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JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Coast guard unveils fast patrol boat

The Japan Coast Guard on Thursday unveiled the first of three high-speed patrol boats the government ordered built after Japanese warships and coast guard vessels failed to stop two intruding North Korean spy ships during a sea chase in 1999.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Han's passing prompts peace offer

The pro-Seoul Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan) issued a statement Thursday to its pro-Pyongyang counterpart calling for an end to the hostility and resistance between the two groups.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Missing U.S. kids' safety bemoaned

It was a routine visit for Tokyo metropolitan child-care officials when they checked on five American children early this month. Only this time, the Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, apartment where they had been living since November was empty.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

Return to 'zero rate' not ruled out

UTSUNOMIYA, Tochigi Pref. -- The Bank of Japan should not completely rule out the possibility of a return to its "zero-interest-rate" policy, a member of the central bank's Policy Board said here Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

MMC to cut 10 models, close plant, trim payroll

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has finalized the details of a major restructuring plan under which it will slash passenger car production and implement large-scale job cuts, company sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Ex-minister says Mori should resign

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's grip on power further weakened Thursday as a key member of a Liberal Democratic Party faction supporting him said he should voluntarily step down after the fiscal 2001 budget clears the Diet in late March or April.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Japan to extend new loans to mend ties with Pakistan

Japan will provide new yen loans worth between 7 billion yen and 10 billion yen to Pakistan in a fresh bid to mend bilateral ties soured by Islamabad's nuclear tests three years ago, government sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

IBM Japan's profits up 48%

IBM Japan Ltd. chalked up 182 billion yen in pretax profits in 2000, up 48.1 percent over the year before, a second consecutive year-on-year increase, according to the firm's earnings report.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Council of Europe urges suspension of executions

The leader of a delegation from the Council of Europe, currently on a visit to Japan to study its death penalty system, on Tuesday urged Tokyo to temporarily suspend all executions, Japanese officials said.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

Bridgestone sees 80% fall in profit

Bridgestone Corp., Japan's biggest automobile tire maker, said Thursday it posted a consolidated net profit of 17.74 billion yen in the business year which ended December, down 80 percent from the previous year.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

Interest rate cut should be good for stocks

Interest rate cuts are typically a bullish scenario for share prices and, if not for the volatility on Wall Street and other unnerving developments both at home and abroad, the Tokyo stock market should have reacted positively to the Bank of Japan's latest move to ease its grip on credit.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 23, 2001

Paradise lost, and regained

For me, "Forrest Gump" was easily one of the most annoying films of the '90s. It waded straight into some of the most turbulent events in recent American history and came back with absolutely nothing to say about them. Given this, it was hard to get excited about the reunion of the "Gump" creative combo,...
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Keio to fight groping by introducing women-only rail cars

Keio Electric Railway Co. trains will begin providing women-only carriages on late night runs in late March following an overwhelmingly positive response to a trial service in December, company officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Murakami quits Diet over KSD scandal

Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Masakuni Murakami, former leader of the LDP members in the House of Councilors, resigned from the chamber Thursday after being criticized over his connections to an alleged bribery scandal involving mutual-aid organization KSD.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Police pluck man off Tokyo Tower

A 32-year-old man who climbed Tokyo Tower on Wednesday night and spent nearly five hours on the steel structure was apprehended by police in the early hours of Thursday and taken into custody.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

International NTT unit to go local

NTT Communications Corp., a major long-distance and international telecom carrier, announced Thursday it will enter the local-call market on May 1.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 23, 2001

Japan's soccer heroes tested by Troussier

NARAHA, Fukushima Pref. -- After three days of training behind closed doors, the media and fans were allowed a glimpse of Japan's soccer heroes on Thursday as Philippe Troussier and his coaching staff put his squad through its paces on a warm and sunny day at the J. Village in Fukushima Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

International NTT unit to go local

NTT Communications Corp., a major long-distance and international telecom carrier, announced Thursday it will enter the local-call market on May 1.
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 2001

Time running out for Mori

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's departure is inevitable, although he insists he has no intention of resigning. The questions are no longer if but when he will step down, and who will replace him.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2001

Explain the collision

A troubling picture is beginning to emerge as details are revealed about conditions aboard the USS Greeneville when the submarine hit the training vessel Ehime Maru last week. That accident left nine students and instructors aboard the fisheries training ship missing -- they are presumed dead -- and...
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

Nomura, IBJ to end derivatives tieup

Nomura Securities Co. and the Industrial Bank of Japan, a member of the Mizuho Financial Group, said Thursday that they will dissolve a London-based joint venture specializing in financial derivatives.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 23, 2001

JBC slaps ban on Philippine boxers

has barred Philippine boxers from fighting in nontitle bouts in Japan to help prevent a further increase in illegal workers from the country, JBC officials said Wednesday. The decision, which is expected to last at least until the end of the year, was made to cope with an increasing number of Philippine...
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

Belgian leader calls for investment

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt on Thursday called for more Japanese private sector investment in his country, which has been enjoying one of its best periods of economic growth in a decade.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2001

Belgian leader calls for investment

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt on Thursday called for more Japanese private sector investment in his country, which has been enjoying one of its best periods of economic growth in a decade.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Suspected embezzler made 'business trips' to base

A former senior diplomat who was fired last month for suspected embezzlement of secret government funds made business trips to an Air Self-Defense Force base in Hokkaido in 1994 and 1999, sources familiar with the case said 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