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CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Nov 24, 2000

From the underground up

Ryoji, the charismatic frontman and mastermind behind skacore group Potshot, has the impossibly skinny, graceful physique of a true rock star. Think Mick Jagger in 1969 or Kurt Cobain 20 years later: the ugly duckling reborn through the grace of a power chord.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2000

The pitfalls of a press run rampant

Nearly a year on, the children of the Hino district of Kyoto's Fushimi Ward at last seem as if they are getting back to normal.
COMMUNITY
Nov 23, 2000

Nurturing respect for all creatures great and small

For anyone with a passing knowledge of animal rights, or even a concern for the humane treatment of animals, Japan can seem a cold and uncaring place.
COMMUNITY / BODY AND SOUL
Nov 23, 2000

You gotta know when to fold 'em

One evening 20 years ago, Kiyomi Takahashi (not her real name) happened to stop at a coffee shop on her way home from work. She found a computer poker game machine in the corner of the shop, and started playing it just for fun. Little did she know this would be the beginning of a decade-long nightmare....
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2000

Japanese politics come up short again

Politics in Britain is characterized by a confrontation between the Conservative Party and the Labor Party. Each has its own policy platform, and voters choose between them, forcing changes in government. Likewise in the United States, the Republican and Democratic Parties alternate in power, running...
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 22, 2000

Japan-Korea against the World

A joint All-Star team composed of J. League and Korean League players will face the World All-Star team in the Accenture Dream Soccer Match, organizers of the exhibition announced Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2000

Japan needs to abandon the 'image game'

Domestic politics is not my specialty, but I am so disturbed by recent developments that I am prompted to write down some of my thoughts. First, newspaper comments and articles suggest that the opposition parties and the media have succeeded in establishing a public image of Yoshiro Mori as an incompetent...
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2000

Panel releases judicial reform report

A government council on judicial reforms unveiled an interim report Monday that proposes drastic legal changes -- such as boosting the number of judicial personnel and allowing regular citizens to play a more pivotal role in trials.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2000

Yokota counts itself as abacus capital

YOKOTA, Shimane Pref. -- The curator of this town's abacus museum must have a sense of black humor to have included one of the first Sharp calculators in the display.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2000

Mideast peace said 'unavoidable'

Peace is "unavoidable" in the Middle East, and Israel wants to work together with the Palestinians to put an end to the violence, the new Israeli ambassador-designate said of his country's position Monday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 19, 2000

U.S. credibility put to test

NEW DELHI -- Political scientist Samuel Huntington has aptly described the United States as the "sole state with pre-eminence in every domain of power -- economic, military, diplomatic, ideological, technological and cultural -- with the reach capabilities to promote its interests in virtually every...
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2000

Forum to deal with rapid rise in soil pollution

The Environment Agency will create a committee in December to review how best to address soil contamination in the wake of a rapid rise in the number of cases of soil pollution reported in the past few years, agency chief Yoriko Kawaguchi said Friday.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 18, 2000

A peep into Tokugawa Japan

During the almost two and a half centuries when Japan shunned the rest of the world, the one Western country that remained on nodding terms was the Netherlands. This year the two countries are celebrating 400 years of continuous contact in what must be one of the strangest international relationships...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 18, 2000

Loochie Brothers rock out for Amnesty

At the close of the millennium, it is a sad fact that torture continues to be carried out in over 150 countries worldwide. "Rock Against Torture," an Amnesty International benefit concert to be held Nov. 19 at What the Dickens in Ebisu, aims to raise funds for the human-rights watchdog and publicize...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

Press mulls role of English in Asia

Foreign Press Center/Japan will hold its annual one-day Asia-Pacific Journalists Meeting on Nov. 30 in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 15, 2000

Settle for a least bad worst-case scenario in Korea

AVOIDING THE APOCALYPSE: The Future of the Two Koreas, by Marcus Noland. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 2000, 431 pp., $22 (paper). The thaw on the Korean Peninsula continues. Every week, history is made: a meeting between Korean officials, a diplomatic breakthrough for North...
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2000

10 Japanese may have died on train

Ten Japanese skiers were on the funicular train that caught fire Saturday in an alpine tunnel in central Austria and are believed among the scores who were killed, the Tokyo travel agency that organized the tour said Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2000

Rightist held in alleged bid to blackmail Giants

Police on Monday arrested a member of a rightwing organization for allegedly attempting to blackmail Yomiuri Giants Corp. by threatening to disclose embarrassing information about third baseman Akira Eto.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2000

Panel OKs fertilization with donated ova, sperm

A panel of experts commissioned by the Health and Welfare Ministry has agreed to conditionally allow infertile couples to undergo in vitro fertilization using donated ova or sperm, as well as transplants of donated fertilized ova, panel members said.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 12, 2000

Investing in life beyond the grave

The Museum of the University of Tokyo has changed and modernized in recent years, emphasizing particularly the use of up-to-date information technology. It is no longer an ivory tower but is reaching out beyond the university community to the general public. Its exhibitions have received favorable attention...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2000

APEC gearing up for the New Economy

WASHINGTON -- Laying the groundwork for a secure, stable and prosperous Asia-Pacific region is not the kind of work that generates dramatic headlines. But that is the work the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum does day in and day out, with significant benefits for business, workers, investors and...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2000

Japan's not-so-silent media conspiracy

Some months ago I went up to Tohoku to give a public lecture sponsored by a television station. After the talk there was a delightful, informal dinner, during which I chatted with an old friend, a producer at the station.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 12, 2000

On taking the eightfold path to environmental awareness

Environmentalists are a hard breed to pin down, much less to classify. They come in all shapes and sizes, and some even reject the name.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2000

Women give each other boost at business forum

SASEBO, Nagasaki Pref. -- Female business leaders from 10 countries shared their experiences Friday and encouraged each other with the knowledge that their roles in business and society will be more important in the coming century.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2000

Japan-Sri Lanka ties to focus on IT

The Sri Lankan Ambassador on Friday said the relationship between the two countries will be further strengthened through cooperation in information technology.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 11, 2000

Bringing a new shine to old Kutani

When I first looked at the work of Yasokichi Tokuda III (b. 1933) I had to put on a pair of sunglasses -- I was almost blinded by the intensity of his kaleidoscopic Kutani porcelain.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes