search

 
 
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Mystery benefactor increases Briton's reward to 77 million yen

The mystery businessman who put up a reward for information about missing British hostess Lucie Blackman has upped the ante -- increasing the reward to a cool half a million pounds, more than 77 million yen.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Yamamoto indicted on fraud charges

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on Friday indicted a former politician from the Democratic Party of Japan on fraud charges.
OLYMPICS
Sep 23, 2000

Nakao claims bronze in 200-meter backstroke

SYDNEY -- Miki Nakao claimed a bronze medal for Japan in the women's 200-meter backstroke final at the Sydney Aquatic Center on Friday night, while the women's 4x100 medley relay team swam their way into contention for a medal in Saturday's final.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Police report more crimes and mistrust

Crimes are increasing as police grapple with a less cooperative public and criminals' increasing use of high technology, the National Police Agency said in its 2000 white paper released Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Kim Dae Jung arrives to begin three-day visit

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung arrived in Japan on Friday for a three-day visit, during which he will meet with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and other government officials.
COMMENTARY
Sep 23, 2000

Politicians face a busy fall

The 72-day extraordinary Diet session opened Thursday. It will last until Dec. 1, which is unusually long for an extra session. The political schedule will be very tight in December: The government will compile a fiscal 2001 budget and lay the groundwork for the reorganization of the central bureaucracy...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Sep 23, 2000

The tide turns and Gore seizes the moment

In political campaigns, when things go well, they really roll. When things sour, nothing seems to work.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2000

Spy scandal undercuts Putin's diplomacy

The atmosphere of intrigue has been as thick as homemade borscht in Tokyo's diplomatic quarter since police caught a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force officer passing confidential documents to the Russian Embassy naval attache in a posh local restaurant.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 23, 2000

An old tradition with a modern twist

NEW YORK -- Puppet troupes from around the globe are taking to New York stages this month as part of the Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater. The Japan representative is the extraordinary yet little-known OtomeBunraku Troupe, an all-female puppet troupe which derives from the mainstream male...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2000

No German blueprint for the two Koreas

SEOUL -- The relationship between local autonomy and unification is becoming an increasingly hot topic in South Korea, as more and more local authorities aspire to an active role in the process of rapprochement with the North. It is clear that this nation is passing through a historic moment. Hardly...
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Sep 23, 2000

Stopped in my flippin' tracks by a Shino tea bowl

I'm lucky enough to live only five minutes away from one of my favorite Mino potters -- and I don't even live near the Mino area. That's in Gifu Prefecture, whereas I reside in the potting wasteland of Numazu. I'm always asked about how I ended up here and I can only say that it was the will of something...
CULTURE / Art
Sep 23, 2000

Artists heed the call of the cat

"I don't feel that I decide to carve the cats," Makoto Nishi says. "The cats call on me to carve them."
EDITORIALS
Sep 22, 2000

China surmounts a WTO hurdle

The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to grant China permanent normal trade-relations status. That will provide an impetus to international negotiations on China's bid to join the World Trade Organization. Those talks are entering the homestretch with the start of the final round of negotiations in Geneva....
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2000

18 credit associations fall short

The Financial Services Agency said Thursday that 18 Japanese small credit associations failed to achieve the 4 percent threshold for the capital-adequacy ratio in their earnings report for fiscal 1999.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2000

Mori starts extra Diet with 'e-Japan' pitch

Employing a new catchword, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori opened the 72-day extra Diet session Thursday pledging to create an "e-Japan" that would enrich people's lives and make the nation's industries more competitive.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2000

Air-traffic controllers to train at U.S. base

Japan and the United States agreed Thursday to have two Japanese air-traffic controllers spend a month at the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture from mid-October to undergo training, the Transport Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2000

Mexico, Japan ready to resume investment pact negotiations

After a hiatus of about six months, Japan and Mexico will resume tough negotiations next week on concluding a pact aimed at shoring up the flow of investment across the Pacific.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2000

Continued aid for Chernobyl sought

While memories of the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl have faded in the international community, continued assistance is still needed for the disaster-hit region, according to the head of the United Nations relief program still dealing with the tragedy.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2000

NCB president's death was suicide, not heart attack

Nippon Credit Bank President Tadayo Honma committed suicide Wednesday night and did not die from a heart attack, as was originally reported.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2000

State admits CJD-tainted dura mater was imported

Contradicting its previous claims, the government has admitted that Japan probably imported German medical products that reportedly caused Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease even after the United States had warned of the danger in 1987.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2000

Mori, Kim aim to build on policies

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's visit to Japan today marks the first bilateral meeting between the two countries' leaders since the thaw began in earnest between the Koreas in June.
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2000

Japan Telecom joins discount war

In response to plans by rival companies to slash their rates, Japan Telecom Co. said Thursday that it will create new rate categories for some calls within a prefecture, reducing charges in a number of areas by 44 percent on average.
OLYMPICS
Sep 22, 2000

Atlanta ghosts topple fourth world champ

The ghost of Atlanta returned to haunt world champion Noriko Anno at the Sydney Olympics on Thursday as she made a surprise exit from the women's under-78 kg competition.
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2000

Matsushita to tie up with Ericsson on mobile phones

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. will tie up with LM Ericsson of Sweden in an attempt to cash in on the mobile phone business in Europe, Matsushita officials said Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Sep 22, 2000

Inoue takes 100-kg gold

SYDNEY -- The closest thing to Kosei Inoue's heart as he took to the winner's podium Thursday night was not that he had won Olympic gold but that he had fulfilled his mother's dying wish.

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