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JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Ainu-language picture book, CD released

Efforts by an independent TV producer in Tokyo to hand down the traditions of the Ainu and their history have come to fruition via an illustrated storybook and a compact disc.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 7, 2001

Rebeka Majid

At the beginning of this year, the Asian Ladies Friendship Society was formally renamed the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society. "This name better reflects the society's present composition," said Mrs. Rebeka Majid, wife of the ambassador of Bangladesh.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2001

Postal chiefs warn LDP off privatization

The head of a national association of town and village offices has warned the Liberal Democratic Party that privatizing postal services will cost it support in rural areas as well as the group's backing.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2001

Port raids net 30 suspected illegals

Japanese authorities have arrested 17 Asians aboard a South Korean freighter in Kitakyushu and another 13 at Osaka Minami port on suspicion of illegally entering Japan, officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2001

Wheelchair-bound man killed by train at crossing

OSAKA -- A man trying to collect coins after having fallen out of his wheelchair died after being hit by a train in a railway crossing on Thursday morning in Habikino, Osaka Prefecture, police said.
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2001

Mr. Milosevic behind bars

It was not pretty, but the job was done. Last weekend, Serb police arrested former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic after a 36-hour standoff at his villa. Mr. Milosevic now faces corruption charges, but officials in Belgrade are hinting that more serious charges could be added. Mr. Milosevic should...
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2001

Hopkins gets the job done

NEW YORK --An awed hush descends as Sir Anthony Hopkins enters the room, quickly darting to his seat like a man eager to get a job finished as quickly as possible. He sits down agitatedly and fiddles with the microphone before him. When he speaks, that unmistakable baritone stops the gathered crowd and...
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2001

Pundits reckon 15% sales tax ought to nip deflation trend

The problem of falling prices should be handled by gradually increasing the consumption tax to 15 percent over a decade from the current 5 percent, according to a proposal made in a report by Fuji Research Institute.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2001

Temp staff rise said worrisome

Workers dispatched from temporary employment agencies make up one of the fastest-growing sectors of Japan's workforce.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2001

Disputed history text approved

After scores of revisions, the Education Ministry on Tuesday authorized a junior high school history textbook that has been roundly criticized by Asian countries charging that it glossed over Japan's wartime history.
COMMENTARY
Apr 3, 2001

Slaves to enduring myths of the Civil War

America's Civil War is still being fought. Mississippi voters will be going to the polls in April to decide the fate of their state flag. Virginia Gov. James Gilmore recently scrapped his state's annual proclamation honoring Confederate History Month. After an emotional debate, the Georgia legislature...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2001

Homegrown IT plans are best

The government has unveiled the "e-Japan" strategy that it hopes will turn Japan into the most advanced information-technology-based nation in five years. Most mass media and IT experts are critical of the strategy. They say it lacks vision and workable plans, is late and is designed to benefit only...
COMMENTARY
Apr 2, 2001

Japan's economic 'kuroko'

For more than a decade, Japan's financial authorities have been trying to treat the growing mountain of bad loans at Japan's banks as a "kuroko" of the Japan economy.
COMMENTARY
Apr 1, 2001

Banks offer no miracle cures

LONDON -- This is a tale of two banks, combined with a large dose of blind faith and credulity.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2001

Expert urges new approach to learning language

When Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon in July 1969, Kumiko Torikai was with them every step of the way, repeating their every word. For Japanese around the nation who witnessed the historic event, Torikai was their communication lifeline, the person who relayed...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 1, 2001

Depachika build a boom from the bottom up

Misako Kaneko, a Tokyo office worker, likes to have dinner at home while watching her favorite TV dramas. But as a single woman who works full-time, it's not easy for her to find time to prepare a healthy meal every night after work.
COMMENTARY
Mar 31, 2001

Lack of leaders is destroying the LDP

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori announced that the date for electing the next president of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party would be moved up. This was tantamount to him expressing his intention to resign.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 31, 2001

The gift from kitty that never stops giving

If you travel enough, there is going to be a day when your cat pees in your suitcase. It's something that only happens if you have gone out of town and left your cat behind so many times that the cat becomes determined to accompany you in the most odorous way. Basically, your cat's message is: I love...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

New school promotes global exchange through lecture program

A private school of intercultural communication targeted at Japanese businesspeople and the staff of nongovernmental organizations will open Monday in Tokyo's Ginza business district.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

More mobile phones anticipated

Ownership of mobile phones in Japan is expected to rise to around 66.8 percent of the population in fiscal 2004 from 57.1 percent in fiscal 2001, according to a survey released Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2001

Reform out of reach for Kim Dae Jung

SEOUL -- Some weeks ago, I attended an academic conference that attempted a critical evaluation of the performance of administration of South Korea President Kim Dae Jung three years after its inception. I sat on a panel with probably the most prominent liberal political scientist in South Korea today,...
COMMUNITY
Mar 29, 2001

The bubble rises skyward again, carrying a doughnut

This balloon's gondola is 6 meters in diameter and shaped so passengers can move around freely.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 29, 2001

The ABCs of Japanese sportsu

As I'll be heading back to Canada next month, this will be my last Sports Scope. I thought I'd write some sort of reflection on what covering sports in Japan has meant to me, but all I kept coming up with were buzzwords and catchphrases.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo