Search - people

 
 
JAPAN
Dec 22, 1999

Emperor glad reign has been peaceful so far

The Emperor, who turns 66 today, expressed happiness Wednesday that the first 10 years of his reign have passed relatively peacefully. The Emperor contrasted the first decade of his Heisei era to that of his late father, Emperor Hirohito, saying "various violent incidents occurred" in that period. Emperor...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 1999

Walking Queen contestants take pride in stride

Staff writer Chest out, stomach in! Forget that chic Private Label suit, the 20-cm platform boots, cowgirl hat or bleached hair. If you want to truly express yourself, take pride in how you regulate your gait. That was the message sent out at the '99 International Walking Contest held last Sunday at...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 1999

Kurdish citizens request political asylum

Fearing persecution upon their return to Turkey, a group of Kurds facing deportation have visited the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau to reapply for refugee status. Besides the 34 Kurds applying for refugee status a second time after their first applications were dismissed, six others filed their...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 1999

Police misconduct scandals fuel calls for public scrutiny

Staff writer "I knew that the same things would surely be repeated in the future," Kenji Chiyomaru said. "You cannot expect self-cleansing action by police." Since he launched "Human rights dial 110" in 1979, Chiyomaru, a civic activist who lives in Tokyo's Nerima Ward, has been helping people having...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 1999

No shortage of challenges for Musharraf

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's new military regime led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf is eager to demonstrate that its decision to put former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on trial on charges of attempted murder and kidnapping is not necessarily driven by malicious intent. If convicted, Sharif could be sentenced to...
JAPAN
Dec 20, 1999

Time running out for 'Knock' as opinion turns against him

Staff writer OSAKA -- The game may finally be up for Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama. Monday's search of his offices by the Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office in connection with a criminal complaint filed against the governor by a 21-year-old female university student, who accused Yokoyama of groping...
COMMUNITY
Dec 18, 1999

An era passes on with the foreigner who saved kabuki

Faubion Bowers, the theater expert credited with saving kabuki after World War II, died in New York of heart failure Nov. 16, aged 82.
COMMENTARY
Dec 17, 1999

Why put up with U.S. bases?

Why is Japanese officialdom so willing to tolerate troublesome U.S. military bases? In Okinawa, Tokyo constantly risks harmful local antagonism in its efforts to satisfy U.S. base demands there.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Justice Ministry confirms two death-row executions

Two death-row inmates, including one who was seeking a retrial, were executed Friday morning, the Justice Ministry said The ministry, as usual in such cases, did not release the names in its brief press release, but judiciary sources identified the two as Teruo Ono, 62, and Kazuo Sagawa, 48. The two...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Dec 15, 1999

Follow the money

Japan's back. After nearly a decade of economic stagnation, this country is getting its act together.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Dec 14, 1999

The Worldwide Music Expo embraces roots and Internet

For anyone involved in any aspect of world music, WOMEX (Worldwide Music Expo) has become an essential date on the calendar. After a few years of internal wrangling, at the end of October, WOMEX returned to its original home at the House of World Cultures in Berlin, Germany, where from now on it will...
JAPAN
Dec 10, 1999

Shinagawa gives parents, pupils choice in education

Staff writer In an innovative attempt to make public schools more competitive, Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward has introduced a program through which parents can choose their children's elementary school from several in their area. The new program, which begins in April, will allow children who are ready to...
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 1999

This pension reform slights Japan

When a Lower House committee voted late in November in an attempt to enact a bill to reform the nation's pension system, many Japanese must have been pained to see politicians play games with a national issue that will affect the livelihood of almost every one of us in our old age. The bill passed the...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 1999

'Knock' to take suit ruling seriously

OSAKA -- Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama told a news conference Tuesday that he would "take seriously" Monday's anticipated ruling in the sexual harassment lawsuit against him, which he did not contest. He also told the day's regular news conference that he would pay compensation if the court orders him...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 1999

