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COMMUNITY
Dec 9, 1999

Social power, social pressure in the playground community

On sunny afternoons, I strap my baby Rio in a carrier and we go to swing on the swings at the local park. He giggles as the wind blows through his hair.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1999

U.K. envoy upbeat on ties

Staff writer What a difference a decade makes. In 1990, BBC television aired a documentary series that chronicled Japan's economic miracle. In January, it will air a followup series examining the nation's economic demise, titled "Bubble Trouble." A contrasting, yet perhaps an even more insightful British...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 1999

Waterway quality still stagnant, EPA report shows

A survey of water quality in the nation's rivers, coastal areas and lakes showed little change in fiscal 1998 compared with the year before, according to a report released by the Environment Agency on Tuesday. In one portion of the annual study, 7,290 locations were checked to see whether water met...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 5, 1999

Born to fail the Japanese proficiency test

Today at this very moment, while you are reading this newspaper, myself, as well as thousands of other foreigners in Japan, are failing the Japanese Proficiency Test.
EDITORIALS
Dec 3, 1999

Corporate Japan turns the corner

The latest midterm earnings reports from Japanese companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange offer a qualified but positive message: Corporate Japan appears to be finally recovering from its protracted slump. Pretax current profits for the six months to September held level with profits from the same...
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 1999

Britain's beef brawl

France and Britain have been engaged in an exceptionally nasty food fight. Passions are high on both sides of the English Channel and Britain's famed tabloids have done their best to push them into the stratosphere. Their inflammatory rhetoric is being matched by the showmanship of French farmers, who...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Nov 27, 1999

Unwelcome companions

Thanks to e-mail, a vast assortment of unsolicited information comes my way. Some of it is even interesting and occasionally I share it with you. My amazement is not so much with the information I am sending your way today as it is with the person who noticed it and then did the necessary projection....
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Meiji Life, Toyo Trust near four-way alliance

Toyo Trust & Banking Co. and Meiji Life Insurance Co. are nearing a decision to join a planned alliance between Nippon Life Insurance Co. and Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp. in the so-called "master trust" business, informed sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 1999

Japan's Middle East role

In January 1996, I was dispatched by the Japanese government to observe the election of the Palestine Council and the president of the Palestinian Authority. Because Palestine was still under Israeli occupation, it was not a sovereign state: Sending international observers to such a region was unprecedented....
JAPAN
Nov 20, 1999

Hachioji mercury cleanup stirs up protests

A group of residents concerned that mercury from a former pesticide plant in Hachioji, western Tokyo, is making locals sick called on the Environment Agency and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Friday to check the surrounding environment for pollution and citizens for health problems.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 1999

Heiwa Life sells off shares to Aetna

Heiwa Life Insurance Co. announced Thursday that it will sell a third of its shares to U.S. financial services company Aetna International Inc.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1999

No date again given for Yeltsin visit

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in a telephone conversation Wednesday with former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, underlined the importance of holding a bilateral summit in Japan but did not specify a date for any meeting, a Foreign Ministry official said.
COMMENTARY
Nov 10, 1999

America should cut taxes, not the debt

The standoff over the U.S. budget between the Republican Congress and Democratic president has had a curious byproduct: leaving more money to pay off the national debt. Some analysts are lobbying to devote future surpluses to the same purpose, perhaps eventually paying off the entire $5.6 trillion national...
JAPAN
Nov 9, 1999

Daiwa-Sumitomo Trust deal driven by IT costs

Daiwa Bank and Sumitomo Trust Banking & Co.'s decision to jointly provide administrative services for corporate pension and other trust funds was motivated by their desire to share the burden of information technology investment -- a catch phrase in the financial industry these days.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 1999

Nichiei chief threatened staff, managers say

Three former managers of Nichiei Co., now under fire for excessively aggressive loan-collection practices, have told investigators that President Kazuo Matsuda threatened to dismiss or demote employees who failed to collect debts, it was learned Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Nov 7, 1999

Our troubled world

Only 55 more days to go until the end of this century. It has been a troubled one, yet one filled with new discoveries and hope. More people have been assured of at least the basics of comfort in life while large numbers have been left in devastating poverty. Perhaps it will be remembered as a century...
JAPAN
Nov 5, 1999

Incense maker going strong 12 generations into business

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 4, 1999

At-home nursing care: a benefit or disincentive?

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 3, 1999

Visaless group urges more flexible rights policy

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 1, 1999

Child abuse cases surge 30% over '97

A total 6,932 cases of child abuse were brought before the nation's juvenile counseling offices in fiscal 1998, up roughly 30 percent from the previous year, the Health Ministry said Monday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Oct 31, 1999

When there's a need

What is KEEP? a reader asks. Friends in the United States want to know about its activities before making a donation.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 1999

Ministry to review U.S. base funding

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 27, 1999

Kamei ambushed on health care policy

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Oct 27, 1999

What's going on

Last summer I wrote about Tokyo's upcoming wine event, the prestigious Japan International Wine Challenge, a competition that brings together the world's leading sommeliers, producers, importers and experts, giving devotees a chance to meet leaders in the world of wine and to taste some of the world's...
LIFE / Travel
Oct 20, 1999

Trying times for bees

VANCOUVER, Canada -- For millions of years, honeybees have been doing what they do best -- transforming the nectar from blossoms into thick, sweet honey. Since the development of agriculture, they have also been ensuring that the pollination necessary for the production of the world's fruits and vegetables...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 1999

Ministry to require testing of genetically modified food

The Health and Welfare Ministry plans to require that all genetically modified foods be examined to keep unauthorized products out of the market, ministry sources said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 1999

First bigger, then better

Another Japanese megabank is in the making. Sumitomo Bank and Sakura Bank have just agreed to merge by April 2002, which will create the world's second-largest banking group, with assets of about 99 trillion yen. Earlier this year, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan announced...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1999

State stand on Korean veterans may be unconstitutional: court

OSAKA -- Refusing a state pension to Korean residents of Japan simply because they are not Japanese nationals might run counter to the constitutional principle of equality under the law, the Osaka High Court said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 1999

Megawati has lost her way

HONG KONG -- Indonesia faces a more profound immediate national crisis than India or Japan -- but all three face the same basic political problem: They badly need an effective ruling coalition. In New Delhi and Tokyo, a coalition government is in place. In Jakarta, it isn't.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 1999

Agency reports Tokai damage but revelations continue

The Science and Technology Agency informed the International Atomic Energy Agency early Thursday that the exterior of the roof of the uranium-processing plant where Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred last week is not damaged, agency officials said.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear