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COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2000

Whose Constitution is it?

At a recent meeting of the Diet's Constitutional Review Council, Americans who participated in the drafting of the Japanese Constitution 54 years ago during the Occupation gave testimony. Their statements provided valuable clues to an understanding of the circum- stances that led up to the establishment...
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2000

A brief reprieve for the nuclear club

NEW DELHI -- The five original nuclear powers have won a much-needed reprieve at the first review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty since its indefinite extension five years ago. That reprieve, however, could serve as the lull before the storm.
COMMENTARY
May 29, 2000

Mori does Japan no favors

LONDON -- When I read the brief report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun about Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's remarks at the meeting of the Shinto Association of Diet Members, I was surprised not to see any reports of reactions to his reported statement. I wondered whether he had been correctly quoted and whether...
JAPAN
May 28, 2000

Miyazawa prayed at Yasukuni

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa broke the taboo of worshipping at Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to Japan's war dead, in 1992 or 1993 when he was prime minister, sources close to family members of the war dead told Kyodo News on Saturday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2000

North Korea on agenda for Mori's talks in Seoul

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's scheduled meeting Monday in Seoul with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung comes at a crucial point in Japan's efforts to advance normalization negotiations with North Korea.
CULTURE / Art
May 28, 2000

Reinventing the art of exhibition making

Harald Szeemann's recent visit to Japan, at the invitation of the Benesse House on Naoshima Island and Kanazawa City's museum construction office, was a rare chance to hear the freelance curator's views on exhibition creation.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2000

The U.N.'s impossible task

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone has drawn criticism from many commentators. While much of this may be justified, there is a danger of missing the forest for the trees. The specifics of what went wrong and what could have been done better and how are important. However, the more critical...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 28, 2000

Gaj Singh

JODHPUR, India -- Mehrangarh Fort dominates the skyline of this walled, gated, desert city in Rajasthan, India. Five hundred years ago a hermit chose this imposing site for the fort, which commands the wide stretch of land below. Huge spikes were erected on massive barrier gates to counter the charges...
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2000

U.S. bogged down in Kosovo quagmire

The Clinton administration has ensnared the United States in the irrelevant turmoil of the Balkans. After NATO's nearly yearlong occupation of Kosovo, the General Accounting Office in Washington warns that "many difficult political, social and other issues remain unresolved" in the "volatile" territory....
EDITORIALS
May 28, 2000

Say it with buses

Some Tokyo residents have been grumbling or sneering (or both) in the past few weeks about the latest head-turning novelty on the capital's streets: those giant moving billboards that used to be just plain old green-and-cream buses.
JAPAN
May 27, 2000

Visitors to Japan reach record 4.4 million

The number of visitors to Japan hit a record high of 4.44 million in 1999, up 8 percent from the pervious year, mainly due to the economic recovery in Asia following the 1997 financial crisis, according to a government tourism report released Friday.
JAPAN
May 27, 2000

Mori sorry but stands by quote

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori apologized once more Friday for having caused a misunderstanding with his remark that Japan is "a divine nation centering on the Emperor," but he refused to withdraw it. "I deeply reflect upon and apologize that my comment has caused misunderstanding among many people," Mori...
BUSINESS
May 27, 2000

Honda Motor aims to boost global output 20% by 2003

Honda Motor Co. said Friday it will raise annual groupwide car sales to 3 million in fiscal 2003, up about 20 percent from the current volume.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 27, 2000

Sweet treats on a canvas of glaze

Though most of the world loves labels, it's hard to give one to the pottery of Norio Kamiya. Many collectors of Japanese pottery feel more comfortable if they know that this style is called Kutani or that one Arita or that this potter has won this award and exhibits at such-and-such gallery. Only after...
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2000

Politicians don't create jobs, people do

As Japan's leaders do battle against the ravages of deflation and recessionary conditions that grip their economy, unemployment rates are at a postwar high. Government data indicate the unemployment rate set a record high for the second consecutive month in March and now stands at 4.9 percent.
JAPAN
May 27, 2000

Green energy nearing takeoff in Japan

Movements to promote so-called green energy, such as wind and solar power, are gaining momentum in Japan as opposition to the use of nuclear power increases following last year's fatal nuclear accident and rising pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
JAPAN
May 26, 2000

Taiwan demands apology, redress for war sex-slaves

A group of Taiwan legislators made a request Thursday to their Japanese counterparts that Japan pass an opposition-proposed bill that would offer apologies and redress to former sex slaves of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
BUSINESS
May 26, 2000

TSE aiming to be Asia's top bourse

The new president of the Tokyo Stock Exchange said Thursday he will push to make the Tokyo stock market one of the core markets in the world, ahead of other Asia exchanges.
JAPAN
May 26, 2000

Billions in aid eyed for foreign students

HISANE MASAKI Staff writer The government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are considering creating a multibillion yen fund using low-interest yen loans to provide financial aid to foreign students in Japan, according to government and LDP sources.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
May 26, 2000

Indie supergroup likes it fun, dumb -- and loud

Walk into any "live house" in Tokyo, and unless you are still hitting your college textbooks or just exiting puberty, you are apt to be the oldest person there.
COMMENTARY
May 26, 2000

No time for anachronisms

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's controversial remark that Japan is "a divine nation centering on the Emperor" reminded me of a group of people I saw at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to Japan's war dead. As a veteran who survived the battle of Iwo Jima, I occasionally visit the shrine with...
JAPAN
May 25, 2000

Just 29.6% back Mori's Cabinet

A mere 29.6 percent of voters support Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet, according to a Kyodo News public opinion poll released Wednesday, the second worst initial support rate for a Cabinet since 1974.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2000

Firms to offer cell-phone shopping

Fujitsu Ltd., DDI Corp. and Citigroup of the United States jointly announced Wednesday in Tokyo that they have developed what they claim is the world's first shopping settlement system for smart cellular phones.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2000

Three shipbuilding firms in talks on 350 billion yen alliance

is planning comprehensive talks with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. on a major shipbuilding tieup, industry sources said Wednesday. The alliance, which would have some 350 billion yen in combined sales, would be Japan's largest shipbuilding union, outperforming...
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
May 25, 2000

Winding down the vine along Austria's Danube

Can't you just see yourself, on a ship cruising the Danube from one charming Austrian wine town to another, sipping their world-class wines while wondering how you ever got so lucky? This is a possible dream, the more so because the Danube and many wine towns it connects -- Krems, Spitz, etc. -- are...
CULTURE / Art
May 25, 2000

Draw the bow, ride and speak the truth

You could argue that in this age, we look to movies to preserve our traditions. But it begs the chicken and egg question: Where does the filmmaker go to authenticate the details?
JAPAN
May 24, 2000

Opposition plans no-confidence motion

Four opposition parties agreed Tuesday to form a united front and submit a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet in the near future.

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