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CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2000

Simple beauty from unknown craftsmen

Dotted throughout Japan are the potting centers of the common people, makers of wholesome, durable and utilitarian pots. In contrast with tea ceremony utensils and porcelain which were reserved for nobility, the wealthy or export, these folk kilns made zakki or ordinary crockery that met the needs of...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2000

A new talent blooms in the Kyoto school

Some eight years, when Chieko Oshie was a student at the Kyoto City University of Art, she went out walking on the grounds and chanced upon a wild burdock plant in bloom. It was something in the colors that caught her eye, and the plant became a favorite of the young student's fancy. When autumn came...
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2000

NTT shirks its responsibilities

The Japanese and U.S. governments are at odds over access charges for NTT networks. The Japanese side is balking at a U.S. demand for a deep and prompt price cut, on the grounds that it will have a crippling effect on NTT operations. As things stand, it is unclear whether an agreement can be reached...
COMMENTARY
Feb 11, 2000

Diet imbroglio over at last

The Diet returned to normal Feb. 9, two weeks after the opposition forces started boycotting all proceedings to protest against the ruling bloc's handling of a controversial bill to reduce Diet seats. The turmoil started when the three-party governing coalition passed the bill for cutting Lower House...
COMMUNITY
Feb 11, 2000

Words and eras to build character

Kanji is also prone to fashion. During the Meiji Era, the mods were chu (loyalty), kun (lord), ai (love) and koku (nation). Politics were condensed into four characters: fukokukyohei (rich nation, strong army). Kind of taps right into the psyche of the period, doesn't it. And the Taisho Era which marked...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

WTO rules Canada must fix car duties

The Secretariat of the World Trade Organization recommended Friday that Canada correct its measures granting import-duty exemptions to exclusive car traders under its auto accord with the United States. The recommendation was issued in a final panel report released in Geneva, the Ministry of International...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

BOJ's ultraeasy-credit policy a double-edged sword

As the Bank of Japan carries its zero-interest rate policy into the second year, there is no sign that the policy the BOJ itself calls abnormal will end anytime soon.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

Britain reiterates promise to act quickly on MOX fuel

A top British energy official reiterated Friday her nation's determination to promptly propose action on the mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel that was delivered to Kansai Electric Power Co. by a British company and later rejected because of falsified safety data. "We're committed to putting proposals forward...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

'Greedy' Myanmar requests $1.45 billion

Staff writer How greedy Myanmar's cash-strapped military regime is! It is trying to wheedle Japan, the world's largest aid donor, for a huge amount of money that it probably would not be able to digest. The Myanmar military regime, struggling to survive deep economic trouble amid continued isolation...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

Rice self-sufficiency to stay flat around 96% in 2010

Japan's self-sufficiency in rice is expected to be roughly flat at 96 percent in fiscal 2010, up from from 95 percent in fiscal 1998, according to an estimate by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The figure is based on the assumption that both the consumption and production of rice...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

Kono, Ivanov signal further efforts toward a peace treaty

In the first foreign-ministerial meeting since former Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned on New Year's Eve, Japan and Russia confirmed Friday that they will continue to cooperate on a foreign policy course to advance peace treaty negotiations, a Foreign Ministry official said.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 11, 2000

Akebono, in his own words

Akebono is one of the biggest sports stars in Japan, both literally and figuratively. The 30-year-old followed in the footsteps of his oyakata (stablemaster) Azumazeki (ex-sekiwake Takamiyama) and former ozeki Konishiki in making the transition from the backwaters of Hawaii to the rarified heights of...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

More Japanese urged to join international student forum

The International Students' Committee, organizers of the annual International Management Symposium in St. Gallen, Switzerland, is urging more Japanese business leaders and students to take part in the gathering. Organizers say the symposium has become one of the prime occasions for leaders and top students...
CULTURE / Music
Feb 11, 2000

G. Love and Gomez have got them blues and got 'em new

Every 15 years or so we seem to get another blues revival. Revivals imply something dead being brought back to life, which means the blues isn't considered a living, breathing musical form, but something frozen in time, and each successive generation that revives it is further removed from the cultural...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

Turnout low at Founding Day ceremony

Diet members and foreign dignitaries on Friday attended a ceremony to celebrate National Founding Day at the Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. Yet, despite the efforts of organizing officials to emphasize the historical significance of the ceremony, the occasion was marked more by the prevalence...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

