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COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2001

Nothing new about U.S. boom-bust cycle

Fears that a bear market in the United States will dampen consumer spending and cause a recession are unfounded. This is not to say that the U.S. economy will not experience a slowdown. But when the recession comes, it will be for a different reason.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2001

Avoiding generalizations about ASEAN

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Recent days have seen the emergence of a number of cliches in the press with reference to policies and trends in Asia and particularly to ASEAN. Among the most common are the following:
BUSINESS
Jan 13, 2001

Don't fret about economy: IMF chief

International Monetary Fund chief Horst Koehler told Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Friday that there is no need to worry about the outlook for the Japanese economy, although Japan will experience pain as its labor market goes through a transitional period.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2001

Ohu professor 'boasted' about dentist exam leak

A former Ohu University professor arrested on suspicion of leaking questions on a national dentistry examination to students had bragged about obtaining information about the exam since 1999, university sources said Wednesday.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jan 10, 2001

What's it all about, IT?

2001 may well be the year of the IT revolution, but as far as I'm concerned, we're talking about utilITy. From here on, usefulness is going to be the benchmark for information technologies.
BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2001

Let Aibo tell you about brand image

Ku-Ku the kitten was top cat in the battle of the robo-pets in 2000, but guess which bionic beast got to snuggle up to Janet Jackson?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 3, 2001

Kicking up a stink about smelling as natural as a skunk

While beauty traditionally belongs to the beholder's eye, correct hygiene might be better ascribed to his or her nose.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jan 1, 2001

Much ado about nothing

In a fierce fit of free-market commercialism, ads in Moscow subway insist that the real new millennium will start today. With the economy weakened by crisis, revenues from the advent of Y2K were not as impressive as in the West, and now Russian boutiques, travel agencies and software stores are trying...
COMMUNITY
Nov 23, 2000

What's so great about the mod cons?

About two years ago, Hiroko Nakamura, a 40-year-old Tokyo housewife, decided she wanted only truly essential items in her home.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 5, 2000

Making no bones about corporeality

Jeanne Dunning has made an object called the "blob" -- an amorphous, skin-colored sack filled with a viscous substance that: crushes, oozes out, takes a bath with or sleeps with the subject. She uses it in a wide body of work to investigate the nature of corporeality.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2000

'I never worry about getting lost. I can feel the roads.'

Idid not start my education until I was 17. There are simply too few chances for blind kids to get an education in China, let alone a poor country boy like me. Only about 5 percent of blind Chinese have any schooling. Still, my childhood was a happy one. I did almost all the things a country boy does,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 22, 2000

All you ever wanted to know about voodoo

Gaston Jean-Baptiste, known as "Bonga," is a voodoo priest and a conga player. Bonga has been touring Japan giving workshops on Haitian music and teaching the traditions of Haiti. Luckily, one of the stops on his tour was my living room. A small, amiable man with dreadlocks, Bonga spoke from his "zabuton":...
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Oct 12, 2000

What bulging waistline? Let's talk about cheese

When your 8-year-old son suddenly starts thumping your belly gleefully like a bongo drum, chances are it means you've put on some weight. I confess that I've added 2-3 kg to my 190-cm frame since arriving more than a year ago in Belgium, a gastronomic paradise blessed with a tremendous variety of wines,...
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2000

What about the foreign residents?

Japan now has a record 1.55 million registered foreign residents, representing 1.23 percent of the population. These entirely legal residents are still being given short shrift in government planning, such as disaster-prevention and relief measures. It is two weeks since the nation as a whole -- nearly...
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2000

Economic institutes more optimistic about fiscal 2000 growth

Revised projections by several private think tanks show that many of them believe the economy will expand by about 2 percent during this fiscal year, greater than the government target of 1 percent growth in real terms.
OLYMPICS
Sep 13, 2000

What's new in Sydney? How about taekwondo, triathlon and keirin

A total of 300 gold medals will be up for grabs in Sydney as athletes from over 30 different sports take to the various arenas, stadiums, diamonds, pools, lakes -- even beaches -- that will play host to Olympic events at the 2000 Summer Games.
COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 2000

When silence is truly golden

LONDON -- Leading Japanese industrialists with big investments in Britain -- especially in the automobile industry -- have launched a chorus of complaints in recent weeks.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2000

Osaka divided over Games

OSAKA -- Osaka took a big step forward in realizing its dream of hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics on Monday when it was listed among five final candidate cities.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2000

Trip brings students closer to truth about Japan

History books and historical truths are often two different things. This valuable lesson was stressed by students participating in this year's Japan Return Program.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2000

S&P warns local governments about debts

In its first report on the general credit status of local governments in Japan, Standard & Poor's on Wednesday reported strong credit quality, but warned of high debts increasing the burdens on such local bodies.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2000

Defense chief does about-face on time limit for Marine base

Newly appointed Defense Agency chief Kazuo Torashima has had to retract a remark that it would be difficult to put a 15-year time limit on the use of a new airport for the U.S. Marines to be built in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2000

International preschool not just about English

On the wall of a gray concrete apartment building on Kawasaki's Shinkawa-dori Avenue a colorful sign reads "Kincarn International Preschool."
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

China trade bill delay raises doubts about G8 breakthrough on WTO round

The U.S. Senate's delay in voting on a key China trade bill has some Japanese officials fretting about whether it will kill the chances — if any — of a breakthrough at the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa toward launching a new round of global trade negotiations.
COMMUNITY
May 28, 2000

All you wanted to know about Japan, and more

Why do foreigners have such big noses? Why are Japanese people so skinny? There are fundamental differences between Japanese people and foreigners that no one can explain. But we can speculate:
BUSINESS
May 24, 2000

Brokers must inform about risks

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed and enacted an investor protection bill that obliges brokers to inform investors of the risks involved when investing in specific financial products.
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2000

Much ado about nothing?

Claims that Tokyo's governor, Shintaro Ishihara, is racist because he recently described Asians here as "sankoku-jin" (third-country nationals) -- a fairly neutral Occupation-era term used to distinguish resident Koreans and Taiwanese from Westerners -- were a bit far-fetched.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2000

Classes help individuals learn about stock market

With the devastatingly low interest rate available on deposits and the prospect of the introduction in Japan of U.S. 401(k)-style pension plans, more people are studying stock market investment.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2000

Europeans showing concern about ill euro

In an apparent departure from a policy of benign neglect, European monetary authorities have openly begun expressing concern about the ailing euro.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?