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LIFE / Travel
May 22, 2001

Visiting the Little Prince at Hakone

Breathtaking mountain scenery, a walk through a French village, Provencal cooking and a meeting with the doppelganger of a world-famous author -- sounds like a nice day trip. Especially when you can do it all without leaving Kanto.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 13, 2001

A passion for Japan

SIEBOLD AND JAPAN: His Life and Work, by Arlette Kouwenhouven, with Matthi Forrer. Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2000, 112 pp., with 87 plates, 3,200 yen. Shortly after arriving in Japan in 1823, Philipp Franz von Siebold wrote to a relative back in Holland, "I do not intend to leave Japan until I have...
JAPAN
May 10, 2001

State eyes stricter rules to make boating safer

The Transport Ministry launched an initiative Wednesday to revise safety rules and regulations to stem the rising tide of accidents involving motorboats, yachts, ski jets and other recreational vessels.
CULTURE / Art
May 9, 2001

The shock of the Nouveau

Like a femme fatale, Art Nouveau has long guarded her secrets well. Were her sinuous lines symbolic or erotic? Did she bring fresh beauty into the modern world, or exploit a fin de siecle taste for the decadent? And why did she suddenly disappear, after a rapid rise to fame?
CULTURE / Art
May 2, 2001

The golden age of Flemish art

"In the early 17th century, Antwerp was a kind of Hollywood," said Paul Huvenne, director general of Antwerp's Royal Museum of Fine Arts. "There were more painters in the city than bakers!"
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 29, 2001

Armchair travel to Italy and beyond

Tatsuo Umemiya used to be one of the hardest-working yakuza actors in Japan. Nowadays, he is mainly known as the father of model/talent Anna Umemiya and as "the cooking king" of Japanese show business. He even owns a popular chain of stores that sell all sorts of Japanese foods. The stores are easy to...
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2001

Three nonlife insurers to merge in fiscal '02

Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and two other nonlife insurers due to merge April 1, 2002, inked a deal Wednesday to merge into a single entity on April 1, 2002.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 25, 2001

Nick Cave

Nick Cave has never been one to just "get on with life," to wander through it blind, intent on getting to the end with the least trouble. He needs to know why we are here and what happens to us when we've gone. And, like the rest of us, he'll never know, at least not in this life.
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2001

Mistaken cures for the Japanese economy

The debate over economic reform in Japan, especially the alleged need to force banks to dispose of bad loans, resembles the story about the hospital patient on life support because of a serious blood-circulation problem. One result of that problem is badly swollen feet. But the doctors can only focus...
EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2001

Sanctioning death in the Netherlands

Once again, the Netherlands has braved the storm. Last week, the country's Senate, the upper house of Parliament, passed a bill legalizing euthanasia. When Queen Beatrix signs the law, which was passed by the lower house last November, the Netherlands will be the first country to permit mercy killing....
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 12, 2001

From ridiculous to sublime: the arguments of a fossil fool

Last month, the White House announced that U.S. President George W. Bush would not support the Kyoto Protocol because it "is not in the United States' economic best interests." The protocol is aimed at reducing human emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, that contribute to global...
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2001

The hazards of reform -- British-style

LONDON -- Forget sagging stock markets and omens of world recession. Forget global warming and U.S. President George W. Bush's rejection of the Kyoto treaty on carbon emissions. Forget, even, the foot-and-mouth disease that is currently paralyzing Britain's farming and tourist industries and has caused...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Apr 1, 2001

Only rock 'n' roll, but I loathe it

If you are gagging in disgust at the thought of Fuzzy Logic from now on contaminating your Sunday with lurid tales of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll . . . fear not.
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2001

Ghosts on the loose

You may have thought that the big story out of Hong Kong last week was the slumping Hang Seng Index or continuing pressure from Beijing to crack down on the Falun Gong. But no, something much more fascinating was going on, and it was going on right inside one of the places that break, but don't usually...
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2001

Kyoei Mutual to join Millea Insurance Group

Kyoei Mutual Fire & Marine Insurance Co. will join the Millea Insurance Group to be set up by three other life and nonlife insurance firms under a joint holding company by the end of 2004, the four companies said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 7, 2001

Agribusiness at a crossroads

LONDON -- Every industrialized country in the world has this idealized image: the farmer, full of robust common sense, tending his pig or his flock on his small land-holding, sturdily helped by his hardworking wife and children. He is close to the earth and nature. It is true that, in Japan or America's...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 21, 2001

The other little woman

"Tom-san," she called.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2001

FSA to tighten supervision of insurers

A Liberal Democratic Party panel gave the green light Wednesday to a proposal by the Financial Services Agency to tighten its supervision of insurance companies, starting with the March book-closing.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 1, 2001

Making work a lifestyle choice instead of just making a living

In an effort to get some idea of why the suicide rate among college students is on the rise, the weekly magazine AERA recently sent a reporter to the Muroran Institute of Technology, where there have been seven student suicides in the last two years.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2001

Banks untouched by evolution

After three years here, I believe the essence of the difference between Japan and India can be summed up thus: In India, nothing works, but everything can be arranged (for a consideration, of course); in Japan, everything works, but nothing can be arranged. One of the surprising aspects of life in Japan...
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2001

What makes children strong

There is a saying that competition begets vitality. But to survive this competition, it is essential to have a feeling of self-respect, belief in oneself. Such self-respect gives people, especially children, the power to face challenges without fear of failure. Yet it is often pointed out that neither...
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2001

FSA to tighten insurance industry rules

The Financial Services Agency plans to tighten its supervisory controls over life and nonlife insurance companies in a bid to keep a closer watch over the nation's hard-pressed insurance industry.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2001

Tokyo Mutual to receive 30 billion yen in capital aid

Mid-tier insurer Tokyo Mutual Life Insurance Co. will receive 30 billion yen worth of capital assistance from Daiwa Bank and other corporations at the end of March, Tokyo Mutual officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Hokkaido retiree gets new start as teacher

As a boy, Ichio Yachimukai wanted to become a teacher out of gratitude for the kindness of his junior high school teacher, but he never imagined that he would one day venture to Vietnam to realize his ambition.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 21, 2001

Belenda Ryan

Belenda Ryan calls her career so far her "rambling life."
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

Can peace be globalized in the 21st century?

The 20th century is usually referred to as a century of "war and revolution" that brought unprecedented bloodshed and misery. While this is true, the description is not sufficiently accurate. During the religious wars of the 17th century, for example, Germany, as the main battlefield, lost an estimated...
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2000

Nippon Steel moves to improve efficiency in realty

Nippon Steel Corp. on Tuesday said it will spin off its urban development division in April 2002 and merge it with its wholly owned real estate subsidiary to improve the group's efficiency in the realty business.
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2000

Canadian firm reaches agreement to buy insurer

Government-appointed administrators for Daihyaku Mutual Life Insurance Co. reached a basic agreement with Manulife Financial Corp. of Canada to take over the failed midsize insurer's operations, a life insurance industry association said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2000

Panel to study insurance yield cuts

Members of the Liberal Democratic Party will set up an informal study group to examine whether life insurers should be allowed to cut the interest rates they guaranteed their policyholders, LDP lawmakers said Thursday.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Nov 29, 2000

Exploring deepest, darkest New Jersey

New York is New York, and Manhattan is, 24 hours a day, full throttle, unquestionably, Manhattan. What we wanted after two weeks of both was a place that was neither.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years