search

 
 
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Parties begin campaigning for Tokyo assembly election

Campaigning for the June 24 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election — widely viewed as the political prelude to July's House of Councilors poll — officially got under way Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Missile plan, Okinawa top Tanaka trip agenda

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka heads for Washington today with the U.S. missile defense plan and issues related to the U.S. military presence in Okinawa topping the agenda for talks to be held on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2001

FSA gives eBank preliminary OK

The Financial Services Agency on Friday granted a preliminary banking license to eBank Corp., making it the nation's third Internet-based bank, the agency said.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2001

Kanematsu in insider trading probe

Kanematsu Electronics Ltd. has acknowledged that a board member was involved in an act that could be regarded as insider trading.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Will Koizumi factor win Tokyo for LDP?

The apparently overwhelming popularity of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will be put to its first real test in less than 10 days, when the results of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election — campaigning for which began Friday — are announced June 24. And in spite of his popularity, those involved...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 16, 2001

Isobe drives in six as Buffaloes charge

Koichi Isobe of Kintetsu drove in six runs with a two-run homer in the third inning off reliever Shintaro Yamasaki and a grand slam in the sixth off Hisashi Tokano as the Buffaloes triumphed over the Orix BlueWave 12-5 at the Osaka Dome on Friday night.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Youths having trouble with proverbs

The younger people are, the more likely they are to misinterpret proverbs, the Cultural Affairs Agency said in connection with a survey carried out on the Japanese language.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2001

Insurance chief lauds FSA's proposal on cutting yields

The chairman of the Life Insurance Association of Japan welcomed the Financial Services Agency's plan to allow life insurers to cut yields promised to policyholders.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2001

BOJ resists pressure, maintains monetary policy

The Bank of Japan decided to keep its monetary policy unchanged Friday, despite strong pressure earlier in the week from politicians and the Finance Ministry for further easing.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 16, 2001

No one can replace this man in my life

I admit it -- I forgot about Father's Day. But before all you fathers start wagging your fingers at me and threatening to send me to bed without dinner, I'd like to redeem myself by writing a Father's Day column.
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2001

Urgent tasks for Koizumi

Peace and stability in East Asia in the coming years will hinge on Japan's political and economic leadership, North-South rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula, China's policies as an emerging regional power and strategies of the United States, the sole superpower.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 16, 2001

Gordon Shin Guy

"This country is so vast, with a spectrum from game parks to beaches and everything in between. There's so much to do outdoors, and nature is all around you. You can go walking up Table Mountain, go swimming, mountain-biking, picnicking, wine-tasting. You're not governed by the weather, as more than...
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2001

Toyota releases new hybrid minivan

The world's first mass-produced hybrid minivan, the Estima Hybrid from Toyota Motor Corp., went on sale Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2001

Sony to shift engineers to new unit

Sony Corp. will transfer its engineering division for mass-produced products, such as radios and radio-cassette decks, to a new subsidiary on July 1 to facilitate product development and production, officials said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2001

Time for the suits to make way for dresses

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Japan is going through an interesting period of political change. Or is it? A Japanese colleague in Cambridge who was in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago came back to say that it was only an interlude and that the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would only last a few months,...
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Refrigerant gases to be banned

The House of Councilors on Friday approved a bill mandating the retrieval and destruction of ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases used in automobile air conditioners, industrial refrigerators and cooling systems.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Sakaguchi in favor of hibakusha law revision

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi called Friday for a law on medical allowances for atomic bomb survivors to be revised so it covers survivors living outside Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Basics must still precede computer skills: teachers

While the government is actively promoting education on information technology starting in elementary school, some teachers question the wisdom of getting children started on computers at such an early age.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Transfer more tax authority to local governments: panel

A state panel on decentralization urged the central government Thursday to transfer more authority to local governments to secure their own tax revenues.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Transplant chief 'subsidized' founders

The head of Japan Organ Transplant Network, the nation's sole coordinator of organ transplants, gave 70 million yen to a professor and a hospital director who helped establish the network in 1997, according to sources familiar with the case.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2001

Backers of Chinese press in Malaysia mobilize to defend its freedom

KUALA LUMPUR -- Despite stringent mass media laws, Chinese newspapers in Malaysia have built a reputation for objective, balanced and accurate political reporting and analyses. This widely-held perception among all ethnic groups in multiracial Malaysia -- Malays, Chinese and Indians -- often stands in...
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2001

Vietnam trainees to study mining

A government advisory panel on coal mining approved a plan Thursday to invite 60 Vietnamese trainees to Japan in August as part of an attempt to transfer Japan's expertise in coal mining before it vanishes.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Teachers brave frontline of national IT offensive

SHIKI, Saitama Pref. — Sitting in pairs behind computer screens, 30 fifth-graders at Muneoka No. 3 Elementary School here try to catch an English word spoken by computer and select the corresponding picture by mouse.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

870,000 subscribers make Koizumi e-zine No. 1?

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday launched the inaugural edition of his e-mail magazine, which, with more than 870,000 subscribers, perhaps makes it one of the largest e-mail magazines in the world. The number of subscribers is ballooning by the minute, the government's public relations division...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Ministry has wine bonanza on public funds

The Foreign Ministry spent around 30 million yen on 4,427 bottles of wine in the three years beginning fiscal 1997, according to documents revealed by the ministry Thursday.

Longform

The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports