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CULTURE / Books
Jan 25, 2000

From 'either/or' to 'both/and'

FATHER INDIA: Westerners Under the Spell of an Ancient Culture, by Jeffrey Paine. New York, HarperCollins, 1999, 324 pp., with b/w photos, $14. Toward the middle of this detailed and thoughtful book, the author says his work is "about how different hopes for the West -- visions of another kind of West...
COMMENTARY
Jan 9, 2000

Doomsayers have it wrong

LONDON -- Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, is a deeply spiritual and thoughtful man. Again and again he brings us back to the really central question of our times -- central in all societies and all religions, and becoming more so in a globalized age. What now binds us together?...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2000

What's lurking behind Kan's smile?

Staff writer "Sometimes articles about it are written in a humorous and bantering way," said a grinning Naoto Kan, skillfully evading a reporter's question on Thursday. At his first news conference of the new year, the Democratic Party of Japan's policy chief was asked if he will run in the party's...
COMMENTARY
Jan 3, 2000

Building peace in a new era

As we greet the new millennium, we should ask ourselves what Japan should do to contribution to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, establish military and nonmilitary security, help solve global problems and prevent conflicts.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 1999

Japan's 'darkness at noon' Korean policy

U.S. diplomat William Perry has a policy of "cautious realism" regarding North Korea, and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung is identified with his positive "sunshine policy" vis-a-vis Pyongyang. It would be generous and accurate to characterize Japan's policy toward the North Korean regime of Kim Jong...
JAPAN
Dec 31, 1999

Another Century: Pollution legacy may linger

This is the first installment in a yearlong series on the blueprints of Japanese society in the 21st century. Staff writer Japan's beaches may be little more than a memory when the end of the 21st century rolls around. Conservative estimates predict it will be sayonara for about half of them, while...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 1999

Russia's Jewish homeland: a Stalinist experiment in social engineering lingers on

BIROBIDZHAN, RUSSIA -- Mikhail Kul was a soldier in the Soviet Army that helped defeat Germany in 1945, but he returned home to find that the Holocaust had emptied his Ukrainian village of most of its inhabitants.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 1999

Insanity cited in serial killer's death penalty appeal

The counsel for convicted serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki did not dispute allegations that he murdered four girls in Tokyo and Saitama prefectures in the late 1980s, but they claim he was insane at the time. The lawyers made the claim in their opening statement Wednesday of the appellant trial before...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 1999

Alleged serial killer 'insane'

The counsel for accused serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki on Tuesday did not argue allegations that the defendant was involved in the murders of four girls in Tokyo and Saitama prefectures in the late 1980s but did claim he was insane at the time. The lawyers made the claim in their opening statement of...
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 1999

Less-than-inspiring politics

The extraordinary Diet session that ended Thursday brought to the fore the simmering discord within the tripartite ruling coalition. The Liberal Party threatened to quit the coalition because a bill to slim down the Lower House, which was one of the conditions for the party's joining the coalition, was...
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 1999

The dust settles, temporarily

The United States and China continue to put their relationship to rights. This week, the two countries agreed to a deal that would provide compensation for the damage caused by the NATO missile attack last May on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and the angry demonstrations that followed in Beijing. The...
JAPAN
Dec 8, 1999

Advocates hit courts' insensitivity to mentally disabled

Staff writer When the court officer announced "all rise" before the close of the trial, the 58-year-old mentally disability defendant remained seated. When the judge sentenced him in July to a 20-month prison term, he was the only one who apparently did not understand what had happened. The man was...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 1999

Education White Paper emphasizes individuality

Educational reforms should put priority on respecting a child's individuality and giving local authorities more autonomy to correct "excessive equalization," according to the 1999 White Paper on Education released Tuesday. In the report, submitted to the day's Cabinet meeting, the Education Ministry...
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.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 1999

Will WTO waiting game pay off for Japan?

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 10, 1999

New debate catches Obuchi off guard

Staff writers
JAPAN
Nov 1, 1999

Nichiei execs to be questioned on collection methods

The Financial Supervisory Agency and the Kinki Regional Finance Bureau will question senior officials of Nichiei, the leading nonbank lender of commercial loans, later this week in connection with allegations that the firm has excessively harsh loan-recollection methods, sources said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 1999

Ending the Balkan tragedy

LONDON -- Economics and business trends are bringing the world together, but politics continue to tear it apart.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 1999

Grim lessons from East Timor

"Promising too much can be as cruel as caring too little" was the truly mind-boggling statemen of U.S. President Bill Clinton before the United Nations Sept. 21. Now he tells us. So much for the "Clinton Doctrine" of humanitarian intervention. Yet as international peacekeepers pour into a devastated...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 1999

COP5 gathering to set rules for emissions goals

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 1999

The price of police arrogance

Public trust in the integrity of the nation's police forces, the Kanagawa prefectural police in particular, was severely tested in recent weeks as revelations followed, in quick succession, of a series of major scandals embroiling its officers. The National Public Safety Commission and the National Police...
JAPAN
Sep 14, 1999

Banking group questions scope of safety net

The chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association (Zenginkyo) on Tuesday expressed reservations over fully protecting money deposited into accounts for business transactions under a new banking safety net to be introduced in April 2001.
EDITORIALS
Sep 10, 1999

Protect Japanese workers abroad

It has been two weeks since four Japanese mining engineers were abducted in the central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The four men are among the dozen hostages being held by Islamic guerrillas. As things stand, it is not clear when, or even whether, a reasonable solution will be found, although the Muslim...
COMMENTARY
Sep 7, 1999

Merge -- and then to work

The blockbuster deal to combine Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan may be compared to an epic drama. Act one has opened with fanfare. But what if discord develops between the director and playwright? What if the actors turn out to be hams? What if the stage settings are...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Sep 5, 1999

Late returns

A reader remembers a column about Gen. Douglas MacArthur's office in the Dai-Ichi Insurance building. It was ideally situated for the role he was to play -- it overlooked the Imperial Palace. He established his own imperial pre-eminence when the Chinese carpet he always used in his office was delivered:...
JAPAN
Aug 30, 1999

Japan confident of victory in auto row with Ottawa

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 23, 1999

Rudderless retirees require coaching on how to enjoy life

Staff writer
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 1999

A season for political typhoons

The Japanese political world entered a summer recess when the extended ordinary Diet session closed Aug. 13. The session, convoked in January and extended in June for 57 days, passed a series of important bills, thanks to a legislative tieup among the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party...
JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Japan nears deal to ease Saudi Arabia's WTO entry

Staff writer
COMMENTARY
Aug 13, 1999

Ozawa's future appears bleak

Japan is engulfed in severe political turmoil as the Diet session closes today. Things have turned out as I have been predicting since last fall regarding the coalition strategies of Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka, the chief strategist in Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's administration.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight