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BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Household spending marks record decline

Salaried workers' households spent less in fiscal 2000 than the previous year for a record fourth straight yearly fall, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2001

Jospin still far from the top

PARIS -- Created 43 years ago by Gen. Charles de Gaulle, France's Fifth Republic has had 14 prime ministers but only five presidents. Most of these premiers have harbored an ambition to become head of state, but only two of them managed to fulfill this dream. Will Lionel Jospin be the third?
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Retail prices off a record 0.5%

Consumer prices dropped a record 0.5 percent in fiscal 2000 for the second successive year of decline, led by lower prices of fresh vegetables and industrial products, the government said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 28, 2001

Not your average garden-variety squabble

My garden is a mixture of potted house plants, herbs and flowers. I can't help but think that when I'm not home, they squabble. I don't think they're your average garden-variety squabbles, either.
EDITORIALS
Apr 27, 2001

Koizumi's uphill battle begins

Quixotic or not, Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, the newly elected prime minister of Japan, has largely succeeded in sticking to his maverick goal of forming a Cabinet untainted by factional politics. Both in his selection of executive officers of the Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday and in his appointments...
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

Japanese firm helping detect mines, restore villages

A Tokyo-based venture has played a key role in creating a new device to detect land mines that will soon be used on the Thai-Cambodia border.
COMMENTARY
Apr 27, 2001

Calls for change heeded

In his year as prime minister, Yoshiro Mori caused public disillusionment with the Liberal Democratic Party through his gaffes and incompetence. The LDP's presidential election Tuesday, in which former Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro Koizumi beat former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto by a wide...
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

Incoming economic ministers promise to work hard

Economic ministers in the newly formed Cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that they will try hard to pull the nation out of its long economic downturn and help accelerate the disposal of banks' bad loans.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

Koizumi chooses his top party officials

Junichiro Koizumi, the newly elected Liberal Democratic Party president, set about putting the party's house in order Wednesday by selecting the three lawmakers who will hold the top LDP slots.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

Steelmakers set to boost spending on equipment

The nation's five leading steelmakers plan to spend 455 billion yen on plants and equipment in fiscal 2001, a 41.6 percent increase over the previous year, according to their capital spending plans released Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2001

Is Asia's little dragon awakening at last?

CAMBRIDGE, England -- When Vietnam set out on the path of economic liberalization in the early 1990s, everyone expected another Asian miracle, Chinese-style. The liberalization program adopted by the country, known as Doi Moi, was expected to bring about the same radical reforms of economic policy that...
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

Panda returns from fizzled mating fling

Ling Ling, 15, a male giant panda loaned to Mexico City's Chapultepec Zoo in late January, returned Wednesday to Tokyo's Ueno Zoo after his mission to mate with three female pandas there.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

North Korea seeks 4 billion yen for its atomic bomb survivors

North Korea has asked Japan for 4 billion yen in compensation for victims of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, government sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

NEC to sell laser printer unit

NEC Corp. said Thursday it will sell its entire laser printer operations, including production and maintenance services, to Fuji Xerox Co., a subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film Co.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

Saitama to get cheap, fast Internet service on May 25

SpeedNet Inc. announced Thursday that it will start offering a high-speed wireless Internet service based on Tokyo Power Electric Co.'s optical fiber networks in parts of Saitama Prefecture on May 25.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2001

India can't afford another border enemy

NEW DELHI -- India helped liberate Bangladesh from the tyrannical rule of Pakistan some three decades ago, but ties between the two neighbors have often been marked by suspicion, even hostility. This animosity have its roots in a boundary dispute and a smuggling issue, as well as illegal migration by...
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

Court upholds sentence for Tokyo Sagawa chief

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday upheld the seven-year prison sentence imposed by a lower court on Hiroyasu Watanabe, former president of the now-defunct Tokyo Sagawa Kyubin Co., for aggravated breach of trust that caused the trucking company to suffer huge losses.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

Tanaka outlines foreign policy goals in maiden speech

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Thursday that Tokyo should avoid actions that could lead to a deterioration in ties between Taiwan and China, an apparent refernce to Tokyo's approval of a visit by former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

Aiwa posts huge net loss in fiscal '00

Ailing audio and video equipment maker Aiwa Co. said Thursday its group net loss more than tripled in fiscal 2000 due to sluggish personal consumption in Japan and unfavorable overseas factors, including the rapid slowdown in the U.S. economy.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

DoCoMo to commence 3G service in October

NTT DoCoMo Inc. officially delayed the launch of its next-generation cellular service from May 30 to Oct. 1 but refused to call it a postponement.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Apr 27, 2001

New York upturn positive news for Japan

The recent upturn in New York share prices could presage a more stable market in Japan, too.
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 27, 2001

FIFA happy about 2002 ticket requests

David H. Will, the chairman of FIFA's World Cup Ticketing Sub-Committee, told a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday that he was "astonished " at the demand for tickets in the host countries, particularly Japan.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2001

S&P upgrades Tokai Bank rating

Standard & Poor's Corp. on Thursday upgraded its long-term rating assigned to Tokai Bank to BBB plus from BBB.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LEARNING BY HEART
Apr 27, 2001

Toddlers' dance: freedom within structure

In fluffy tutus and silky ballet slippers, a circle of pink angels do back-bends in a circle. They dance like storks, skip to my lou and fly backward. It's obviously fun, but the pace is quick.

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