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ENVIRONMENT
Jan 31, 2000

Fighting the illegal wildlife trade

PRETORIA -- Praised as the best wildlife law-enforcement agency in all of Africa, South Africa's Endangered Species Protection Unit combines perilous undercover investigation and hardline law enforcement with a passion for one of Africa's most precious resources -- its wildlife.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2000

Analysis: Aum's survival in doubt as watch begins

Staff writer Monday's decision by the Public Security Examination Commission to invoke a law to monitor Aum Shinrikyo will inevitably deal a major blow to the cult -- possibly even leading to its breakup. According to the law, enacted in December, Aum must submit a list of its current members as well...
COMMENTARY
Jan 31, 2000

Let the great debate begin

The Diet is finally launching debate on constitutional issues, breaking a long-standing political taboo. As the ordinary Diet session opened Jan. 20, both houses created panels to conduct the first parliamentary debate on the pros and cons of constitutional amendments. All political parties will take...
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2000

Gateway tweaks sales strategy by applying Dilbert principle

Gateway is bullish on Japan, especially on the smaller businesses it is targeting, and the computer maker is counting on a perhaps unlikely character to help make the sale: a mouthless, bespectacled, befuddled -- yet likable -- dweeb named Dilbert.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2000

Galleon to virtually re-enact first contact with Europe

Staff writer Visit the Osaka Maritime Museum when it opens this summer, and you might want to take along a waterproof poncho, motion sickness pills and a sword. This has nothing to do with the location of the all-glass, globe-shaped museum, which floats like a giant mirror ball on the waters of Osaka...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2000

Myanmar government losing all financial footing

Staff writer Nearly half of the approximately 270 billion yen in Japan's outstanding official yen loans to Myanmar have gone sour.As of March 31 last year, the final day of fiscal 1998, Japan's outstanding yen loans to developing countries totaled 9.8 trillion yen, of which 272.5 billion yen was being...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2000

Chuo relinquishes presidency of merged bank

Staff writer Top executives of Mitsui Trust & Banking Co. and Chuo Trust & Banking Co. were inundated with questions from reporters Monday as they announced the reversal of an earlier decision regarding the leadership structure of a bank to be set up through a merger of the two firms in April. When...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2000

Opposition parties continue Diet boycott

The Lower House on Monday entered a two-day, question-and-answer session on policy speeches delivered Friday as the opposition camp continued its boycott in the face of last week's turmoil over a seat-reduction bill. It marked the first time in the past 33 years that a question-and-answer session on...
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2000

Emperors of the rag trade

"Haute couture" -- high fashion -- has long been good for a laugh. One of the best therapies for gloom in Tokyo is to stroll along the southeastern end of Omotesando, in Aoyama, where the fashion boutiques cluster. The prison-block architecture (rain-streaked cement tastefully accessorized with rust)...
COMMENTARY
Jan 30, 2000

Why Taro can't speak English

It's exam season in Japan, and once again the problem of English language education is being churned over. This time the debate threatens to turn serious, for three reasons.
COMMUNITY
Jan 30, 2000

Preaching the gospel of women's television

Those who watch the program "New Yorkers," broadcast weekly on NHK's satellite channel, will be familiar with the name Nancy Lee. But how many realize that this snappy, bright, Jewish-American from New Jersey is as much at home in Japanese as English?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 30, 2000

More Japanese baseball games on the horizon?

Japanese sports papers are saying the Central and Pacific Leagues are thinking of expanding their season schedules to 140 games in 2001, and the PL is considering re-adopting its split-season format used between 1975 and 1982. If they follow through, it will be the most games played by the teams here...
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Jan 30, 2000

Success story

While no one can possibly take in all the exhibitions in Tokyo, some of you may be interested in a showing of Yoshihiro Kubo's oil paintings today through Tuesday at Ginza Art Plaza, phone (03) 3289-2345 for directions. If you don't know, Dr. Kubo opened what was perhaps the first dental clinic in Japan...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2000

