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COMMUNITY
Dec 3, 2000

WHO pushes 'Massive Effort' on disease

Gro Harlem Brundtland has a mission. She said as much in her BBC Reith Lecture on population and health early this year. She will be saying it again this week in Okinawa at the followup meeting to July's G-8 summit.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 3, 2000

More testing times for students of Japanese

Today, many foreigners have put on their armor and have sharpened their swords in preparation for battling through the Japanese Proficiency Test. I wish you all luck and survival. I recently spoke with the god of the Japanese Proficiency Test, who lives on Uranus and appeared on my TV screen via my satellite...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2000

Middle-class myth comes tumbling down

This is the eighth of a 10-part series on contemporary Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2000

Korean democracy suffers growing pains

SEOUL -- You don't have to consult opinion polls to understand that in general terms South Koreans are not happy with their government. It is enough to occasionally read editorials or to engage in political discussions with Korean friends, colleagues and neighbors. Then you detect a very basic disenchantment...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 3, 2000

Chid Waller

Although Chid Waller says she waxes lyrical over the career she was following in England, she willingly gave it up to come to Tokyo. That was three years ago. During this time she has put her expertise at the disposal of several local organizations, giving them voluntarily the benefit of her effective...
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2000

Britons going nowhere fast

LONDON -- Is Britain in crisis? Many people think so, after a month in which large swathes of England have been inundated by filthy flood water. Television news showed comic snippets of boats in the streets rescuing old ladies and dogs, snaps of sturdy men and women counting their blessings as the flood...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2000

2002 World Cup: Soccer without fear?

BRUSSELS -- The first world cup of the new millennium is to be staged in Japan and South Korea in the summer of 2002. Both countries want to use this billion-dollar sporting showpiece as a global shop window allowing those watching, both in the stadiums and on TV, to see the real Japan and the real South...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 3, 2000

Maazel wears multiple hats, but looks best in conductor's

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Nov. 2, Wolfgang Gieron conducting in Suntory Hall -- "The Ideal," from Two Portraits for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 5/1 (Bela Bartok, 1881- 1945), Music for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 12 (Lorin Maazel, b. 1930), Gypsy Caprice (Friedrich Kreisler, 1875-1962), all featuring...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 3, 2000

Art to help heal the soul

Artists Without Borders and its offspring, Kids Without Borders, are devoted to providing humanitarian relief to the victims of war and ethnic strife. As such, they share obvious connections with Doctors Without Borders.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 3, 2000

Noh, kyogen workshop in Yokohama

Yokohama Noh Theater will hold an introductory workshop on Japan's classical stage forms, noh and kyogen, for foreign residents Dec. 16.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2000

50% tax cut on green cars sought

The Transport Ministry, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the Environment Agency have drawn up the final draft of a radical plan that calls for a maximum 50 percent cut in local car tax on environmentally friendly vehicles, government sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 3, 2000

The cutting edge of sound and vision

For some, myself included, the U.K. Sound Design exhibition, held Nov. 23-27 at the Ground in Harajuku, was a stroll down memory lane. Organized by the British Council in Japan, the show assembled record sleeves from seminal British designers of the last 30 years. Seeing many old records that had made...
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2000

Envoys plan for easing of Iraq sanctions

In preparation for the partial lifting of sanctions against Iraq, Japan has dispatched two members of staff from the Japanese Embassy in Amman to its equivalent premises in Baghdad, government sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

ODA gives way to domestic political pressure

The government may be succumbing to strong domestic political pressure to make Draconian cuts in Japanese official development assistance. If you want evidence, keep a close watch on an upcoming gathering of Vietnam's aid donors.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

Mitsubishi boosts midcareer hiring

Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday it will start its first-ever large-scale midcareer recruitment campaign to inject new talent into its information technology sector.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

Sogo sale attracts hordes of shoppers

OSAKA -- The department store chain Sogo Co. began clearance sales Friday at its Osaka flagship store and eight outlets earmarked for closure later this month.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

Public-sector efficiency plan OK'd

The Cabinet on Friday approved an action plan to streamline and increase efficiency in the public sector and promote deregulation for implementation through 2005 following the reorganization in January of central government ministries and agencies, officials said.
EDITORIALS
Dec 2, 2000

Mr. Barak's bold gamble

One odd fact has hung over the violence that has descended upon the Middle East: The current Israeli government is more committed to a peaceful settlement than any that might replace it. Prime Minister Ehud Barak genuinely wants to make peace. The question is whether the Israeli people are behind him....
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

UA accident laid to crew miscommunication

Poor communication between crew members triggered panic aboard a United Airlines jumbo jet involved in an accident in 1998 at Narita airport that injured 24 people, according to a Transport Ministry report released Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

Three insurers report mixed fortunes

Chiyoda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. fell into the red in the first half of fiscal 2000 on a consolidated basis, while Dai-Tokyo Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and Nisshin Fire & Marine Insurance Co. posted profits, according to their earnings results released Friday.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 2, 2000

Marinos seek key to unlock Antlers

J. League first-stage champions the Yokohama F. Marinos and second-stage winners the Kashima Antlers will face off today in the first leg of the J. League Championship final at Yokohama International Stadium. The second leg is slated for Dec. 9 at Tokyo's National Stadium.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

Shigenobu served fresh warrant over passports

Japanese Red Army leader Fusako Shigenobu was served a fresh arrest warrant Friday on suspicion of using forged passports to travel between Japan and China and other countries, police said.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

Japan pledges $4.3 million in emergency aid to Yugoslavia

Japan decided Friday to provide $4.3 million in emergency aid to Yugoslavia to help the country purchase fertilizer for its wheat crop, the Foreign Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

Economic gap widening: consumers

Japanese consumers believe that improvements in their daily lives over the past year has been slower than that of overall economic activity in Japan, according to a survey released Friday by the Bank of Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

Easier entry to Japan urged for participants in big events

An advisory panel to the Transport Ministry on Friday urged the government to introduce a "preclearance" system for customs, immigration and quarantine procedures for foreign participants in major international events, such as the planned soccer World Cup in 2002.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

New animal protection law to target pet abuse

A revised law on the protection and control of animals went into effect on Friday. The law calls for harsher penalties for people who harm or abandon animals and imposes tougher controls on the pet industry.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

FRC eyes failed Chogin credit unions

The Financial Reconstruction Commission is considering sending administrators to 13 failed Chogin credit unions affiliated with the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun), FRC chief Hideyuki Aizawa said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

NCB sees two key balances move back into the black

Releasing its first financial results since its sale on Sept. 1 to an investment consortium led by Softbank Corp., Nippon Credit Bank said Friday its operating and pretax balances moved back into the black in the first half of fiscal 2000.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan