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JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

KSD affiliate bused in Koyama's benefactors

An affiliate of scandal-hit mutual aid foundation KSD hired buses used at fundraising parties for Takao Koyama, an Upper House member arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes, sources close to the case said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Four polyethylene firms plan to merge operations

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Showa Denko K.K., Tonen Chemical Corp. and Nippon Petrochemicals Co. plan to merge their polyethylene business, company sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

Kono upset over summit delay plan

Foreign Minister Yohei Kono on Friday urged his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov to reconsider holding a bilateral summit meeting in late February as originally planned rather than postponing it for a month as Russia proposed Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Japan, Britain sign e-commerce pact

Japan and Britain agreed Friday to work together to promote e-commerce worldwide, Japanese and British officials said.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

Kids must learn English at earlier age, panel says

Japan should continue to actively discuss the introduction of English language education at the elementary school level, including putting English on the mandatory curriculum, a private advisory panel to the education, culture, sports, science and technology minister said in its final report submitted...
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Bankruptcies rise 23%, leaving record debts

The number of corporate bankruptcies jumped 23.4 percent to 19,071 in 2000, with liabilities left by the bankrupt firms reaching a new postwar high, Teikoku Databank said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

Keio chief to head education panel

Keio University President Yasuhiko Torii is likely to chair the Central Council for Education, an advisory body to the education minister, sources close to the minister said after panel members were named Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Construction firms' profits slide

The combined unconsolidated operating profits at Japan's 52 major construction companies declined 29.9 percent to 100.6 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2000, the Research Institute of Construction and Economy said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

Japan, China agree to more flights

Japan and China have agreed to drastically increase the number of passenger and cargo flights between the two countries, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2001

Bush inherits his father's legacy in Iraq

BEIRUT -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein rang in the new year with the largest military parade Baghdad had ever seen. Over 1,000 tanks rumbled through the capital. According to the opposition Iraqi National Congress, they were equipped with new engines and cooling systems, imported from Ukraine in defiance...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

Step aside, America's Cup, for a little solo catamaran

Researchers have developed a solo catamaran day-sailer with hydrofoils that they claim is faster than America's Cup yachts.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Panel told to lift stock-buyback ban

Two business lobbies on Friday asked a Liberal Democratic Party panel to remove a legal curb on companies buying back and holding in reserve their own shares.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Yanagisawa rejects task force plan

The state minister for financial affairs on Friday balked at a proposal by a Liberal Democratic Party task force to allow banks to repay with their shareholdings trillions of yen in public funds they received in 1998 and 1999 in order to replenish their depleted capital bases.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

Market 'volatility' acknowledged by BOJ policy chiefs

The Bank of Japan's monetary policy board members on Friday acknowledged the presence of "greater volatility" within the nation's financial markets.
COMMENTARY
Jan 20, 2001

A good pick for key Asian-policy post

Nice guys don't always finish last. Soon after Gen. Colin Powell heard from President-elect George W. Bush that he was indeed to be nominated secretary of state, he picked up the telephone and asked someone he has known for years to join his team as the next assistant secretary of state for East Asian...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

Ministers hold average 357 million yen

Takashi Sasagawa, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, tops a list ranking the personal assets of 29 newly appointed ministers and senior vice ministers.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2001

State still saying economy is on a mild recovery track

The economy remains on a mild recovery track despite a long-delayed upturn in consumer spending and the slowing of growth in industrial output, the government said Friday.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 20, 2001

Patience finds something from nothing

Tokyo galleries are back in swing after the New Year's holiday, and the surprise toast of the town is an emerging artist, Anne Daems. A look at the 34-year-old Belgian's biography reveals that Daems has had only four solo shows in her short career, and that is exactly the number of local exhibitions...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

Group turns Miyake ash to glass

An institute affiliated with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is producing glassware using volcanic ash from Miyake Island, officials said Friday.

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