Economic seminar ends in split over IT emphasis

KYOTO -- The 38th annual Kansai Economic Seminar ended with participants recognizing the importance of information technology but divided on how much it should be embraced by firms whose traditional business is manufacturing. "Information technology is important for economic growth. But Japan needs...
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2000

The IRA must break the stalemate

The Northern Ireland peace process is in danger of breaking down. The Irish Republican Army's fierce resistance to surrendering any of its weapons has forced Protestant politicians to question the group's commitment to peace. In the absence of genuine good will between the parties to the conflict, gestures...
COMMUNITY
Feb 10, 2000

Psychic knowledge to a degree

Housewife Utako Ando (not her real name), 41, has been interested in fortunetelling for a long time. One day, a fortuneteller told her that her home would be robbed, and when she came back from vacation she found the prediction had come true. "That really surprised me," she says. "I believe fortunetellers...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2000

NPA admits defeat in Glico-Morinaga case

Prior to Saturday's expiration of the statute of limitations on the last crime in the Glico-Morinaga extortion case, the National Police Agency conceded defeat Thursday to the extortion ring. The 15-year statute of limitations on the crime runs out midnight Saturday. It will be the first time the NPA...
COMMENTARY
Feb 10, 2000

Democracy under attack

When I first read that the Japanese coalition government had decided to force through a bill to reduce the number of seats elected by proportional representation, my first thought was, since they had a majority of votes in both Houses for this measure and as democracy generally implies majority rules,...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 10, 2000

Olympics strike out with baseball format

In last week's installment of Sports Scope, my esteemed colleague David Picker took Orix BlueWave star center fielder Ichiro Suzuki to task for showing no interest in going to the 2000 Olympics. Well, I'm with Ichiro.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 10, 2000

Back streets in not-so-far towns

One of the great joys of sake tippling, especially after having searched the town for a while, is finding a new gem of a place. Just when you think you've seen just about any manifestation a sake pub could take, you stumble on something charming and warm, wondering how it could have escaped your attention...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2000

Ivanov reaffirms direction on Japan-Russia peace quest

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, reaffirmed Thursday that Japan and Russia will enhance ties to advance their peace treaty negotiations.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2000

Japan wants WTO dispute panel to take steel case

The government said Thursday it will ask the World Trade Organization later this month to set up a settlement panel to resolve the dispute with Washington over Japan's steel exports, trade chief Takashi Fukaya said. The formal request will be made at the next meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2000

Economic seminar ends in division over infotech

KYOTO -- The 38th annual Kansai Economic Seminar concluded Thursday with participants recognizing the importance of information technology, but divided on how much it should be embraced by firms whose traditional business is manufacturing. "Information technology is important for economic growth. But...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2000

Japan ill-served by its whitewash of wartime crimes

At the dawn of the new millennium, many nations continue to grapple with the historic and moral implications of World War II. In Berlin, the German government broke ground for a new Holocaust Memorial, and in Stockholm 40 heads of state joined with historians, educators and Jewish survivors of the Nazi...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2000

Symposium on bilateral direct investment to be held

Japan and the United States will discuss ways to better cope with the rapidly increasing foreign direct investment in Japan by cosponsoring a government-private sector symposium March 1 in Tokyo, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry announced Thursday. The symposium will focus on mergers...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2000

Ishihara continues to push for bank tax

Despite criticism from the central government, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara took another step Thursday toward levying a 3 percent tax on banks by briefing party representatives of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. To go into effect, the proposal must be approved by the assembly during its regular session,...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2000

M-5 rocket fails to reach orbit; satellite feared lost

UCHINOURA, Kagoshima Pref. -- In another serious blow to Japan's space program, an M-5 rocket carrying an astronomical observation satellite failed Thursday to reach its expected orbit. The rocket was supposed to reach an orbit of between 270 km and 550 km from Earth after lifting off at 10:30 a.m....
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 10, 2000

Filling up an empty month with wine

Bring out the wine! It's National Foundation Day! (Well, tomorrow.) Are any of Japan's official nation-builders building reputations as wine connoisseurs? If so, I've yet to hear of it, but I did notice that on a state visit to Mexico a few years ago the then-Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu had no idea...

Longform

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