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COMMENTARY
Jun 5, 2000

The conservative's dilemma

Traditionally American voters have been given a choice between conservatism and liberalism. The Republican Party is labeled "conservative" and the Democratic Party "liberal." In Japan before 1993, when the Liberal Democratic Party lost its monopoly on power, the choice was between conservatism and socialism....
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2000

Official or not, English a must for Japan leaders: symposium

The proposal to make English Japan's official second language has been hotly debated over the past few months, but panelists at a recent symposium say it is Japan's leaders — not necessarily the general public — who need to master the language.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
May 25, 2000

Winding down the vine along Austria's Danube

Can't you just see yourself, on a ship cruising the Danube from one charming Austrian wine town to another, sipping their world-class wines while wondering how you ever got so lucky? This is a possible dream, the more so because the Danube and many wine towns it connects -- Krems, Spitz, etc. -- are...
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2000

Filling in the gaps of a Japan-North Korea deal

Suspense is growing over whether the first North-South Korea summit will be held in June as scheduled. It has obscured ongoing Japan-North Korea talks on diplomatic normalization. Japanese public attention is focused on the alleged abduction of a dozen Japanese by North Korean agents. It is anybody's...
LIFE / Travel
May 17, 2000

A journey to the highlands of Mindanao

He knows that I know it's a scam, but we go through the motions anyway.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2000

APEC urged to promote e-commerce

Member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum must endeavor to promote cross-border e-commerce and solve problems such as infringement of Internet security, International Trade and Industry Minister Takashi Fukaya said Monday.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2000

E-commerce tax under construction

PARIS -- Talk about the information technology revolution is everywhere. Electronic commerce is taking off, financial institutions are trading online, and schools are holding class on the Internet.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2000

Alternative nuclear futures

The world community will gather in New York from April 24 to May 19 for the first review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty since it was indefinitely extended in 1995. Unfortunately, the nuclear future looks a lot less rosy than it did five years ago. Since then, India and Pakistan have crashed through...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 12, 2000

The wellspring of pacifism in Japan

PROPHETS OF PEACE: Pacifism and Cultural Identity in Japan's New Religions, by Robert Kisala. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1999, 242 pp., $24.95 (paper). The so-called Peace Constitution is a defining feature of modern Japan. In the aftermath of World War II, Japan has perceived itself, and...
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 30, 2000

Cubs take historic opener in Tokyo

One small step for the Chicago Cubs, one giant leap for Major League Baseball.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2000

Pyongyang, Tokyo set date for talks

Japan and North Korea have agreed to hold the first round of negotiations in Pyongyang on establishing diplomatic ties on April 4-8, resuming the talks that collapsed in 1992, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY
Mar 15, 2000

More than a pit stop in the Hita of the moment

It may not be on the typical tourist itineraries, and its name may sound almost like a home appliance, but Hita is a lovely town. It sprawls between two highland rivers in a lush valley at the back of Oita Prefecture, surrounded by forests and fruit trees. Hita is just 70 minutes from Fukuoka, and easily...
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.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2000

Pyongyang food deal aims to help relations

The government announced Tuesday that it will resume food aid to North Korea, setting the stage for full-fledged talks on normalizing diplomatic relations.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 6, 2000

Never mind lions, look at the birds

When thinking of traveling in South Africa, many people imagine safari-style ventures into the bush to spy elephant, rhino and cheetah.
EDITORIALS
Feb 29, 2000

First principles in Kosovo

One simple question has always hung over the peacekeeping operation in Kosovo: What is the goal? Is it peace at all costs or is it the restoration of the multiethnic communities that existed in Yugoslavia before the country shattered in violence? If the former, then partition may be the solution to Yugoslavia's...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2000

Modern Japanese painting's other capital

The figure of Kakuzo Okakura, better known in Japan by his pen name Tenshin, looms large over modern nihonga (Japanese-style painting). Not a painter of distinction himself, his importance was as a critic, curator and organizer. As the founder of what is now Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2000

Economic seminar ends in split over IT emphasis

KYOTO -- The 38th annual Kansai Economic Seminar ended with participants recognizing the importance of information technology but divided on how much it should be embraced by firms whose traditional business is manufacturing. "Information technology is important for economic growth. But Japan needs...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2000

Economic seminar ends in division over infotech

KYOTO -- The 38th annual Kansai Economic Seminar concluded Thursday with participants recognizing the importance of information technology, but divided on how much it should be embraced by firms whose traditional business is manufacturing. "Information technology is important for economic growth. But...
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2000

Kyoto business seminar kicks off with eye on reform

KYOTO -- The two-day Kansai Business Seminar opened here Wednesday with organizers calling on business leaders to reform Japan's business practices and to revitalize the Kansai economy in the face of global competition. Before about 380 business leaders, government officials and university professors,...
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2000

Sumitomo insurance units agree to cooperate in nonlife insurance

Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. announced Tuesday they have agreed to cooperate in the nonlife insurance business. The agreement calls for mutual marketing of both life and nonlife products through their respective sales channels. It also includes cooperation in...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2000

Bringing an end to South Asia's cycle of violence

South Asia once again is in a cycle of violence. It began with the drama of the seven-day hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814. The ordeal came to a shocking end on the eve of the new millennium as India's external affairs minister, who vowed to not give in to the terrorists' demands, swapped three...
BUSINESS
Jan 4, 2000

Domestic banks embrace information technology

Domestic banks, lagging behind their American counterparts in the use of information technology, are stepping up their Internet banking operations and expanding services available to retail customers via the Net.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 1999

Wahid to announce referendum for restive Aceh

Visiting Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid indicated Monday that he would announce within a month a referendum on independence for the country's restive Aceh province, according to a senior Japanese politician.
COMMENTARY
Nov 13, 1999

End of the House of Lords?

LONDON -- In the broader scheme of things, it is only a small incident. The final removal last week of 656 hereditary dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts and lords from the law-making machinery of the British Parliament can hardly be described as earth-shattering. Nor is it a surprise, having been long...
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 1999

Money talks in U.S. politics

Ms. Elizabeth Dole last week ended her trailblazing bid for the U.S. Republican Party's presidential nomination. Hers was the first serious run for the presidency by a woman in either party. Yet Ms. Dole's withdrawal from the race highlights not only the failure of American voters to take a woman candidate...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 1999

Telecom Realignment: Newcomers may have edge on NTT

Last in a series
JAPAN
Jun 29, 1999

Telecom Realignment: Rival carriers prepare to combat Goliath

Second in a five-part series on reorganizing the domestic telecommunications industry
JAPAN
Jun 9, 1999

C&W wins IDC stakes

Toyota Motor Corp. and Itochu Corp. on Wednesday announced their decisions to sell their 17.7 percent stakes in International Digital Communications Inc. to Britain's Cable and Wireless PLC.
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 1999

Ten years after Tiananmen

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the tragic climax of the 1989 demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. It has been a long decade. The world is much changed, as is China. Deng Xiaoping, "the Little Helmsman," the man who set China on the path to economic transformation, is dead. His legacy survives...

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers