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EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2000

Economy inspires cautious optimism

The Bank of Japan's latest quarterly "tankan" survey of business sentiments, conducted in September, provides further evidence that the Japanese economy is slowly recovering from its worst postwar recession. Leading the recovery are large corporations riding the crest of the information-technology revolution....
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2000

An unambiguous democrat

At the moment of his greatest personal triumph, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung once again demonstrated his magnanimity. "I return all my honor to the people and the citizens of the world, who love democracy and human rights," the president was quoted as saying after he was awarded the Nobel Peace...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2000

The Net surviving in China

CAMBRIDGE, England -- China is in the process of establishing the rule of law. Not common law as in England or civil law as in most other countries, but socialist law. The basic difference between socialist law and other forms of law, it seems from recent practice, is that only the Chinese Communist...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2000

Olympic success puts Sydney at the top

SYDNEY -- So you liked watching the world's best-ever Olympic Games? Wait, there's more. Hold that remote control for the next sports extravaganza from Australia, the Sydney 2000 Paralympics.
COMMENTARY
Oct 8, 2000

The Japanese people really are different

This year there were two Olympics. One was for the world generally. The other was for Japan, with audiences glued to events where hysterical announcers could declare a Japanese victory.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Oct 7, 2000

And now, the green peril?

Today, the green banner of Islam inspires almost as much fear as the red Soviet flag did several decades ago. This fear is not entirely unjustified. Of course, it would be silly to label Muslim culture "aggressive" or "intolerant"; yet too many acts of aggression and intolerance have been conducted under...
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Oct 5, 2000

A dance of color, space and line

"Sometimes just to touch the ground is enough for me," says Wakako Oe with all the warmth of her plenteous years, "even if not a single plant grows in the garden."
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2000

Alpinist, Everest garbage man has bone to pick with polluters

The problem of garbage disposal -- a nagging issue common to major cities around the globe -- has grown so large that even the world's most lofty place is not immune to litter anymore, mountaineer Ken Noguchi laments.
SOCCER / World cup
Oct 1, 2000

2002 Cup ticket sales hit last-minute snag

Just three days prior to the launch of 2002 World Cup ticket sales for residents of Japan, the Japanese World Cup Organizing Committee on Friday announced the postponement of the start of sales due to technical failures related to the Internet sales system as well as misprints on the application forms....
COMMUNITY
Oct 1, 2000

A life spent on the edge

It's not entirely clear which of his visits to Japan Jim Whittaker remembers the most. The latest, earlier this year, was to promote his autobiography and attend the opening of the first overseas branch of Recreation Equipment Inc., the outdoor goods cooperative he helped set up in Seattle in 1950.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2000

Mizuho executives express confidence in future

Chief executives of the Mizuho Financial Group expressed confidence Friday that their company is destined to lead the Japanese banking industry and become one of the world's top banks.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2000

U.S. should drain strategic oil reserves dry

With gasoline and home heating-oil prices continuing to shoot skyward, U.S. President Bill Clinton decided late last week to flood the market with federally stockpiled oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The SPR holds 582 million barrels of unrefined crude oil, a stock large enough to replace 37...
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2000

Mizuho has big goals -- and hurdles

The Mizuho Financial Group, the world's biggest financial empire in terms of assets, takes shape today, integrating Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan under a newly created holding company.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2000

Mori vows to urge oil producers to stabilize prices

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori promised Wednesday to call on oil producers to make efforts to stabilize crude prices, saying the recent surge in the prices could have a negative impact on the global economy.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2000

'IT cards' dropped from supplementary budget

The government decided Monday that the supplementary budget for fiscal 2000 will not cover "IT cards" that would have subsidized tuition for Internet-related courses, government officials said.
OLYMPICS
Sep 25, 2000

Takahashi wins marathon gold in record time

SYDNEY -- Tiny Naoko Takahashi blitzed a big marathon field Sunday to win Japan's first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's athletics in a new Olympic best time.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Sep 23, 2000

Stopped in my flippin' tracks by a Shino tea bowl

I'm lucky enough to live only five minutes away from one of my favorite Mino potters -- and I don't even live near the Mino area. That's in Gifu Prefecture, whereas I reside in the potting wasteland of Numazu. I'm always asked about how I ended up here and I can only say that it was the will of something...
EDITORIALS
Sep 22, 2000

China surmounts a WTO hurdle

The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to grant China permanent normal trade-relations status. That will provide an impetus to international negotiations on China's bid to join the World Trade Organization. Those talks are entering the homestretch with the start of the final round of negotiations in Geneva....
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2000

Rebirth of Sino-Russian alliance unlikely

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Chinese Premier Li Peng was having the time of his life. First, academics at Far Eastern State University bestowed a doctorate of law on him. Then women dressed in white and beaded caps like boyars' daughters on their wedding day danced to traditional music. And Yevgeny Nazdratenko,...
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2000

Whaling issue not black and white

Incensed over Japan's expanded whaling program, Washington has threatened Tokyo with trade sanctions in what the media have largely portrayed as a black and white issue.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2000

MacArthur's audacious landing at Inchon astounded everyone -- except Mao

HONG KONG -- Sept. 15 was the 50th anniversary of the famous Inchon amphibious landing by U.S. forces under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, which so decisively turned the tide of battle in the early stages of the Korean War.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Sep 20, 2000

I want my RTV

While on vacation in the States, I found myself watching the finale of "Survivor," the climax of a summer of reality TV. I could have turned it off. I could have returned to my book. But no. I had been (blissfully) ignorant of all that had gone on before, but that didn't matter. I watched both it and...
OLYMPICS
Sep 20, 2000

Takimoto scores more judo gold for Japan

SYDNEY -- Makoto Takimoto won Japan's third gold medal of the Sydney Games on Tuesday night with two of the best bouts of the Olympic tournament so far.
EDITORIALS
Sep 19, 2000

A welcome slowdown

The biggest concern among economists in the last year has been the prospect of a "hard landing" for the high-flying U.S. economy. They feared that either because of a crisis or by design, the United States would stall and knock the wind out of the global economy. That danger seems to be abating: The...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2000

U.S. whaling sanctions smack of hypocrisy

Japan's whale-research vessels are now scheduled to return to port after completing their observations and sampling in the northwestern Pacific. Meanwhile, the United States continues to criticize Japan's research program and threaten trade sanctions. One can't help but suspect that all the antiwhaling...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2000

Shining a light on global 'Big Brother'

Perhaps more appropriately to the world of James Bond than to the European Union, Echelon -- an international spying network in which governments covertly cooperate to intercept global communications -- is causing a stir in the European Parliament.
OLYMPICS
Sep 14, 2000

Smile, take a bath and visualize the gold

SYDNEY -- Yasuko Tajima said she was swimming faster than ever in the 400-meter individual medley relay, Masami Tanaka staked her claim on gold and Takashi Yamamoto might just smile his way into the medals. But head coach Koji Ueno seemed to be hanging on, white-knuckled, to the hope that new training...
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2000

Nestle set to quench Japan's thirst for mineral water

KOBE -- It is cheap and safe to drink tap water in Japan. Still, the Nestle group, the world's top maker and supplier of mineral water, sees great potential for growth in the Japanese market.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past