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JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Tokyo's prices sank record 0.9% in 2000

Consumer prices in Tokyo fell a record 0.9 percent in fiscal 2000 from the year before for the second straight year of decline, reaffirming that the economy is experiencing deflation, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Ministers urge curbs on Chinese imports

The ministers of agriculture, trade and finance reached a basic agreement Friday on the need to invoke temporary curbs on surging imports from China of stone leeks, fresh shiitake mushrooms and rushes used to weave tatami.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Lithuania's president to visit Japan in April

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus will make a five-day official working visit to Japan starting April 9 to further bilateral relations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Norio Hattori said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Sick miners awarded 174 million yen

MORIOKA, Iwate Pref. (Kyodo ) The Morioka District Court on Friday ordered four companies to pay some 174 million yen in damages to 14 former miners who contracted black lung disease while working in Iwate Prefecture from 1939 to 1979.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Tokyo Marine in management switch

Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. said Friday that Kunio Ishihara, its senior managing director, will succeed Kokei Higuchi as president in late June.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Holding firm to be listed in London

Mizuho Holdings Inc., the holding firm that oversees the Mizuho Financial Group, said Friday that its listing on the the London Stock Exchange has been approved.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 31, 2001

Graffiti blasts Beijing demolition

Under the cover of darkness and armed with a can of spray paint, Zhang Dali pedals his bicycle around the quiet Beijing streets with the intention of giving the city a new face -- sometimes two or three.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Japanese holding firm to be listed on London's Stock Exchange

Mizuho Holdings Inc., the holding firm that oversees the Mizuho Financial Group, said Friday that its listing on the the London Stock Exchange has been approved.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 31, 2001

Patching together a lifetime of art

For many centuries thrifty housewives have saved odd scraps of cloth and sewn them together to be re-used as patchwork. Their humble recycling ultimately produced the spectacular geometrically patterned quilts that now are valuable collectibles, and today many people around the world pursue patchwork...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Sell public on ODA: white paper

Japan should make its official development assistance more efficient and transparent to convince the public that the funds are spent in the nation's interest, according to the fiscal 2000 white paper on ODA released Friday by the Foreign Ministry.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Matsushita outlines plan to streamline sales

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. on Friday unveiled a major reorganization aimed at streamlining sales, distribution and other related operations for consumer and household markets in Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

FSA nearing completion of writeoff plan for banks' bad loans

Financial Services Agency chief Hakuo Yanagisawa said Friday that the FSA has virtually completed drawing up measures to help Japanese banks accelerate their direct writeoffs of bad loans.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

GlaxoSmithKline aims for top 10

GlaxoSmithKline K.K., formerly known as Glaxo Wellcome K.K., aims to be one of Japan's top 10 pharmaceutical makers by 2003 after its merger Sunday with SmithKline Beecham Seiyaku K.K., a company executive said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Nikkei ends fiscal 2000 at 12,999

The Nikkei stock average closed a fraction below 13,000 Friday, the last trading day of the fiscal year, as sharp morning advances prompted profit-taking in the afternoon.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 31, 2001

The gift from kitty that never stops giving

If you travel enough, there is going to be a day when your cat pees in your suitcase. It's something that only happens if you have gone out of town and left your cat behind so many times that the cat becomes determined to accompany you in the most odorous way. Basically, your cat's message is: I love...
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 31, 2001

Giants start with a bang!

The Yomiuri Giants, 18-9 against Hanshin last season, continued their mastery over the Tigers as the defending Japan Series champions powered their way to a 17-3 victory over the Tigers at the Tokyo Dome on Friday night in the opening day of regular-season action for the Central League clubs.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

New school promotes global exchange through lecture program

A private school of intercultural communication targeted at Japanese businesspeople and the staff of nongovernmental organizations will open Monday in Tokyo's Ginza business district.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Matsuo indicted on state fraud charges

Katsutoshi Matsuo, a former Foreign Ministry logistics chief, was indicted Friday on charges of defrauding the government of 42 million yen in Cabinet Secretariat discretionary funds for diplomatic activities, prosecutors said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 31, 2001

Regina Doi

Twenty-five years ago, Regina Doi opened a combined nursery school, preschool and kindergarten at Aoba, Tokyo. "There were 16 children, and I was not quite sure whether it would work," she said. "Within a very short period of time, we had 80 children. When we had about 150, I was sure."
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2001

Howls of poets and poodles

Old beatniks may die, but it doesn't look like they'll fade away anytime soon. Nearly half a century since the Beat Generation's heyday, the artistic and philosophical legacy of the Beats remains a massive mother lode of countercultural inspiration. Chuck Workman's documentary "The Source" traces the...
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

State closes in on NTT monopoly

A state panel on information technology agreed Thursday to a review of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. to allow for fair competition in the telecom sector, while using IT to promote public welfare and regain economic competitiveness.
COMMENTARY
Mar 30, 2001

Jockeying to replace Mori

Executives of the governing Liberal Democratic Party have reportedly decided to hold the party's presidential election around April 20, although Prime Minister and LDP President Yoshiro Mori claims he has never expressed his intention to resign. Mori and the LDP are totally irresponsible.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

Investors in the dark; Tokyo rally elusive

Although global stock markets have restored a degree of stability, skepticism abounds over what is in store for the months ahead. On Wall Street, worries remain over company profits and the U.S. Federal Reserve's stated aim to engineer a soft landing. Earnings reports for the January-March quarter, due...
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

Bridgestone president apologizes for tire recall

Bridgestone Corp. President Yoichiro Kaizaki apologized Thursday at the company's shareholders' meeting for last year's voluntary recall of millions of defective tires produced by its U.S. subsidiary.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2001

Bar president says citizens should be involved in trials

The head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations said Thursday that opening the Japanese trial system to participation by citizens will be inevitable because society is moving toward civic authority.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

Mitsui Construction gets 142 billion yen debt waiver

Mitsui Construction Co. said Thursday its nine main creditors have agreed to waive 141.97 billion yen in claims on outstanding loans to the financially troubled construction company.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2001

Obituary: Noboru Kojima

Noboru Kojima, an award-winning author of books on World War II, died of a stroke Tuesday at a hospital in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, his family said. He was 74.

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