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BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2001

Kawasaki Steel, U.S. firm join forces

Kawasaki Steel Corp. said Wednesday it has signed an agreement with AK Steel Corp. of the United States to cooperate on research and technology for automotive steel.
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Apr 19, 2001

Calling all Internauts...

www.zingasia.com An Asia travel site that for some reason wants to be a portal. The only other shopping experience on the Net that offers so much to contemplate is Amazon. But looking for vacation possibilities just isn't the same as browsing through books, and the reams information and suggestions can...
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2001

DPJ bill proposes fluorocarbon tax

The Democratic Party of Japan unveiled a bill Wednesday to levy a tax on manufacturers in order to promote the collection and disposal of three types of greenhouse gases known to destroy the ozone layer.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 19, 2001

Has the Japanese market for video games peaked?

Sega closed several Japanese arcades last year, including a few of its flagship Joypolis entertainment centers. And according to Sega Enterprises President Hideki Sato, Sega's two biggest competitors in the arcade market, Taito and Namco, are about to close many of their arcades as well.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 19, 2001

Intelligent elephant mamas never forget

Elephants form some of the most intimate social relationships seen outside primates. The female-led society provides a high level of care to its members: Little elephants are bathed and carried over obstacles, and mothers frequently touch their young with their trunks. If disturbed, calves and the matriarch...
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2001

South Africa eyes business in Kansai

OSAKA -- South Africa will open up a trade office in Osaka within three months, the country's Minister of Trade and Industry announced Wednesday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 19, 2001

Here's why MJ will stay away

Michael Jordan is "99.9 percent sure" he won't return to the NBA. I can do one-tenth better: I'm 100 percent.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 19, 2001

Up to your ears in, um, you know, uh...

About 18 months ago, someone who knew that I was a naturalist asked me, in all seriousness, why we humans shouldn't just eradicate all insects and similar creepy-crawlies.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 19, 2001

Nepalese doctor offers hope to leprosy sufferers

PASHUPATI, Nepal -- In 1980, when Hari Maya Kuinkel was 20 and pregnant for the third time in her arranged marriage, the shaman of her village in eastern Nepal diagnosed the tingling in her feet as possession by "new" spirits. It wasn't. By the time leprosy patches appeared on her face her alcoholic...
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Apr 19, 2001

Top foreign fashion brands take direct approach

As consumer spending woes continue to weigh on Japan's sluggish economy, foreign apparel makers have expanded their business by taking a more direct approach.
EDITORIALS
Apr 18, 2001

Mr. Mori's year in review

A new prime minister of Japan will take office later this month, following the election of a new Liberal Democratic Party president next Tuesday. It does not matter that Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has not yet publicly announced his resignation. His exit has been a foregone conclusion for some time.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Isahaya gates to remain shut

An advisory panel to the agriculture minister on Tuesday took action that will delay by at least one year any reopening of a large part of Isahaya Bay in Nagasaki Prefecture to the Ariake Sea.
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2001

Angel firm to invest in university-bred ventures

A group of experts headed by Keio University professor Takatoshi Matsumoto has established an investment firm for information technology ventures set up by college professors and students.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2001

That's, like, what living is like, in'it?

Ratcatcher Purely Belter Rating: * * * * 1/2 Japanese title: Boku to Sora to Mugibatake Director: Lynne Ramsay Running time: 93 min. Language: English Now showing Rating: * * * * Director: Mark Herman Running time: 99 min. Language: English Opens April 28 So often, children in British cinema are...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Ohta touts Osaka as movie capital

OSAKA -- Osaka Gov. Fusae Ohta voiced her support on Tuesday for plans to encourage moviemakers to shoot their films in the western Japan prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Tanaka's no-dam stand finds locals split

Staff writer SHIMOSUWA, Nagano Pref. -- It began raining heavily around 1 p.m. on Jun. 29, 1999. Startled by a strange sound from a nearby river, Koichi Kato approached the bank to see a dirty torrent swelling up to only 30 cm below the edge of the embankment.
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2001

The crew's home; now what?

HONOLULU -- The release of the crew of the American EP-3E reconnaissance plane from Chinese "protective custody" may have defused the crisis but hardly represents the end of this affair. Meetings are now under way between U.S. and Chinese officials to deal with the aftereffects. While both sides agree...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Japan to lobby U.S. at green talks

Members of Japan's delegation heading to New York on Thursday for closed-door climate change talks said Tuesday that they will continue to urge the United States back to the Kyoto Protocol negotiating table.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

1,900 join spring bash with Imperial Couple

About 1,900 people, including Olympic judo gold medalist Ryoko Tamura and Nobel Prize winner Hideki Shirakawa, on Tuesday attended a spring garden party hosted by the Emperor and Empress.
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2001

Whales consuming five times global fisheries yield: Japan

The Fisheries Ministry defended its "research" whaling in an annual report released Tuesday, countering criticism from the United States and other antiwhaling countries.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Cabinet imposes emergency curbs, tariffs on Chinese farm imports

The Cabinet decided on Tuesday to impose emergency import curbs on three agricultural products, starting Monday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2001

Mistaken cures for the Japanese economy

The debate over economic reform in Japan, especially the alleged need to force banks to dispose of bad loans, resembles the story about the hospital patient on life support because of a serious blood-circulation problem. One result of that problem is badly swollen feet. But the doctors can only focus...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Japan faces dilemma over Kyoto Protocol

Japan should start focusing more diplomatic attention on Russia if it wants to put the Kyoto Protocol climate change agreement into force -- with or without the United States.
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2001

Stock market incentives won't be considered until May

The Tax Commission, an advisory panel to the prime minister, agreed Tuesday to establish a subcommittee in mid-May to discuss proposed tax revisions that would encourage individuals to invest in the stock market, panel chairman Hiromitsu Ishi said.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2001

Europe goes Hollywood

Enemy at the Gates Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud Running time: 132 minutes Language: EnglishNow showing You could probably count on one hand the number of European directors with the budgets and grand vision to compete directly with Hollywood films. Somewhere between Luc Besson and...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Muraoka irked by son's election loss

Liberal Democratic Party bigwig Kanezo Muraoka said Tuesday he offered to resign over his son's defeat in Sunday's gubernatorial race in Akita but was prevented from doing so by party elders. Muraoka heads the LDP's decision-making Executive Council.

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