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COMMUNITY
Dec 28, 2000

Down's diagnoses defied

Hope was not in the prognosis that doctors gave to Chie Myo, after examining her first son, Shunsuke, at the age of 3 months. They diagnosed the baby as having been born with Mongolism, a derogatory term previously used for Down syndrome, and predicted that he would not live long, saying a mere cold...
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2000

Chiyoda's debts likely much higher

Chiyoda Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s liabilities are estimated to have exceeded its assets by some 500 billion yen, about 15 times higher than its earlier publicized negative net worth of 34.3 billion yen, industry sources said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY
Dec 27, 2000

Thermal underwear comes out of the fashion closet

Until a few years ago, most young women abhorred long-sleeved undershirts, commonly derided as babashatsu (granny shirts).
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.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2000

Teachers losing jobs over indecency

A record 115 teachers at public schools were reprimanded for sexually indecent acts in fiscal 1999, with a record 67 losing their jobs, according to an Education Ministry survey released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2000

Oji group to combine sales of cardboard

Oji Paper Co. said Monday that it will set up a joint firm with three of its group companies to integrate sales of corrugated cardboard components and improve delivery times.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Dec 26, 2000

The best of this year's world music crop

Strangely, I had thought this year was not a particularly vintage one for world and roots music. That was until I had to whittle down a list to come up with a top 10, as part of a panel for the British magazine fRoots.
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...
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2000

Budget does Japan a disservice

The Finance Ministry's budget for fiscal 2001, which was announced last week, falls far short of expectations, particularly because it does not lay out a road map for fiscal reform. It seems as if the ministry is marking time along with the stagnant economy. Critical issues, such as spending cuts, deficit...
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2000

Mild Tokyo winters reflect global warming

In Tokyo the average number of days with sub-freezing temperatures decreased by 95 percent over the course of the 20th century, reflecting the advance of global warming, according to the Meteorological Agency.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2000

Sanctions target the innocent

The use of sanctions as a tool of foreign and international policy increased dramatically in the 20th century. Yet as the crumbling sanctions on Iraq show, their track record in ensuring compliance is pitiful. They inflict pain on ordinary citizens while imposing questionable costs on leaders who are...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2000

Emperor celebrates 67th birthday with family

The Emperor marked his 67th birthday Saturday by greeting public well-wishers at the Imperial Palace together with members of the Imperial family.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2000

How fast is China's economy growing?

CAMBRIDGE, England -- It is that time of year again when statisticians in Beijing have to decide how fast the Chinese economy grew in the last year. Or rather, not so much how much it grew but how much they are going to claim it grew. More so than anywhere else the figures for growth in gross domestic...
COMMUNITY
Dec 24, 2000

The miraculous manifestation of a man of the cloth at Xmas

T'was 10 days before Christmas, and all through the house . . . complete and utter panic! Who to interview for Christmas Eve? Jim Carey (promoting his seasonal movie "The Grinch") has come and gone -- along with most of the foreign community (for the holiday break). As for the Japanese, they are all...
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...
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.
COMMENTARY
Dec 23, 2000

Cabinet reshuffle solves little

Just a week remains until the curtain comes down on the 20th century. We are, in the true sense of the phrase, at the end of a century. Words like fin de siecle and millennium tend to be tossed about, but this year really can only be described as one of end-of-the-century blues.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2000

Japan to give tsunami info to neighbors

Japan will start in January providing South Korea, North Korea and Russia with information on tsunamis originating in the Sea of Japan, the Meteorological Agency said.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 22, 2000

Japan held to draw by 10-man S. Korea

It wasn't exactly the kind of welcome home party the Asian Cup-winning Japan team wanted to put on. And manager Philippe Troussier couldn't hide his disappointment -- although he tried.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2000

Kim, de Gaulle: visionary but vulnerable

SEOUL -- South Korean President Kim Dae Jung returns from Norway and Sweden this week with his Nobel Prize in hand, having secured his place on the world stage. But at home, he faces a nation deeply divided over his "sunshine policy," deeply troubled over its economic prospects and enveloped in a social...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Dec 20, 2000

Real democracy, anyone?

Have we learned our lesson in democracy? God forbid anyone should ever weasel out of voting again with the claim that their ballot doesn't count, that it doesn't make a difference. There is almost no way the margin in the U.S. vote could have been narrower, and with the divisions elsewhere in the country,...
LIFE / Digital
Dec 20, 2000

Gifts galore for the gadget lover

Japan constantly churns out high-tech gadgets, and Christmas is a great time to buy the best.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2000

TMD study worries Russian official

Russia is alarmed at the possible threat posed by the joint research between Japan and the United States on a theater missile defense system, Dmitry Rogozin, chairman of the Russian legislature's foreign affairs committee, said Monday.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 19, 2000

K-beat knocking on Japan doors

Within moments of taking the stage of the Pasha Club in the downtown Tokyo district of Nishi-Azabu, Drunken Tiger, a hip-hop duo from South Korea, had the trendy club-goers dancing frantically to its beat-heavy sound.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2000

Words in their best order

Whereas this editorial leader is at least in part calculated to obfuscate momentous contemporary issues, the better to emerge astonishingly prescient after the fact, it will deliberately adopt a stance of maximum evenhandedness, indeed obliquity, and trust an indefatigable readership to plumb, if not...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji