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JAPAN
Mar 14, 2000

Leader's informal dinner meet secures Hori's future

The heads of the three ruling parties agreed Monday to keep National Public Safety Commission Chairman Kosuke Hori in office despite opposition demands that he resign over his responsibility for a Niigata Prefectural Police scandal.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2000

Upper House says childbirth is reason to be absent

The House of Councilors on Friday voted overwhelmingly in favor of allowing members who are about to give birth to be officially excused from attending the legislature.
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...
EDITORIALS
Mar 2, 2000

Gone, but not forgotten

Mr. Joerg Haider, the controversial leader of Austria's Freedom Party, has resigned as head of the party. The move is intended to quiet the firestorm of international criticism that followed the decision to include Freedom in the new coalition government in Vienna. In fact, it changes very little. Although...
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

Agencies examine software supplied by Aum-linked firms

Government agencies and major companies opted to double check various computer systems Wednesday after it was discovered that some of the the software may have been developed by a firm controlled by Aum Shinrikyo.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2000

Terrorists tease press from cells

BEIRUT -- With just days left before five Japanese Red Army members are due to be released here, local and foreign press interest in the captives is heating up.
JAPAN
Feb 29, 2000

Ishihara says 3% tax to affect banks only

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Tuesday that he has no intention of slapping a tax on the gross profits of any businesses other than banks. He also reiterated his position that major financial institutions are obliged to pay for the administrative services they enjoy. Speaking before the Tokyo Metropolitan...
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 28, 2000

Passion for traditional medicines, exotic pets, promotes illicit trade

Some among us seem to have an insatiable desire for novelty, be it living or dead. From rare primates and endangered tortoises for pets, to tiger bones consumed in pursuit of sexual vitality, Japan is the world's leading consumer of exotic species.
EDITORIALS
Feb 26, 2000

The Constitution's honorable origins

For the first time in more than half a century, the postwar Constitution came up for formal and substantial discussion in the Diet on Thursday. To begin, the Constitutional Review Council solicited expert opinions from two constitutional scholars and examined how the current Constitution came into being....
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2000

State panel eyes new corporate tax based on Tokyo's

An advisory panel to the prime minister will consider whether the new method of taxation planned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government could be applied as an across-the-board corporate tax in all prefectures, a senior panel member said Friday. Hiromitsu Ishi, head of the Tax Commission's subpanel on...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2000

Defections among coalition partners in Malaysia's ruling National Front strain ties

BY DAVID CHEW Special to The Japan Times SINGAPORE -- The defection of key politicians from one to the other of the two main Chinese components in Malaysia's ruling multiparty coalition has caused bad blood and made the role of mediator difficult for the coalition's Malay leader.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2000

FRC chief in hot water

The chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission came under fire Thursday for recent remarks to financial executives that some have interpreted as indicating a willingness to intervene during government inspections. The nationwide inspections -- to be conducted by the Financial Supervisory Agency...
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2000

Talks on drilling rights go down to the wire

Staff writer If Arabian Oil Co.'s last-ditch negotiations with Saudi Arabia to renew its 40-year oil drilling rights fail, the pioneer Japanese driller will be hard hit, but officials don't fear a national crisis. With his firm's rights in the Khafji oil field in the former neutral zone between Saudi...
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2000

Wired new world challenges Japan's old model: U.S. exec

Staff writer The American Management Association leads by example. By adapting its raison d'etre -- to provide business education and management development programs to thousands of companies worldwide -- to the Internet-wired world, the organization is hinting at the direction it believes its members...
CULTURE / Music
Feb 20, 2000

Great compositions ennoble performers, audience alike

Virtually all of Japan's symphony orchestras perform Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth and last symphony at the end of the year, as the general populace makes its annual affirmation of the noble qualities declaimed in the lyrics of the choral finale, Friedlich von Schiller's "An die Freude (Ode to Joy)."...
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2000

Obuchi defends aide accused of swindling stock

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi rejected allegations Thursday that his close aide swindled a man, now deceased, out of shares currently worth about 2.3 billion yen. "I understand that he did nothing wrong," Obuchi said during an Upper House plenary session , adding that he himself was not involved in the...
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2000

Austria calls Europe's bluff

The formation of a coalition government in Austria that includes the rightwing Freedom Party headed by Mr. Joerg Haider is a potential nightmare for Europe. The prospect of an extremist party joining the Cabinet in Vienna has forced other members of the European Union to examine their own past. It has...
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2000

Poland seeks full EU status by '03

Staff writer Poland hopes to become a full member of the European Union as early as 2003 by adjusting its economy to EU standards, according to visiting Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek. "We hope to achieve good results in the process of adjusting Poland's economic structure," Geremek said...
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2000

Bengal tiger put down after killing its keeper

A 25-year-old man died Thursday after being mauled by a Bengal tiger in a holding pen operated by an animal leasing firm in Machida, western Tokyo, police said. The man was identified as Masaru Watanabe, a part-time employee at the facility. He appeared to have been bitten in the neck when he was feeding...
COMMENTARY
Jan 31, 2000

Let the great debate begin

The Diet is finally launching debate on constitutional issues, breaking a long-standing political taboo. As the ordinary Diet session opened Jan. 20, both houses created panels to conduct the first parliamentary debate on the pros and cons of constitutional amendments. All political parties will take...
CULTURE / Music
Jan 30, 2000

National orchestras bear a standard for small countries

Most advanced nations have found the need and the means to provide their citizenry regular access to the timeless, universal beauties of great symphonic music. National orchestras are found in the capitals of countries around the globe. They are standard-bearers of artistic, intellectual and spiritual...
COMMENTARY
Jan 28, 2000

Debate kicks off on the Constitution

As the ordinary Diet session opened Jan. 20, the tripartite ruling bloc and the opposition forces squared off over a proposal to cut the number of Lower House seats. With a dissolution of the Lower House for a snap election looming, sharp rivalry is brewing between the coalition, made up of the Liberal...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2000

Obuchi calls for creation of level, not vertical, society

In a speech before a Diet devoid of opposition members, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi called Friday for the creation of a nation in which individuals are not submerged in society but showcase their abilities and help invigorate the country. The opposition decided to boycott the session to protest the...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2000

Opposition pledges to overthrow bloc

Leaders of the three major opposition parties pledged Friday after their boycott of the day's plenary sessions in both Diet houses to maintain a united front and overthrow the coalition government led by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. The Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party and the...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Lower House seat reduction: cunning cut or rash slashing?

Staff writer A battle over a controversial bill to abolish 20 proportional-representation seats in the Lower House is rocking the Diet, with the opposition parties threatening to boycott all deliberations if the bill is forced through. Deadlock could even force Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to dissolve...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Panel asked to find better ways of teaching English

To produce more Japanese who can communicate effectively in the international community in the 21st century, the Education Ministry set up an advisory panel Wednesday to map out recommendations on better ways of teaching English. At the panel's first meeting, Education Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Ruling bloc rams Diet-seat bill through committee

In the absence of the opposition camp, the ruling triumvirate on Wednesday rammed a controversial bill aimed at reducing the number of seats in the Diet through a Lower House committee. The bill, which aims to do away with 20 proportional representation seats in the 500-member Lower House, is backed...
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2000

Ensembles produce refined nuances in lasting, expressive performances

Ensemble. Now there's a word we bandy about all the time in music. A French word, it means "together." In music, it has two shades of meaning. On the one hand, we often speak of good ensemble, or poor, when we refer to the precision of playing together. A musical group is itself called an ensemble: musicians...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 23, 2000

Mary Cogan

Amongst many distinctions of different kinds, Tokyo has one that merits affectionate attention. Tokyo hosts the only Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Asia.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building