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EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2000

Out of step on executions

Japanese judges appear ready to remain out of step with much of the rest of the civilized world by continuing to impose the death penalty. Some officials responsible for the administration of justice in this country compound the issue by the apparent avidity with which they defend and support capital...
CULTURE / Music
Mar 18, 2000

Distant echoes from a desert lute

"We are not reviving the original music of over 1,000 years ago," says Sukeyasu Shiba, director of the leading independent gagaku (court music) group Reigakusha, which will present a concert March 23 of music from over 1,000 years ago.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

Former minister gets prison term

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Labor Minister Toshio Yamaguchi to four years in prison Thursday in connection with illicit loans involving two failed Tokyo credit unions.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Man held over fatal stabbing that mimicked Kyoto killing

OSAKA -- A 23-year-old unemployed man has been arrested on suspicion of randomly stabbing to death a passerby on a street in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, police said Wednesday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 16, 2000

NBA meets 'The Truman Show'

"And for tonight's halftime entertainment, Marv, let's go to the Blazers locker room and catch a glimpse of Detlef Schrempf undressing."
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 16, 2000

Game on! KBO and players union settle up

The Korean baseball season will go on after all.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 16, 2000

Want to know your fortune? Go fish

In the West you might scan your tea leaves for a peek at what the future may hold, but in Japan you are more likely to grab your chopsticks (OK, mouse) for the latest craze -- sushi fortunetelling.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Death-row inmates can hang if retrial unlikely, Usui says

Justice Minister Hideo Usui said Tuesday that death-row convicts seeking retrials could be executed if their demands for retrials are deemed highly likely to be rejected.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2000

eBay may herald an online revolution

The recent arrival of major U.S. online auction operator eBay Inc. may bring another online revolution to Japan, the world's second-largest Internet market.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2000

Fertile soil for Japanese environmentalist groups?

ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS IN JAPAN: Networks of Power and Protest, by Jeffrey Broadbent. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, 418 pp., $13.95, (paper). Given Japan's economic growth after World War II -- a period often termed "miraculous" -- it is not surprising that the worst problems of ecological...
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Afghan heads in Tokyo for peace talks

In a move that marks the resumption of Japan's mediation efforts in the civil war in Afghanistan, leaders of the country's two rival factions have been in Tokyo for secret talks with Japanese officials, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Three-bank tieup terms settled

Sanwa Bank, Tokai Bank and Asahi Bank formally announced Tuesday that they have reached a basic agreement to come under a joint holding company in April 2001, creating the world's third-largest banking group.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2000

Bank industry slams tax plan anew

The chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association on Monday again criticized a Tokyo draft ordinance that aims to tax the gross profits of large banks in the metropolis as "unfair and undemocratic."
EDITORIALS
Mar 12, 2000

Here comes the cashless society

The experts may be right that e-commerce and online shopping represent the unstoppable wave of the future. But with all the media attention being lavished on cybermarketing, perhaps not enough attention is being paid to other new ways in which determined merchants are trying to get reluctant consumers...
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2000

Landfill seen dooming Edo fishing tradition

The fish that used to throng in the Edo-mae shallows of Tokyo Bay haunt fishermen today.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 12, 2000

Muriel Jolivet

A year ago, Muriel Jolivet said, "Briefly, the subjects I studied up to now were, first, the social integration of Japanese male students through work. Then I focused more on women, and their social integration through work. I got interested in women and maternity in Japan, and wrote the book 'Japan:...
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.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 11, 2000

Urawa Reds expected to set the standard in J. League's second division

The big boys from J1 will kick off the J. League's Division Two season against the new boys from the JFL when the Urawa Reds face Mito Hollyhock at Urawa's Komaba Stadium on Saturday.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2000

Antique restorer teaches old furniture new tricks

Western antique furniture has an ambivalent reputation. Some people are so enchanted with it that they become collectors, while others simply think of it as old, dirty -- and often unreasonably expensive.
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2000

Getting to the belly of the matter

In the West, the heart is the seat of the emotions. Here it's the hara (stomach).
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2000

Adventures in global dining with Tokyo's restaurant king

From stand-and-slurp ramen shops to authentic French cuisine, Tokyo is a diner's paradise. Certainly, finding places that appeal to your palate isn't a problem; hoping they'll be there the next time around is. Tokyo restaurants go out of business faster than Shibuya girls change their nail colors.
EDITORIALS
Mar 8, 2000

The right connections

Market watchers worldwide are all abuzz about the "globalization of the American economic model." By that they mean the rising contribution of the information-technology sector to economic growth, the soaring valuations of Internet-related stocks and the use of those shares to finance highly leveraged...
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.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 8, 2000

The check's in the e-mail

My wallet bulges, but it isn't because of money. No, it is a hefty critter because it's stuffed with train passes, metro passes, telephone cards, bank cards, credit cards, ID cards, point cards for individual stores, video store cards, meishi from people and restaurants, and random scraps of paper littered...
COMMUNITY
Mar 7, 2000

Town makes returns on back of boomerang boom

TOKAMACHI, Niigata Pref. -- Uninformed visitors to Tokamachi might be forgiven for thinking the small, central Niigata Prefecture city has a problem with UFOs.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2000

Five life insurers outsource asset management to cut costs

Five Japanese life insurance companies will have a common asset management administration system in place by the end of fiscal 2001, company sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2000

Shoplifting stains welcome mat

FUSHIKI MINATO, Toyama Pref. -- While the Fushiki Chamber of Commerce has stepped up efforts in recent years to improve relations with Russian visitors, a number of thefts in the town have left some residents wondering if cars, and the ruble, would be better left as rubble.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2000

Tradescape.com enters Japan

In a move that could take the nation's online trading boom to another level, U.S. electronic trading broker Tradescape.com will join with Softbank Finance Corp. to launch Japan's first electronic communications network for securities trading as early as this summer.

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