Vesting the third millennium in peace

KYOTO -- Llamas grazed contentedly on the slopes surrounding Machu Picchu as John Kurtenbach spread out the kesa on the South American peak. Later it became part of a meditation held there.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 30, 2000

Rams vs. Titans: the inside scoop

ATLANTA -- With the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans going through their final full practices Friday at the Georgia Dome as the city braces for a huge snowstorm, the buildup to Super Bowl XXXIV has reached its crescendo.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 30, 2000

Rihito Kimura

To answer the question what is bioethics, professor Rihito Kimura wrote a book and more than a hundred articles. "It is a huge subject," he said. "Many people think its focus is on medical issues, but it is much wider than that. It has ethical, legal and social implications too, in an environmental context....
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2000

Old doesn't necessarily mean convalescent

A group of elderly women chatting over lunch and devoting the rest of their time to making handicrafts such as dolls and handkerchiefs say that time really flies at Kawaji-san-chi, a new type of day-care home.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 30, 2000

National orchestras bear a standard for small countries

Most advanced nations have found the need and the means to provide their citizenry regular access to the timeless, universal beauties of great symphonic music. National orchestras are found in the capitals of countries around the globe. They are standard-bearers of artistic, intellectual and spiritual...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2000

'Snow' rids author of demons

Betsy Howie doesn't want me to say that writing "Snow," her first novel, was a cathartic -- "I hate that word" -- process for her. She prefers "soothing."
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2000

Can hard industry spike the Net bubble?

Time Warner's one-two megamerger punch, first with America Online then with British music giant EMI Group, followed last week by shares of Yahoo Japan Corp. exceeding 100 million yen, sent many investors and observers searching for a psychological safety blanket.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2000

Tokyo barely balances budget despite spiking haloed items

The Tokyo governor has lost 7,000 supporters for his next election, promises marathon aficionado Taeko Hara.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2000

Disaster dictated Ginza make-overs

JR Yurakucho Station is a well-known gateway to the shopping paradise of Tokyo's Ginza district, whose very name invokes images of luxury and big-name brands.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2000

Mr. Clinton presses resolutely on

U.S. President Bill Clinton delivered his eighth, and perhaps final, State of the Union address this week. The popular perception of the president is that of a lame duck, girding for his last year in office, wounded by the scandals that have tainted his two terms in office and restrained by the distractions...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 29, 2000

Traditional art gets the seal of approval

You need them to register a birth certificate, to marry, to open a bank account and even to receive a parcel. You might say the hanko validates every official occasion in Japan.
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 29, 2000

Maintaining Shiiba's proud history

A good chance to enjoy a glimpse of visual and performing arts of rural old Japan will come to Tokyo Feb. 19-20. The Kioi Small Hall will present a special program titled "Traditional Performing Arts of Shiiba, Miyazaki" to introduce rarely seen dances and chants performed in front of a profusely decorated...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 29, 2000

Marubeni Collection not to be blinked at

Department store exhibitions are the butterflies of the art scene: blink and they're gone!
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2000

A warning from cyberspace

Welcome to the digital world. That was not the actual wording of the message hackers left on Japanese government Web pages this week, but it was the meaning for anyone who bothered to read between the lines. This week's incidents were an embarrassment, or at most a nuisance. Next time, the damage could...
COMMENTARY
Jan 28, 2000

Debate kicks off on the Constitution

As the ordinary Diet session opened Jan. 20, the tripartite ruling bloc and the opposition forces squared off over a proposal to cut the number of Lower House seats. With a dissolution of the Lower House for a snap election looming, sharp rivalry is brewing between the coalition, made up of the Liberal...
MORE SPORTS
Jan 28, 2000

Rams' version of 'Warner Bros.' aim to tame Titans

ATLANTA -- People call them the Warner Bros. But there won't be any Tweety or Sylvester at the Georgia Dome when the Tennessee Titans face the St. Louis Rams on Sunday in the Super Bowl XXXIV.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2000

Finance meeting ends rates speculation

Last week's Group of Seven meeting of financial leaders in Tokyo provided Japan with an opportunity to clear up doubts about its monetary policy options.

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