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LIFE / Digital
Jun 14, 2000

Japanese gaming site unveiled

A Japanese gaming community Web site was unveiled Monday in conjunction with the launch of the Japanese subsidiary of AsiaContent.com, a pan-Asian consumer Internet company.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 14, 2000

How Japan's JET program got off the ground

IMPORTING DIVERSITY: Inside Japan's JET Program, by David L. McConnell. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000, 328 pp. (paper). Stung by international criticism that Japan was too insular, the government decided in August of 1987 to initiate "one of the largest educational programs in the...
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2000

When politics itself is an issue

Campaigning officially started on Tuesday for the June 25 Lower House election, which is of particular significance to Japan because it will basically determine the nature and direction of Japanese politics at the beginning of the 21st century. As such, the general election -- the first in three years...
LIFE / Travel
Jun 14, 2000

On the open road to Tucson

Favorite travel fantasies come in many forms -- not everyone dreams of a deserted white-sand beach on Maui.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 14, 2000

Gateways to synergy

Every time I visit a particular convenience store, I wince at the repeated announcement of its Web site: "Eichi chi chi pi koron surashu surashu daburyu daburyu daburyu dotto . . . " It is supposed to be such a cutting-edge play, but it only reminds me of how clumsy the analog world can be, and of how...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2000

Vision said key to campaign

It's all about the vision thing, or the lack of it, thinks Keio University economics professor Heizo Takenaka about the campaign for the Lower House election.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 14, 2000

Asian economic ills were homegrown

ASIAN ECLIPSE: Exploring the Dark Side of Business in Asia, by Michael Backman. Singapore: John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., 1999, 379 pp., $29.95 (cloth). An insightful adage states that a best friend dispenses "tough love," meaning that if one is turning into an alcoholic, the friend will withhold strong...
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2000

Orix, Credit Saison offer higher rates of interest

Orix Trust & Banking Corp. and major credit card issuer Credit Saison Co. announced Tuesday that beginning in July they will offer Credit Saison card holders up to 1 percent interest per annum on ordinary deposits with the bank.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 14, 2000

The best mechanics in the world

Canada's Inuit have many talents, but one of the most impressive is their mechanical ability. With or without training, they have a reputation as the world's best natural mechanics.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 14, 2000

The return of an old classic: fresh fish and soccer for all

Shimizu, a port city in Shizuoka Prefecture, is back in fashion again. In the Edo Period, Shimizu was a popular post town on the Tokaido Highway. Travelers liked its fresh fish and tasty Oiwake yokan bean paste. But the inauguration of train service between Tokyo and Kyoto spelled doom for Shimizu, as...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2000

Immigration sweep takes in 1,040

Immigration officers arrested 1,040 foreigners on suspicion of violating the immigration law during a three-week sweep that started May 15, the Justice Ministry said.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2000

Violation of rights by cops nets redress

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to pay 180,000 yen in compensation to a man denied the right to see his lawyer while in police detention in 1990.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 14, 2000

Japan's path from imitator to world-beating innovator

CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY IN MODERN JAPAN, edited by Ian Inkster and Fumihiko Satofuka. London/New York: Tauris, 2000, 169 pp., unpriced. The relationship between culture and technology is complex and multilayered. Technological innovations that had profound effects on culture are easy to find: Think of...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 14, 2000

Kyogen's hero is Everyman

KYOGEN COMPANION, by Don Kenny, with a brief history by Kazuo Toguchi. Tokyo: National Noh Theater, 1999. 308 pp. with b/w plates. 1,800 yen. Kyogen are short comic plays sometimes a part of, but more often sandwiched between, the longer and often tragic noh dramas. They are spoken in the vernacular...
COMMENTARY
Jun 14, 2000

The chancy politics of weather

In less than two weeks, on Sunday, June 25, Japanese voters will cast their ballots in what will be Japan's last general election of the 20th century. This may well turn out to be the most important Japanese general election since July 18, 1993, which resulted in the inauguration, on Aug. 9 of that year,...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2000

Ballots from abroad begin arriving

The government began accepting ballots Tuesday for the June 25 Lower House election from Japanese living abroad or aboard ships — the first time overseas voting has been permitted for a national election.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 14, 2000

Winding down

In Sunday's column, I told readers why I will be leaving Japan while, appropriately, explaining what is required for foreigners to get married in Japan, which is what we did. I also said I would explain what would replace this column. Actually, I can't do that. It is up to you. I know there are a lot...
LIFE / Travel
Jun 14, 2000

Bombardiers and polar bears

TORONTO -- The Bombardier died about 10 km out of Arviat, and that was a stroke of luck. It's nearly 800 km from Churchill to Rankin Inlet as the snowmobile travels and there are only two settlements along the way. We broke down close to one of them.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2000

Ripples from Assad's death will extend far

So the Lion of Damascus is, at last, no more. For some people, he has been an unconscionable time dying. I remember when, back in 1983, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his loyalist guerrillas were fighting a desperate rearguard action against the Syrian Army in the northern Lebanese town of Tripoli....
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 14, 2000

Growing in the shadows and shady corners

Your condominium may have a north- or east-facing balcony, or the building next door may block out the sun for the best part of the day. Even if you are lucky enough to have your own garden, there will always be some corner that is shady. Finding plants that will thrive in these areas can be tricky,...
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2000

Economic news shines, but many remain in the shade

The latest batch of economic reports has given the public reason to take heart. The Finance Ministry's quarterly business survey, released last week, found busi- ness-fixed investment rose 3.3 percent in the January-March term, the first year-on-year rise in nine quarters.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2000

Money supply growth eases off

Japan's key indicator of the money supply grew at an average pace of 2.2 percent in May from a year earlier, a slowdown from the 2.9 percent gain in April, the Bank of Japan said in a preliminary report released Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2000

Speed controllers sought for trucks

An panel advised the Transport Ministry on Monday to require automakers and trucking firms to put speed governors on large trucks to reduce fatal traffic accidents on expressways, the ministry said.
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2000

Relief for the workaholic headache

Nearly everyone has heard of sick leave, the time that people are allowed off from work to recover from an illness, whether real or feigned. More people also are becoming aware of child-care leave, the time off that companies are supposed to allow to mothers or fathers of a newborn child. Now the Osaka-based...
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2000

Mori receives radioactive mail

Envelopes containing small amounts of a radioactive substance were mailed last week to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Official Residence, as well as to the Science and Technology Agency and seven other government offices, police sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2000

16% of pollees will back LDP in proportional vote

Sixteen percent of people surveyed say they will vote for the Liberal Democratic Party in the proportional representation section of the June 25 House of Representatives election, according to a Kyodo News poll released Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2000

DPJ offers bitter medicine as poll strategy

Yukio Hatoyama, head of the Democratic Party of Japan In campaigning for the Lower House election, the Democratic Party of Japan will push policies that may seem to voters like "bitter medicine," such as lowering the minimum taxable income level, to show the party is thinking seriously about the nation's...

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight