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COMMENTARY
Jun 2, 2001

Tests for Koizumi's 'vision'

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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2001

End World Bank charity for bureaucrats

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Freedom of speech died a little death last week. The World Bank Group announced (on a Saturday, so that it did not get much attention) that it was canceling its annual European conference on development economics. The meeting was canceled because the global protest movement that...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2001

Yamaichi ex-chief agrees to damages settlement

Tsugio Yukihira, former chairman of Yamaichi Securities Co., has agreed to a negotiated settlement in a damages suit over his responsibility for the November 1997 collapse of the major brokerage house, judicial sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2001

Greece hopes renewal of air links will spur bilateral ties with Japan

An agreement reached between Japan and Greece earlier this week to improve air links by code sharing will hopefully spur bilateral ties, Grigoris Niotis, Greek deputy foreign minister, said in Tokyo on Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 2, 2001

BlueWave edges Fighters 11-10

George Arias and Yasuo Fujii combined for seven RBIs as the Pacific League-leading Orix BlueWave topped the Nippon Ham Fighters 11-10 at Green Stadium Kobe and extended their lead to 11/2 games over the idle Daiei Hawks.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2001

Local public works subsidies eyed for cuts

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday he hopes to reduce subsidies to local government public works projects in an effort to streamline the state budget.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2001

Tomobe challenges fraud ruling

Upper House member Tatsuo Tomobe filed an objection Friday against a Supreme Court ruling upholding his 10-year prison term for fraud, his lawyers said.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 2, 2001

Glen S. Fukushima

"To me, the U.S. and Japan are fascinating, as they stand at polar extremes in the way their societies are organized. Philosophy, culture, history set Japan apart from other industrialized countries, especially the U.S. Having spent many years in both the U.S. and Japan, I enjoy assisting the two peoples...
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2001

Nagging doubts about nuclear energy

In a landmark referendum on Japan's nuclear-fuel recycling program, held last Sunday in Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, a majority of village residents voted against a Tokyo Electric Power Co. project to use plutonium as reactor fuel at its nuclear-power plant there. The so-called pluthermal program, which...
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2001

Disputes with foreign staff increase

Reflecting the prolonged economic slump, a record number of foreign workers and their Japanese employers consulted the Tokyo Labor Bureau in 2000 for advice on labor-related disputes, bureau officials announced Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 1, 2001

Koizumi's moment of truth

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration is enjoying record high public-approval ratings of more than 80 percent. Television news-programs report daily on the activities of Koizumi as well as Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, who has caught the public's fancy as the top female member of his Cabinet....
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2001

Dour and dark outlook pulling Japan farther from neighbors

Japanese hopes to play a leading role in Asia are endangered by a growing split between its views and those in other countries in the region. In its most recent survey on global values, the Dentsu Institute for Human Studies depicts a pessimistic country that is groping toward an uncertain future.*
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2001

Fiscal panel eyes release of public entities

A key government panel on economic and fiscal policy is expected to recommend next month a partial privatization of employee pension programs and sweeping deregulation, government sources said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2001

New Zealand tailors defense to real needs

Some Kiwis can fly -- very fast. But the New Zealand government wants to clip their wings.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2001

Tanaka may raise issue of marine drill relocation

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Thursday she is prepared to consider Okinawa Prefecture's demand that some U.S. Marine drills on the islands be moved overseas.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2001

Romance, danger lurk in e-mail personals

Upon meeting her 28-year-old date, "Koneko" found him to be as cool as she had imagined from his countless e-mails.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2001

Pyrotechnist seeks to keep fire alive

Akiko Amano, the first female head of a pyrotechnics family stretching back 31/2 centuries, is determined to overcome the decline in the nation's pyrotechnics industry and bring the magic of highly artistic, traditional fireworks to today's youth.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2001

Former Nippon Credit Bank returns to black after three years

Aozora Bank, the reincarnation of Nippon Credit Bank, returned to profitability in fiscal 2000 for the first time in three years with group pretax profits of 99.1 billion yen -- a sharp upturn from the 112.6 billion yen loss the previous year.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2001

Court rejects Mizushima's claim

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday rejected a demand by former Sogo Co. Chairman Hiroo Mizushima that Sogo and its creditor, Industrial Bank of Japan, return shares of stock he voluntarily gave to the firm free of charge.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 1, 2001

Swallows slam Yomiuri 8-4

Yakult outfielder Atsunori Inaba blasted a grand slam off Yomiuri reliever Tsuyoshi Jobe (3-3) in the bottom of the ninth inning, leading the Swallows to an 8-4 "sayonara" triumph over the Giants on Thursday at Jingu Stadium.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2001

Keidanren, bankers to work on debt relief

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japanese Bankers Association have agreed to begin working on guidelines for banks to forgive loans to troubled corporate borrowers, Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa said Thursday.
COMMUNITY
Jun 1, 2001

The day we met Sho-chan

My son did not fall in love with me at first sight.

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