Search - life

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2001

State-backed Internet expo kicks off

The government-sponsored virtual Internet exposition, an event for the new millennium, went online Sunday.
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2001

Cellphones may bridge 'digital divide'

While the past year may be remembered for the surge in use of the Internet-capable cellphone, it remains to be seen whether this technology will thrust Japan to the forefront of the digital revolution as policy and industry experts hope.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

A question of hegemony

An implicit alliance has emerged in Washington since the Cold War's end between avowedly "Wilsonian" liberals, anxious to extend American influence and federate the democracies, and unilateralist neoconservative believers in U.S. power projection, who call for American world leadership, aggressively...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

Toward mutually assured peace

As we enter the 21st century, recent trends in technological development make the problems of nuclear weapons a pressing issue requiring greater attention and a more serious response.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

The true meaning of civilization

History shows that on the eve of the collapse of the Roman Empire, its denizens reveled as if they were crazy. Just before Paris fell to German forces during World War II, dressed-up people danced all night at nightclubs in the city. And when the Cuban government of President Fulgencio Batista fell,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

A possible Third Way for Japan

During the last decade of the 20th century, Japan's economy stagnated. The recession that followed the collapse of the asset-price bubble (1987-90) hit bottom in October 1993, but the economy remained flat through the end of 2000, with no visible signs of a lasting recovery.
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2000

Mohri leaves NASDA for museum

Japanese astronaut Mamoru Mohri, who participated in U.S. space shuttle missions in 1992 and in February this year, is retiring from the National Space Development Agency of Japan to head a science museum to be completed in July, NASDA officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2000

Aum ranks' rights compromised by fear

NAGAREYAMA, Chiba Pref. -- As night falls, all the houses in this quiet bedroom community melt into darkness.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 30, 2000

'Discovering' Heinrich Vogeler

With most Tokyo galleries closed during the New Year's break, it can be difficult to find an interesting contemporary art show in the city.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2000

Number of municipalities could be slashed by 81%

The number of Japan's cities, towns and villages could be slashed from the current 3,229 to as few as 600 if merger plans that some two-thirds of all prefectures have drawn up are fully implemented, and if the remaining prefectures compile similar plans, a Kyodo News survey showed Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2000

The fight for liberty continues

WASHINGTON -- We are entering a new year, the true third millenium. Unfortunately, the prospects for liberty do not burn bright. Human history is largely one of tyranny. The history of the last couple thousand years has been largely one of combatting tyranny.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2000

Education panel hits individuality, stresses Japanese-language focus

An Education Ministry advisory panel is calling for increased Japanese-language study and reading opportunities for children, saying a good command of the language provides a solid platform for education and cultural literacy.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2000

Mitsui Sumitomo plans to repay public funds

Sumitomo Bank and Sakura Bank on Tuesday said the merged entity they will form in April, Mitsui Sumitomo Banking Corp., aims to repay by the end of fiscal 2007 all the 1.501 trillion yen in public funds they have received.
COMMUNITY
Dec 27, 2000

Hard for many to fight the big chill

Winter is a painful season for Satoko Kojima (not her real name), a Tokyo office worker who says she cannot tolerate cold temperatures.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 26, 2000

A sliver of Thai history brought to life

LANNA STYLE: Photography: Ping Amranand: Text: William Warren. Asia Books, Bangkok, 1995, 235 pp., 46 baht. Lanna is a name that tourists in the north of Thailand come across, accept and do not bother to discover its origin. It means "a million rice fields," and was the name given to the kingdom founded...
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2000

NTV chief left 8.85 billion yen estate

Yosoji Kobayashi, the late former chairman of Nippon Television Network Corp. and former president of the Yomiuri Shimbun, left a taxable estate worth 8.85 billion yen to his family, tax authorities said Monday.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 26, 2000

A moral beacon in Japan's darkest days

YANAIHARA TADAO AND JAPANESE COLONIAL EMPIRE: Redeeming Empire, by Susan C. Townsend. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 2000, 296 pp., 50 British pounds (cloth). Scholarship can be a dangerous vocation. The ideological witch-hunt against Tadao Yanaihara, holder of the prewar chair of colonial policy at Tokyo...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 24, 2000

Palestinian families at a scholarly remove

POLITICAL VIOLENCE AND THE PALESTINIAN FAMILY: Implications for Mental Health and Well-Being, by Vivian Khamis, Haworth Press, 144 pp., $20. The appearance of a book on the impact of political violence on Palestinian families could hardly be timelier. Deaths caused by the present unrest in Israel and...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 24, 2000

Jazzchor Freiburg

Germany's award-winning, unconventional 25-member Jazzchor Freiburg recently made its second tour of Japan. The choir is characterized by unpredictability, as its founder-conductor believes it is boring for audiences to know what is coming next. He throws into a typical concert as much variety as he...
LIFE / Travel
Dec 24, 2000

Do they know it's Christmas in Xian?

In the cradle of Chinese civilization, Christmas -- in all its commercial fury -- has taken Xi'an city by storm. Today, in this one-time imperial seat now famed for its terra-cotta warriors, storefronts blink Christmas red and green, Santa Claus poses for photos in supermarkets, employees don festive...
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2000

Town's win against dam had a cost

KITO, Tokushima Pref. -- This remote village lies along the upper stream of the 125-km Naka River.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2000

Kagawa folks get to bottom of their 'udon' bowls in more ways than one

TAKAMATSU, Kagawa Pref. -- As a native of a prefecture famous for Sanuki "udon" (wheat noodles), Kazutoshi Tao thought udon was a simple component of daily life -- until he visited a place where customers whip up their own variety.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 23, 2000

Anything but ordinary

With the title "Raj Packet -- Everything But Ravi," you can't help but be curious about the performance. "Raj" possibly indicates something to do with British sovereignty over India in the last century;"packet" could be compendium, maybe a selection box of performance chocolates; "everything" as in "everything...
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2000

Muroto taps nearby depths to get competitive edge

MUROTO, Kochi Pref. -- At first glance, it is hard to see what the following products have in common: bottled water, miso paste, bread, snacks and skin lotion.
COMMENTARY
Dec 23, 2000

Robert Downey's problem is not criminal

Drugs can exercise a powerful hold over the human person. Witness American actor Robert Downey, Jr.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2000

Volunteerism: not just a Western idea

Even before global observance of the International Year of Volunteers begins in January, Japanese are deeply involved in a search for the spirit of international volunteerism. Some insist that it is based on the wisdom of Oriental thought.

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