Search - world

 
 
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2000

The oldest gold in the Andes

The Andes are probably the only place in the world where a great civilization rose and flourished without ever developing a written method of record keeping. Though it stretched over 2,500 km, and involved elaborate economic and cultural exchanges between the coastal lowlands and the mountain heights,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2000

Why Japanese voters reject politics

Political stagnation and a feeling of powerlessness are often cited among the reasons that Japanese hate politics.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2000

Aborigines raise their cause's profile

SYDNEY -- On its way from Greece to the Sydney Olympics 2000, the Olympic flame this week passed by Uluru, a huge rock rearing up out of the vast emptiness of the "dead heart" of Australia. Watching it were Aborigines, this country's inhabitants for the past 50,000 years, to whom Uluru is sacred.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2000

Mori, Kim vow efforts to engage Pyongyang

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung reaffirmed Thursday that they will make joint efforts to improve relations with North Korea, attaching great significance to an unprecedented inter-Korean summit next week in Pyongyang, a Foreign Ministry official said.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

Asian leaders discuss future of the region at symposium

A symposium on the future of Asia got under way Thursday in Tokyo with prominent leaders from East and Southeast Asia participating in the discussions.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

Japan signals willingness to help Plan Colombia

After months of foot-dragging, Japan appears willing to help Colombia pay for its ambitious, multibillion-dollar plan to crack down on drugs, achieve peace with guerrillas and rebuild its economy.
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2000

Mori lands in hot water again

Gaffe-prone Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori put his foot in his mouth again, plunging his Cabinet's popularity ratings to record lows just as Japan is gearing up for a June 25 general election.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2000

Japan's faith rising in Indian software

Isamu Nitta, a former Japanese diplomat in Sri Lanka and the United States, clearly enjoys setting out a map of the world and pointing out where Japanese strategic interests lie.
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2000

Taxing time for the environment

A report recently released by the Environment Agency is certain to give further impetus to the debate on environmental taxation. The report, compiled by an expert panel that studies economic methods of implementing environmental policy, says the so-called carbon tax is effective in reducing carbon dioxide...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jun 8, 2000

A taste of brewers' best

The 88th New-Sake Tasting Competitions were held in Hiroshima May 16.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2000

Sansei documentarian brings internees' stories to Japan

Kasumi Yamashita is a nisei studying at Hitotsubashi University in suburban Tokyo on a yearlong research grant.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 6, 2000

Some rules were made to be broken

THE IRON BOOK OF BRITISH HAIKU, edited by David Cobb and Martin Lucas. Iron Press, 1998, 112 pp., 6.50 British pounds. A NEW RESONANCE: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku, edited by Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts. Red Moon Press, 1999, 201 pp., $14.50. Reading these anthologies of English-language...
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2000

Ultrasound machines are breaking all barriers

A new class of miniaturized, all-digital ultrasound devices is about to be introduced in Japan by SonoSite Inc., promising to improve patient care and dramatically cut costs for medical facilities nationwide.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2000

Oribe and the spirit of Keicho tea

The reason officially announced for the sudden execution of Sen no Rikyu in 1591 was unsatisfactory to the point of absurdity. The real reason is a mystery that may never be resolved.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2000

Seiji Ozawa photo book yanked from bookstores

The sales agency for the Japanese edition of a collection of photographs of world-renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa has begun pulling the book from store shelves after discovering it was published without Ozawa's permission.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jun 3, 2000

Drumming to a Japanese beat

The drum is easily Japan's most popular instrument.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 3, 2000

Japanese ceramics on auction block

Contemporary Japanese ceramics took center stage in New York recently, when Phillips, the world's number three auction house, lifted the hammer on a sale titled "20th Century Japanese Ceramics and Design."
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2000

Mr. Fujimori's two faces

Few world leaders are as perplexing as Peru's president, Mr. Alberto Fujimori. Both sides of his complex personality have been on display in recent weeks: the taciturn autocrat who defies international opinion to hold an election and the leader who wins that vote with substantial popular support. But...
CULTURE / Art
Jun 1, 2000

Tea goes down well in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON -- A beautiful Japanese tea room emerges as one enters and goes down the hall in Katherine Lyons' and Austin Babcock's spacious brick house. In this quiet neighborhood in suburban D.C., Lyons, or Soshu, her tea name, teaches the Urasenke tradition of chanoyu. The house has been Urasenke's...
JAPAN
May 31, 2000

Globe's population set to gray in next 50 years

The percentage of the world's population aged 65 or older will soar to 16.4 percent in 2050 from 6.9 percent in 2000, according to a white paper submitted and approved at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2000

MHI, Hitachi enter alliance on steel

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd. said Tuesday that they have reached an agreement to integrate their steelmaking machinery operations, a move that would create the world's second-largest manufacturer of such equipment.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2000

Myanmar's ethnic patchwork

In terms of sheer social complexity, it has few rivals -- perhaps Lebanon, possibly the Balkans. But Myanmar's ethnic mix is truly diverse. There are some 100 languages and dialects. Major ethnic groups like the Karen, Shan, Mon, Chin and Kachin encompass others. The Chin alone have 40 subgroups. Even...
SOCCER / J. League
May 30, 2000

S-Pulse's Endo impresses the Mechelen man

If Mechelen boss Ivan Buskens had actually seen a J. League game before signing Masahiro Endo, perhaps it would have changed his mind.
CULTURE / Books
May 30, 2000

Only atom bombs could end WWII

DOWNFALL: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, by Richard B. Frank. New York: Random House, 1999, 484 pp., $35 (cloth). The tragic folly of the war-mongering leaders of Imperial Japan and their casual disregard for the welfare of their fellow citizens seem almost forgotten because the end of the...
COMMUNITY
May 28, 2000

Conductor says yes to noh style 'Don Giovanni'

Theaters in Nagoya were aghast when Yoko Matsuo came calling. Even though she was born in the city and is conductor and director of the Aichi Prefecture Symphony Orchestra, her plan to stage Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" in the style of Japan's most revered and challenging dramatic form, noh, created...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’