A Cabinet like no other

The people of Northern Ireland have made clear their longing for peace. They resolutely endorsed the Good Friday accords signed last year and have stood behind them. The embattled province's politicians have kept pace -- sometimes grudgingly. Last week, Northern Ireland took another historic step forward...
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 1999

Aum's surprise expression of 'regret'

Never able to stay out of the news for long, the Aum Shinrikyo cult made headlines last week, but this time with deliberate intent. The unprecedented formal admission by its current acting leader, Ms. Tatsuko Muraoka, that some of the cult's members were indeed involved in the series of crimes of which...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 5, 1999

Born to fail the Japanese proficiency test

Today at this very moment, while you are reading this newspaper, myself, as well as thousands of other foreigners in Japan, are failing the Japanese Proficiency Test.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1999

Neon no aurora for flyboy cabby

Staff writer Tokyo's nighttime neon casts a flickering rainbow through Masaharu Satoh's taxi -- a poor substitute for his former life, but it will do for now. Putting on his sunglasses and cap, with a tug of the steering wheel, Satoh takes off into the clouds, the hustle and bustle and high-rises reduced...
JAPAN
Dec 2, 1999

Ballplayers, 'Buchi' year's wordsmiths

"Revenge," "buchi-phone" and "zasso damashii" were selected as this year's best hip phrases by a Tokyo-based publishing company at a ceremony this week.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 28, 1999

Work full-time and raise a bonsai? No thanks

The other day I mentioned to my husband that I might like to take a class in growing bonsai trees. I don't even know why I mentioned it. I had been growing some pretty good mold in the bathroom and refrigerator so perhaps it seemed like a good time to move on to something more challenging.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 1999

Britain's beef brawl

France and Britain have been engaged in an exceptionally nasty food fight. Passions are high on both sides of the English Channel and Britain's famed tabloids have done their best to push them into the stratosphere. Their inflammatory rhetoric is being matched by the showmanship of French farmers, who...
JAPAN
Nov 26, 1999

Tokyo to urge scolding as solution to societal ills

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Nov 25, 1999

Racing toward the unwired world

I n 1990, there were 11 million mobile phones in the entire world. Today, there are 50 million in Japan alone. Nearly 400 million people around the globe carry the various makes and models of wireless phones; those ranks swell by about 1 million more every week. Experts predict that within five years,...
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 1999

'The primary tools of violence'

During the Cold War, arms-control efforts focused on weapons of mass destruction. Diplomats struggled to find ways to limit biological, chemical and nuclear arsenals. They met with varying degrees of success, and they are laboring still to protect humanity from their destructive power. In recent years,...
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Nov 24, 1999

When the going gets tough, the tough drink coffee

When I was a child, my mother didn't hesitate to drag me along on her shopping sprees, and if she managed to find some bargains, she would celebrate (and reward my good behavior) by treating me to something sweet at the department store coffee shop.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 24, 1999

British bulldogs in a China shop

BRITAIN IN CHINA: Community, Culture and Colonialism 1900-1949, by Robert Bickers. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1999; 276 pp., 45 pounds (hardcover), 15.99 pounds (paper). When Lord Macartney opened his British Embassy in China in 1792, he was told to ask for bit of land or,...
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 1999

Terror for the 21st century

A few weeks ago, New York was hit by an outbreak of the West Nile virus. Five people died and another 50 were sickened before authorities were able to respond. West Nile fever is a rare, encephalitic virus that is common in Africa and Asia, but had never before been diagnosed in the Western Hemisphere....
JAPAN
Nov 23, 1999

ASDF aid flights climb to legalistic threshold

Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 22, 1999

Coalition drafts bill to lower child-rearing burden

A project team of the three ruling parties has drafted a bill to reduce the financial burden of child-rearing as a way to deal with the nation's falling birthrate, coalition officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 1999

Focus needed to revive Made in Japan sheen: Okuda

Staff writer

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear