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CULTURE / Art
Mar 12, 2000

Dutch design innovations for the future

NAGOYA--"I designed a new way of living," says Jill Marie Hanssen, by way of introduction. She is a 1999 product design graduate from the Academy of Visual Arts Maastricht, so the hyperbole may have been the unintended result of speaking in English, her third language, but I took the 22-year-old Dutch...
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2000

Landfill seen dooming Edo fishing tradition

The fish that used to throng in the Edo-mae shallows of Tokyo Bay haunt fishermen today.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 12, 2000

NHK Symphony Orchestra performs American classics

The world of music is global indeed. Great musicians have originated from a bewildering array of places, studied far from home and made their careers around the world. The United States of America can claim its share of eminent instrumentalists and singers, giving birth to some, training others and nurturing...
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2000

Electronics makers to offer 500 yen increase in base wage

The base monthly wage for workers at Japan's 17 major electronics appliance manufacturers is likely to increase by 500 yen starting April 1, the first time in three years that the pay hike has matched the year-earlier level, labor union sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 12, 2000

'50 Masters' help to retune the eye

Compelling textures, mysterious forms and incredible skill: These are the vivid impressions of a visit to the exhibition "50 Masters of Contemporary Japanese Crafts," at Mitsukoshi's Nihonbashi store. Here are a hundred works in ceramics, textiles, lacquer, metal, wood, bamboo and the newer field of...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 12, 2000

Muriel Jolivet

A year ago, Muriel Jolivet said, "Briefly, the subjects I studied up to now were, first, the social integration of Japanese male students through work. Then I focused more on women, and their social integration through work. I got interested in women and maternity in Japan, and wrote the book 'Japan:...
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2000

La resistance is futile

Once again, France is attempting to draw a line in the sand against the encroaching tide of English. This time, reportedly, the language police are focusing on business and computer-related vocabulary. Marketplace and cyberspace must now be conceived of en francais, thank you, even if that means talking...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

Reactor cutback eyed in energy policy shift

The government will overhaul the nation's energy policy and probably cut back on its plan to build 16 to 20 new nuclear plants by fiscal 2010 in the wake of mounting opposition to such facilities and a fatal atomic accident last September, trade chief Takashi Fukaya said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

Upper House says childbirth is reason to be absent

The House of Councilors on Friday voted overwhelmingly in favor of allowing members who are about to give birth to be officially excused from attending the legislature.
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2000

A concession to North Korea

The Japanese government announced March 7 it would resume food aid to North Korea, offering 100,000 tons of rice through the United Nations World Food Program. Following the decision, the two countries agreed to resume Red Cross talks on humanitarian issues March 13 in Beijing and reopen the ambassadorial-level...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

School reform goals outlined

Reona Esaki, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics and head of a government education reform panel to be launched later this month, says he will strive to create a "custom-made" education system to meet the needs of individual students.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

Ishihara denies China influenced Falun Gong decision

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara denied reports that political pressures from China affected the metropolitan government's recent decision to deny nonprofit organization status to the Japanese branch of China's outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

Nursing care more democratic

The public nursing-care insurance system due to start next month is a steppingstone toward a citizen-oriented society where everyone can participate in the decision-making process, according to Professor Keiko Higuchi of Tokyo Kasei University.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2000

Can India buy peace in South Asia?

ISLAMABAD -- A $3 billion increase in defense expenditure may not qualify as a phenomenal sum for countries in the developed world, but it is a move that is certain to be at the center of the continuing security debate in South Asia.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 11, 2000

Urawa Reds expected to set the standard in J. League's second division

The big boys from J1 will kick off the J. League's Division Two season against the new boys from the JFL when the Urawa Reds face Mito Hollyhock at Urawa's Komaba Stadium on Saturday.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2000

Current-account surplus falls again

The nation's current-account surplus in January plunged 22.8 percent from a year earlier to 610.9 billion yen with the expansion of imports outpacing that of exports, the Finance Ministry said Friday in a preliminary report.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2000

Toshiba to focus on IT at expense of core trade

Toshiba Corp. plans to spin off unpromising core businesses, a move which would deprive the company of its status as a manufacturer of general electric and electronics products, a Toshiba official said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2000

Toshiba-EMI considers merging with Time Warner

Toshiba Corp. is considering merging its music software company with that of U.S. media and entertainment giant Time Warner Inc. in a deal that would create Japan's biggest music software firm, a Toshiba official said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2000

Bills to aid restructuring submitted to Diet

The government on Friday submitted two bills to the Diet aimed at making it easier for private companies to restructure.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

Japan opens East Timor liaison office

Japan opened a liaison office Friday in East Timor's capital of Dili to help facilitate rehabilitation and development work there.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

Japan seeks progress in alleged abduction cases

Japan will seek to make progress on the question of the alleged abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents when the Red Cross societies of the two nations meet in Beijing on Monday, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2000

Two chemical firms to settle antitrust suit

OSAKA -- Daicel Chemical Industries Ltd. and Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co. said Friday they have agreed to pay $39.7 million to settle out of court a U.S. antitrust lawsuit over their sales of sorbic acid.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2000

Toyota to increase stake in Hino

Toyota Motor Corp. will raise its stake in Hino Motors Ltd. from 20.1 percent to 33.8 percent, effectively gaining managerial control of Japan's largest truck manufacturer, the two companies announced Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

Teito rejects accident theory

Teito Rapid Transit Authority on Friday denied media speculation that Wednesday's fatal subway collision was caused by the sliding of locked wheels, arguing that this situation would make a derailment unlikely.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2000

Scorched in the fires of Iga

The influence on contemporary Japanese pottery from medieval kilns is still profound and deep, even though we have one foot into the 21st century. These high-fired unglazed stonewares can be found in potting centers commonly referred to as the Six Old Kilns (rokkoyo) -- the only problem is that this...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?