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CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2000

The marketing that made Japan

ASSEMBLED IN JAPAN: Electrical Goods and the Making of the Japanese Consumer, by Simon Partner. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000, 317 pp., $19.95/12.50 British pounds (paper). I was standing on the corner by the Hachiko exit of Shibuya Station, looking at two giant television screens...
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 15, 2000

No way out

Sometimes it seems my mailbox is a place for complaints. Today it is NHK fees. Wednesday's column will consider NTT's high initial charge for phone service. Don't look for ways to avoid the inevitable; your daily life entails certain obligations.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2000

Silent films cry out for attention

MASTERPIECES OF JAPANESE SILENT CINEMA. Bilingual (Japanese/English) DVD-ROM (Windows). Tokyo: Urban Connections, Inc. 18,900 yen. The Japanese silent cinema is almost unknown, so little has been available for viewing. Even in a medium where two-thirds of all silent cinema is lost (and perhaps a quarter...
COMMENTARY
Mar 14, 2000

In praise of market heretics

During the 1980s and 1990s, waves of neoconservatism swept the world. The movement was sparked by two politicians: Margaret Thatcher, who became the prime minister of Britain in 1979, and Ronald Reagan, who became president of the United States in 1981. In Japan, a neoconservative administration headed...
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2000

Electronics makers to offer 500 yen increase in base wage

The base monthly wage for workers at Japan's 17 major electronics appliance manufacturers is likely to increase by 500 yen starting April 1, the first time in three years that the pay hike has matched the year-earlier level, labor union sources said Saturday.
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.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2000

Two chemical firms to settle antitrust suit

OSAKA -- Daicel Chemical Industries Ltd. and Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co. said Friday they have agreed to pay $39.7 million to settle out of court a U.S. antitrust lawsuit over their sales of sorbic acid.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2000

Upkeep eyed in wreck

The wheels of the last car of a subway train and the track it was running on may have been improperly shaved and polished, possibly contributing to Wednesday's deadly accident, informed sources said Thursday.
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).
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2000

Rail firm told to inspect all similar subway cars

A special committee under the Transport Ministry ordered the Teito Rapid Transit Authority to inspect all subway cars of the same type as the one that was involved in the fatal accident near Tokyo's Nakameguro Station on Wednesday morning.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2000

Subway crash claims four

Four passengers were killed and 33 others injured when a Tokyo subway train derailed and sideswiped a packed commuter train running in the opposite direction during rush hour Wednesday morning, police said.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2000

Ryohana: brilliantly competent, and proud of it

The late Jerry Garcia, former Grateful Dead lead guitarist, was once asked in an interview if he would like to be considered a great musician. With characteristic modesty, he waved the idea off as something in which he had no interest. After a moment of thought, however, he responded: "I would like to...
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2000

MOX OK with Kepco, scandal or no

OSAKA -- After five months of denial and public assurances that nothing was wrong, Kansai Electric Power Co. has admitted it failed to properly investigate charges of data falsification at a British manufacturer of uranium-plutonium mixed oxide fuel intended for use in Fukui Prefecture nuclear reactors....
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2000

Mori Building plans project with MOMA for museum

In a tieup with the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Mori Building Co. will open a contemporary art museum in Tokyo's Roppongi district in 2003, the company said.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2000

NTT expecting 119 billion yen profit in 2000

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. expects unconsolidated pretax profits of 119 billion yen on operating revenues of 364 billion yen for fiscal 2000.
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

Ruble's demise dents used-car trade

TAKAOKA, Toyama Pref. -- The significance of this month's presidential elections in Russia and their effect on the ruble's value are not lost on Kaneo Sato.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2000

Firms moving to push employees out

More and more firms are stepping up downsizing programs by transferring staff to subsidiaries or offering generous retirement deals, according to a survey released Saturday by Japan's largest trade union group.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2000

Shop plaza taps 'platinum' generation for jobs, revival

NAGAHAMA, Shiga Pref. -- Although Tamae Shibata has many hobbies to pick from to bide her time, they offer the 71-year-old little satisfaction.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2000

Game fans snap up PlayStation2

More than 7,000 stores nationwide started selling at 7 a.m. Saturday an advanced version of the popular PlayStation game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2000

Treasures of the House of Orange

Four hundred years ago, in spring 1600, a Dutch ship made landfall in Kyushu, the sole survivor of five that had set out on the hazardous journey from Rotterdam two years before.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2000

Japan compiles new rules against illegal trash exports

The government announced Friday that it has tightened rules to require authorities to keep a lookout for illegal exports of garbage.
EDITORIALS
Mar 4, 2000

China menaced by corruption

In the runup to the National People's Congress that opens Sunday, Chinese authorities have intensified their crackdown on corruption and smuggling. Chinese leaders, who see 2000 as a milestone in their anticorruption drive, are gripped by a sense of crisis: They will lose the trust and support of the...
COMMENTARY
Mar 3, 2000

Tide turning against coalition

Only three weeks ago, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's tripartite coalition was in a celebratory mood after the opposition forces ended their boycott of the Diet and all proceedings returned to normal.
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2000

PlayStation2 order site has info security breach

Customer information was accidentally made accessible to anyone entering the Japanese Web site of a Sony group company handling sale reservations of PlayStation2 game consoles, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said Thursday.

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