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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2000

Opposition gives flawed economic message

According to some Western pundits, the recent Lower House election was going to be a big yawn, with little debate over real issues. In fact, from the start there was a very real debate between the coalition, which argued that the economy still needed pump priming, and the opposition, which claimed that...
COMMUNITY
Jul 9, 2000

Funding films by finding housing for foreigners

Walking with Akio Sakurai to his real estate office in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, he told the story of an Indian couple -- the husband working for a major European bank -- for whom he had found an apartment. The day before they were due to sign the contract, the landlord rang and withdrew the offer. A Japanese...
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2000

Kono talks on North Korea, the G8 summit and Russia

The government "will not simply stay idle" in its relations with North Korea, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said Thursday, noting that Tokyo is ready to reopen stalled normalization talks with Pyongyang following its recent moves to open up to the outside world.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 8, 2000

Murata aiming high in Champagne Rugby

"I'd like to help our team get promoted to the top division next season," Japan international rugby player Wataru Murata said contentedly Wednesday in Tokyo after completing his first season with French League side Aviron Bayonnais in the so-called Champagne Rugby.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 8, 2000

Quest for Huangshan of the heart

To the south of the Yangtse River in China's Anhui Province, near the medieval city of Wuhu, rise the Huangshan mountains: a series of jagged peaks and crags, not very high, as mountains go, but intensely dramatic. The clouds and mist that swirl around their pine-crested heights, the mysterious grottoes...
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2000

Miyazawa urged to lead G7 effort to help poor nations

The nongovernment coalition Jubilee 2000 Japan urged Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Thursday to take the initiative at the upcoming meeting of the Group of Seven economic powers to solve the serious debt problems of the world's poorest countries.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2000

1932 essays recall patriotism of nisei

When 31-year-old Californian Joyce Hirohata was having difficulty writing her high school valedictory speech, her father handed her a book published by her grandfather, Paul Tsunegoro Hirohata.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2000

Japan accepts U.S. demand for 41% NTT fee cut by '02

Kyodo News The government plans to cut interconnection fees charged by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. by 41.1 percent by the end of 2002, a move Tokyo hopes will resolve a bitter trade row with the United States before this month's Group of Eight summit in Okinawa.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2000

China's unruly, untrustworthy territory

TOM CLIFFORD Staff writer HONG KONG -- The Hong Kong handover three years ago provided some of the most contradictory TV images of our age. An imperial drama, a colony being returned, was played out in the dying days of the 20th century. All that was missing was the setting sun.
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2000

Outfoxed in Mexico

Mexico begins the 21st century with a bang. Voters last weekend rejected 71 years of one-party rule and elected Mr. Vicente Fox, a political outsider, as their president. The Mexican people have made it clear that they are ready for change. Mr. Fox, a rancher and former businessman, has vowed to do just...
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2000

Disneyland site set to swell into kingdom

Another dream world of Disney is emerging just outside Tokyo, enticing both young and old into what appears to be a medieval European town.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2000

Mori seeks a 'reborn Japan'

A day after the launch of his new Cabinet, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori stressed his determination Wednesday to create a "reborn Japan" by improving the economy and promoting the development of information technology.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2000

Four arrested over stabbing of woman

Four people were arrested Wednesday in connection with the killing of a 21-year-old pregnant woman in Tokyo's Ota Ward in February, police said.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 6, 2000

Law inhibits election coverage and debate

Prior to the Lower House elections June 25, commentators both here and abroad complained that the parties weren't putting forth concrete proposals, but instead only vague assurances that they would rebuild the economy and return Japan to its former glory as the world's last bastion of civility.
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Jul 6, 2000

Cosmetics with the personal touch

One of the most interesting new trends in the world of beauty right now is the development of the personalized product. This is a phenomenon that started to emerge some years ago, along with the trend toward fresh beauty products, the sort of things sold by companies like Lush: refrigerated face packs...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 6, 2000

Hooligans, pack a pencil and lots of undershirts

"The hooligans are coming, the hooligans are coming!"
COMMUNITY
Jul 6, 2000

Japanese wins hot dog pig-out

NEW YORK -- A trio of gustatory gladiators from Japan out-gobbled all other international competitors at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest here Tuesday, sweeping the top three spots and reclaiming the coveted Mustard Yellow Belt.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2000

G8 leaders likely to skip Security Council reform

In a significant diplomatic setback for Japan, top leaders of the Group of Eight major countries are unlikely to refer to the need for reform of the United Nations Security Council in a joint declaration to be issued at their upcoming summit in Okinawa.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2000

Newly appointed ministers announce policy priorities

The ministers appointed to the second Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori announced their priority tasks in separate press conferences Tuesday evening.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 5, 2000

The Plain of Jars: A place of war and death

PHONSAVAN, Laos -- It should be hard to go missing on the Plain of Jars. But hundreds have.
COMMENTARY
Jul 5, 2000

Advancing smartly backward

LONDON -- It is an old American saying that "the pioneer is the one who gets the arrow in his back." So when President Jacques Chirac of France recently proposed a "pioneering" project to bring France and Germany still closer together at the political level and, as he put it, to "move further and faster...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jul 4, 2000

Festival fun for the young and those who just wish they were

The main excuses I've heard for not attending one of this summer's two international rock festivals in Japan are: "None of my favorite bands are coming" and "there's hardly any big names."
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2000

Australia pays for security on the cheap

Last week, the Australian government released a discussion paper on defense. As in other mature democracies, it's not easy to sustain support for defense spending when no threat is imminent. But Australia's U.N.-authorized intervention in East Timor last year showed the risks of seeking defense on the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2000

Winds of change blowing through Asia

CHANG MAI, Thailand -- The recent historic handshake between South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang captivated the world. As emotions over the summit subside, what can be said about Korean developments when viewed from a broader Asian perspective?
EDITORIALS
Jul 1, 2000

The Elian saga is over

Elian Gonzalez is home. After a seven-month legal battle, the shipwrecked 6-year-old boy has returned to Cuba with his father. His tale held the world captive -- and made plain the degree to which U.S. politics is held captive by a vocal minority of Cuban Americans in Miami. Now that the boy has been...
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2000

Doctors to protest patenting of data

An international association consisting of doctors from 71 countries will protest a move to patent data on the genetic makeup of humans, claiming such action could bring exclusive benefits to certain companies, according to Japanese members of the group.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2000

Japan offers compromise in NTT dispute

Posts minister now suggests that 22.5% cut in less than three years possible Japan on Friday offered a compromise in the long-standing dispute with the United States over telephone connection rates, bringing the two nations closer to resolving the bilateral trade row before the upcoming Group of Eight...

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