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COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Dec 1, 1999

Catching up

Recently I quoted letters from a university English writing class commenting on a column about General MacArthur. That prompted a letter from longtime resident G.A. Chandru who has done much over the years to promote his adopted city of Yokohama as well as Indian culture and products. A few years ago...
LIFE / Travel
Dec 1, 1999

Cheeky gods, mystic mountains

A forested haven with deep gorges and countless mountain shrines, how could Takachiho not be a home for the gods? Legend has it that the sun goddess Amaterasu once hid her light from the world in a cave here, and that nearby Kirishima is where demigod Ninigi no Mikoto descended from heaven to earth....
JAPAN
Dec 1, 1999

Parties slam pension asset transfer

Deliberations on controversial pension reform bills finally resumed at a Lower House welfare committee Wednesday as the opposition parties sharply criticized a government plan to transfer the management of pension assets worth 140 trillion yen from the Finance Ministry to the Health Ministry.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 1999

'Trade is better than aid'

In one month's time, we shall leave the 20th century behind. The first half of it saw the world almost destroyed by war -- partly as a result of its division into rival trade blocs. The second half has seen an unprecedented expansion of world trade, which has also brought unprecedented economic growth....
EDITORIALS
Nov 30, 1999

The other Clinton runs

There is nothing unusual about political dynasties. Every country has them. Japan has a growing list of second- and third-generation politicians. In the United States, the most prominent dynasty is the Kennedy clan, although the Bushes are providing tough competition; India has the Gandhi family. Usually,...
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 1999

Season's bleatings

I t is only the end of November: The ginkgoes and maples are just turning color in Tokyo, and the ducks are still settling in after their long annual trip south. Last Tuesday night, if you were lucky, you got to gaze at the full moon through the combed hair of the "susuki" grass, thinking poetic autumnal...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 1999

Global cop or rogue power?

WASHINGTON -- Completely unnoticed by most Americans, the Washington elite has become ensnared in a yet another false, narcissistic foreign policy debate. Yet when French President Jacques Chirac stood side-by-side with Chinese President Jiang Zemin recently and denounced U.S. nuclear and antiballistic...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 28, 1999

Work full-time and raise a bonsai? No thanks

The other day I mentioned to my husband that I might like to take a class in growing bonsai trees. I don't even know why I mentioned it. I had been growing some pretty good mold in the bathroom and refrigerator so perhaps it seemed like a good time to move on to something more challenging.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 1999

Britain's beef brawl

France and Britain have been engaged in an exceptionally nasty food fight. Passions are high on both sides of the English Channel and Britain's famed tabloids have done their best to push them into the stratosphere. Their inflammatory rhetoric is being matched by the showmanship of French farmers, who...
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 1999

Tough times again for Ozawa

While I was away from Japan on a recent overseas trip, the nation was plunged into political confusion following Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa's threat to leave the ruling three-party coalition. Ozawa suggested that his party could quit the alliance -- which also includes the Liberal Democratic Party...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 27, 1999

Finding freedom through 'Affirmation'

The liberty and experimentation of the 1970s still hold a nostalgic place in the memory of jazz pianist and composer Tomoko Ohno. It is a period, she says, that "most people remember fondly."
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 27, 1999

The potter who set the scene on fire

In a brief span of time a few decades ago, one Japanese potter set the ceramic scene on fire, and as quickly as a brilliant meteor shooting across a night sky, disappeared. Yet his name and influence still circle the wheel that spins in most potters' studios; his immense impact on contemporary ceramics...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Nov 27, 1999

Unwelcome companions

Thanks to e-mail, a vast assortment of unsolicited information comes my way. Some of it is even interesting and occasionally I share it with you. My amazement is not so much with the information I am sending your way today as it is with the person who noticed it and then did the necessary projection....
EDITORIALS
Nov 26, 1999

The computer giant stumbles

In the era of globalization, the management mantra seems to be "bigger is better." From automakers to securities traders, every business aspires to the size and weight that would allow it to influence -- if not dictate -- developments in its particular industry. In the fast-moving world of high-technology,...
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Airline heads vow to boost, develop Asia-Pacific region

Top officials of international airlines in the Asia-Pacific region adopted a package of resolutions Friday to develop the area's civil aviation industry and provide better services to passengers.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Meiji Life, Toyo Trust near four-way alliance

Toyo Trust & Banking Co. and Meiji Life Insurance Co. are nearing a decision to join a planned alliance between Nippon Life Insurance Co. and Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp. in the so-called "master trust" business, informed sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

It's WTO vs. budget for Cabinet trio

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Regional banks launch systems integration study

Yamagata Bank announced Friday it has reached an agreement with five other regional banks to launch a study on the possible integration of their computer systems.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 1999

Reflecting prosperity, deflecting evil

Every year in the middle of December, thousands of people flock to Tokyo's Asakusa Sensoji Temple for the annual hagoita market to buy oshie hagoita, a decorative battledore that serves as both a New Year's decoration and a good-luck charm.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Pension bills rammed through opposition's boycott

The ruling coalition rammed controversial pension reform bills through a Lower House welfare committee on Friday amid a boycott by opposition parties.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Tokyo to urge scolding as solution to societal ills

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Electronics firms see mixed earnings

The varying progress of restructuring efforts contributed to mixed performances of the country's major chip and computer manufacturers in the first half of fiscal 1999, according to earnings reports released by Thursday.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 26, 1999

Proyecto Uno -- viva Zapata!

Everybody knows that foreign artists can only have a hit in the States as long as they sing in English. Conversely, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are credited with spearheading a "Latin boom" not only in America, but all over the world, by singing poppish variations of Afro-Cuban styles...
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Retailers rev up for holiday shoppers

Staff writers
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Meiji Life policy sales take 20% dive

Meiji Life Insurance Co. logged a 20.2 percent year-on-year decline in sales of new personal insurance and annuity policies during the April-September period, the firm announced Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Police arrest ex-Nichiei employee

Tokyo police Friday arrested a former employee of Nichiei Co., the leading nonbank lender of commercial loans, on suspicion of extortion and violating the Moneylending Business Law.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Nov 26, 1999

Salon Music goes back to basics, but still way ahead of the curve

One of the great curiosities of the Japanese music scene is the tendency to eat up the latest indie rock innovations from the U.K. or U.S., leaving home-grown talent unknown and uncelebrated.
EDITORIALS
Nov 25, 1999

Racing toward the unwired world

I n 1990, there were 11 million mobile phones in the entire world. Today, there are 50 million in Japan alone. Nearly 400 million people around the globe carry the various makes and models of wireless phones; those ranks swell by about 1 million more every week. Experts predict that within five years,...
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 1999

'The primary tools of violence'

During the Cold War, arms-control efforts focused on weapons of mass destruction. Diplomats struggled to find ways to limit biological, chemical and nuclear arsenals. They met with varying degrees of success, and they are laboring still to protect humanity from their destructive power. In recent years,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 1999

Japan's Middle East role

In January 1996, I was dispatched by the Japanese government to observe the election of the Palestine Council and the president of the Palestinian Authority. Because Palestine was still under Israeli occupation, it was not a sovereign state: Sending international observers to such a region was unprecedented....

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji