest threat to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reforms, begging the question, "Is reform worth the pain?"
CULTURE / Art
Aug 29, 2001

Prints to restore blocked vision

An exhibition of woodblock prints by Seiichi Suzuki is on show until Sept. 10 at Za Gallery Bunkyo in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Kyoto postmaster also taken into custody

OSAKA -- Yet another former senior official at the Kinki Postal Administration Office has been arrested on suspicion of using his position to urge postmasters to support the campaign of newly elected House of Councilors lawmaker Kenji Koso, police said.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 29, 2001

Sizzla: 'Black History'

This, I believe, is Sizzla's 16th album since his 1995 debut, although forgive me if I've missed one or two in my calculation, as we're talking about a reggae artist so prolific that, this year alone, we're looking at the possibility of four new albums.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Ogi told to submit privatization plans

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday ordered transport minister Chikage Ogi to submit her ministry's draft plans for privatizing six controversial state-backed corporations.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2001

Shiokawa tries to talk yen down

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa told a regular news conference Tuesday he hopes to see the yen weaken against the dollar.
EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2001

The world without the Soviet Union

Ten years ago this month, the Soviet Union collapsed in one final, drunken spasm. After decades of fear, the Soviet threat vanished with the proverbial whimper when Communist hardliners launched a last desperate coup attempt to bring then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev back into line. They failed,...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2001

Trends in life learning for senior citizens

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- So much talk about globalization issues nowadays overshadows a couple of other equally important current developments: the longer life span of individuals and their wish to lead a meaningful period of time as silver-haired "senior citizens."
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

State to finance NGOs' participation in conflict-prevention activities abroad

In a bid to raise its low profile in international peacekeeping efforts, Japan is embarking on a significant financial-assistance program for domestic nongovernmental organizations participating in overseas conflict-prevention activities.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Mitsui, Sumitomo to merge fertilizer sales subsidiaries

Mitsui & Co. and Sumitomo Corp. plan to streamline their operations by merging their wholly owned fertilizer sales subsidiaries by around April, officials of the two trading companies said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Infrastructure spending key to town mergers

The government plans to emphasize social infrastructure investment as part of a comprehensive plan to support mergers of cities, towns and villages, according to a draft plan obtained by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Toshiba to eliminate 17,000 jobs

Toshiba Corp. announced Monday it will slash 17,000 jobs in Japan -- 12 percent of its domestic workforce -- by the end of March 2004 amid the worldwide slump in the information technology sector.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Aug 28, 2001

J. League bosses don't always get enough support from front office

Before the start of the J. League Division One second stage earlier this month, four clubs -- the Yokohama F. Marinos, Kashiwa Reysol, Nagoya Grampus Eight and Tokyo Verdy 1969 -- changed their managers. Last week Cerezo Osaka also changed its boss with the departure of Hiroshi Soejima and the arrival...
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Investigators search home of slain policeman's assailant

Investigators Monday searched the home of a man who fatally stabbed a police officer in Setagaya Ward on Sunday before dying of a gunshot wound suffered in the struggle, Metropolitan Police Department sources said.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Automakers' sales results split for July

Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. saw domestic sales rise in July, while sales for Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. fell, according to data released by the companies Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 28, 2001

Lions top BlueWave 7-3

Kazuhiro Wada went 2-for-2, including a two-run homer in the second inning, and drove home three runs as the Seibu Lions handed Orix its seventh straight loss by beating the BlueWave 7-3 at the Seibu Dome on Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Ikeda Elementary reopens in wake of June slayings

IKEDA, Osaka Pref. -- Eighty days after the massacre of eight children at Osaka Kyoiku University Ikeda Elementary School, the school reopened Monday at a new temporary structure with several new features designed to ensure the safety of its approximately 680 students.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even through immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’